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Trailer-makers were out in force at the IAA show this
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year. CM explored what was on offer in Hannover, and here are the highlights that caught our eye.
Words: Dylan Gray / Images: Tom Lee At this year's IAA Show in Hannover. Germany, trailer-makers rolled out in force to promote their newest technological advancements. These included trailers able to manipulate their centre of gravity and trailers using carbon fibre to keep their weight below five tonnes.
Undoubtedly, competition is honing up between Schmitz Cargobull, Kagel and Krone — the German
big three — with each manufacturer trying to give the. ■ Schmitz CargobulL's Load customer something unique to their business. So we Spread Program keeps took a look at what the trailer market has in store... axles correctly loaded Schmitz's latest trailer enhancement is designed to combat drive axleoverload after partial unloading. Called the Load Spread Program, it manipulates the centre of gravity without physically moving the load.
A frequent problem is that partial unloading from the rear of the trailer causes its centre of gravity to shift to the front, which can cause a legally loaded trailer to end up with an illegal loading weight over the drive axle of a 4x2 tractor.
Schmitz counters this by reducing the loading on the third trailer axle via the use of bellows venting, thereby, forcing a shift of the centre of gravity.
Air is vented out of the third trailer axle airbag, causing the front two to take more of the pressure. This reduces the weight over the drive axle and improves the drive characteristics of the truck. The system is available on all Schmitz three-axle trailers.
Maximising loadspace
KOgel, on the other hand, has focused on maximising load space and weight by using materials usually found on aircraft. It presented its new Phoenixx M49 Megatrailer, which has an increased interior height of 3m, while weighing less than five tonnes.
By using carbon fibre and other lightweight materials, the interior size could be expanded without pushing the tractor-trailer combination over the European 4m maximum height restriction.
The neck area and front of the trailer comprises carbon fibre with aluminium and glass fibre inserts, while the rest is made of high-strength steel. Its empty weight is two tonnes less than that of a conventionally built megatrailer with a low neck.
Although the materials vary greatly from the manufacturer's other products, it still retains some of the special features, such as the raising roof mechanism similar to the one found on the Mega-MAX.X.
The Phoenixx M55 — the M49's big brother is a lightweight high-cube trailer with a coupling height of 960mm and a useable height of 3m inside.
With a kerb weight of 5,500kg, it offers a tonne more payload than conventional megatrailers. The front wall of the M55 is made of aluminium, hut there is the option of having it in carbon fibre. Its the first trailer to use the lightweight Trax mega-axle, developed in-house by Kogel. Returning to the theme of roof raising. Krone has got in on the act with its Mega Liner Rooflift, which is designed for various markets outside of Germany where trucks are not limited to a height of 4m.
The roof of this trailer can be raised via a hydraulic system to accommodate taller loads up to 4.30m. The roof itself can be raised to 4.60m for loading purposes, but is then lowered to a maximum of 4.30m for driving. It can be locked in place in 50mm intervals between its standard height and the 4.30m. Usefully, all adjustments can be performed from ground level.
Schmitz accomplishes its roof raising with its Varios body, designed for paper and coil transport. Like with Krone, the roof can be raised by the driver at 50mm intervals at the rear and at the bulkhead. The trailer range also includes the Vatios fifth-wheel coupling, which covers heights between 965mm and 1,150mm. The so-called dual-ride-height air suspension matches the ride height of the axle unit to the fifth wheel height. The interior has up to 3m height and a capacity of 100m3.
All contained
Turning to containers, all three major German manufacturers had their offerings on show, with Krone and KOgel showing off new slider chassis for flush unloading of 201t containers at the rear.
Krone's new Box Liner SDC 27 eLTU6 is a redesign of the Krone Sled chassis. Its new feature is that it can carry a 20ft container in the centre, yet can be loaded and unloaded flush with the rear end of the trailer.
This is possible because the chassis can be centred and moved in and out by means of the tractor unit; ills locked in place pneumatically. The trailer is also capable of carrying one 45ft container or two 20ft containers. The container size can be selected on the trailer's electronic control unit and the pneumatic system adjusts the trailer to the correct set-up.
