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Tanks for the memory
Page 12
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• This year's TankCon exhibition, held at Charnock Richard in Lancashire, close to the tanker industry's Mersey/ Humberside heartland showed that operators are making longterm investments in equipment and are buying road tanker semi's, manufactured almost entirely from stainless steel.
Two exhibits, the futuristic West German TOPAS (Tanker with Optimum Passive and Active Safety) concept vehicle and BP/Charles Roberts Engineering's Lowmax design, promise improvements in operational safety, while the chassis on Metalair's prototype road tanker demonstrates an intriguing use of British Alcan's special aluminium extrusions.
Well-known tanker manufacturers from Belgium, France, Holland and West Germany were joined by newcomer to the UK, Feldbinder of Winsen near Hamburg and there are signs of reciprocal activity in Europe by many British companies, the latest being Drum, with its Spanish acquisition and York's purchase of French manufacturer Titan.
There was a distinctly cosmopolitan look to this year's exhibition, with many representatives from northern Europe.
A tipping powder tanker from Carmichael Bulk uses the latest woven cone diaphragm on its aeration system and is the first to use a new central locking system on its rear liquid top hatches. The electro pneumatic locking pins are keyactuated from the rear of the tank. The model shown is for J&S Bowman of Goole.
Modifications carried out to Crane Fruehauf s generalpurpose chemical tanker have taken over a quarter of a tonne from its unladen weight.
Changes include a new alloy substructure and rear underrun guard plus the use of a hydraulic hand pump for the Fort Vale foot valve, which is cleverly set into a corner compartment in the left-hand side guard.
CF has annual sales of around 75 general-purpose tankers. The singlecompartment, insulated ADR tanker has a 30,000-litre capacity, air suspension and weighs 7,240kg unladen.
It was first time into the UK
and at Tankcon for Winsen, Hamburg company Feldbinder, which had a pair of aluminium, chalk or cement carriers on show. Its 34m3 single compartment twin-hopper, with bottom discharge, is mounted on BPW air-sprung tri-axle running gear and weighs in at 4,300kg.
In Britain it will retail at around £30,000 including acrylic paintwork.
The second 40m3 tipping tanker (capacities range from 3864m) also on BPW triple axles has an unladen weight of 5,800kg and costs about £35,000. Prices include full UK specifications.
Feldbinder, a 14-year-old company builds 300 road tankers a year, and claims 34% of its own domestic market. A triad of stainless steel exhibits from Dijon-based Magyar included the most recently developed 6.1/9.1m swap tank/ tri-axled semi-trailer interrnodal system.
The unit shown on three, RO-R air-suspended axles, each rated at 10-tonnes and fitted with 265/70R 19.5in tyre equipment, has a 5.0-tonne kerb weight.
The 6.1 long, 30,000 litres ISO tank is RTMD/ADR/RID/ IMO-approved and is aimed at the road/rail distribution market, particularly on the continent where extra tonnages may be carried within specified distances of depots and railheads.
Hoyer (UK) has developed a GRP back-of-cab "rucksack" shaped cabinet for carrying hoses and safety equipment, and is even "exporting" them back to its West German parent company for assessment. Other developments include improved tank cleaning and an increase in its latest swap body tanks.
Universal handling, a subsidiary of Yorkshire Marine and parts of the Sea Containers group, exhibited three carbon and stainless steel tankers, all built to carry liquid and dangerous products, but did not show its latest LPG tanker, two of which have been built for Shell's Unigas.
This 30,000-litre stainless steel tanker is made to ADR/ IM04 requirements and will carry a 24-tonne payload at 38 tonne operations.
It is of a similar specification to over 100 such vehicles currently in use with Reliance and Cleveland Tankers.