Demounts for Caradon • Plumbing products manufacturer Caradon Terrain has
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replaced its standard delivery trucks with a fleet of demountbodied drawbar outfits as part of a move to a centralised national distribution system.
UCI Logistics, which helped specify the vehicles, will operate the new fleet under contract.
The operation centres around the use of 26 Southfields Fleetloada curtain-sided 7.95m swap bodies with specially designed load retention equipment for Terrain's plastic pipes.
The Openspan design avoids the need for intermediate roof supports, allowing pipes up to 6.0m long to be loaded freely.
The swap bodies are based on underframes operating with Ray Smith demountable systems. They are carried on seven Fromont centre-axled drawbar trailers and 12 Leyland Daf 2700, 2300 and sleeper-cabbed 60.210 17-tonners. Apart from two with platform bodies for delivery to restricted sites, they all have rear air suspension.
The load retention system incorporates moveable restraint posts inside the curtains,three to each side, suspended from a second track inside the curtain track. They locate with locking positions in the outer edge of the floor, five per side.
The posts, which unlock and slide aside, are not necessary for uniformly stacked cartons but provide extra security for stacked pipes, preventing them from pushing against the base of the curtains.