KOgel's Port-MAXX 40 multiplex works in pretty much the same way, except that the layout of the control unit is slightly different.
Schmitz has also reworked its container chassis S.CF 24G 45 with a sliding bogie, also designed to carry containers between 20ft and 45ft. It can also be pushed into position using the engine power of the tractor unit.
Schmitz claims that its optimised wheelbase gives an improved load distribution, meaning that the axles are equally loaded, preventing uneven tyre wear and offering increased driving safety.
Another trailer on the container front from Schmitz is the new S.CF Gooseneck, which has a fixed-frame throat height of 130mm. This means that when transporting high cube containers with a fifth wheel height of 1,110mm, an overall height of 4m is not overstepped.
With refrigerated trailers making up a huge part of the trailer market, Schmitz is saying it will continue to use its Ferroplast technology because it has proven its worth. It claims that, as other trailer manufacturers are copying the technology, it must be doing something right.
Weight saving 'hying to edge their way closer to the German market leader Schmitz, Krone and KOgel presented their glass fibre composite refrigerated trailers. Krone's Cool Liner Duoplex GFK and Kogel's Cool-MAXX are both designed with 'weight saving' in mind.
Weight saving was not the only thing on the agenda, however; the green theme was extended to the trailer manufacturers. Krone's effort — the Cool Liner Duoplex GFK ecoFridge — uses nitrogen to cool the load rather than a standard cooling device. Nitrogen is blown directly into the vehicle, which Krone claims cools the load down faster and doesn't create any harmful CO, emissions.
When arriving at a warehouse, the driver of the nitrogen-cooled trailer will have to wait a couple of minutes before entering the trailer, because of a lack of oxygen in there. Krone has, however, added a multitude of safety features, including warning lights and automatic locks, which ensure that no-one can enter the trailer while it is still unsafe.
With a number of manufacturers focusing on function and material optimisation. Ktigel has turned its attention to aerodynamic optimisation.
Its aero packet, named Dynamix, combines pallet containers and aerodynamic side panelling in one. The side panelling, made of shock-resistant ABS plastic, begins behind the articulation point of the cab and reaches all the way back to the rear under-run guard. There are a front and a rear pallet storage container, with the frontal one having room for 36 pallets, and the rear either eight pallets or two spare wheels, plus tools.
Kogel believes that a saving of up to three litres per 100km is possible and says that based on a truck covering 150,000km per year, the acre packet pays for itself within 18 months. Dynamix weighs in at 520kg.
So far, the focus has been on box trailers and container chassis. But semi-trailer tippers deserve a brief look in, especially with Schmitz's new S.KI Light, which has a tare weight of 4.800kg.The tipper consists of a 24m' aluminium box-body combined with a three-axle steel chassis. Schmitz claims that it is against using a completely aluminium design for its lightweight tipper, like some other manufacturers, for two reasons. The first being that an aluminium frame is difficult and, therefore, expensive to repair, and the second being that aluminium is considerably more expensive than steel, thereby reducing the cost-effectiveness of the trailer,
One manufacturer displaying its latest aluminium tipper semi-trailer was Belgian company Stas. The OP-V is available with volumes of 30m3. 36m3 and 40m3. The 36m3 volume tipper displayed at the IAA weighs in at 5,400kg.
Longer and heavier
Not on display at the show, but still a hot topic, are longer, heavier vehicles (LHVs — truck and trailer combinations not exceeding 25.5m). Some trailer manufacturers, including Kagel and Krone, have built prototypes that have been used in extensive tests in various EU countries. Germany and the UK have already ruled them out, while the Netherlands is still testing them. The industry argues that two 1_,HVs could replace three regular trucks and save fuel and the environment. Governments have, however, rejected them on grounds of safety and road wear, although trailer manufacturers are not giving up. They are now suggesting upping the size, hut keeping the weight at 40 tonnes WK. There is still a lot of lobbying to come from the industry before any changes are likely to be seen.