SDC debuts its first 15.65m double-deck trailer
Page 8
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
SDC TRAILERS has revealed its first 15.65m double-deck trailer at the CV Show, which will go into service with Norbert Dentressangle. SDC director Paul Bratton says the trailer has four independent load ratchet bays that can be moved up and down by forklift. It is 4.52m high and weighs 10,995kg.
One of the key issues that SDC has had to overcome is ensuring the chassis is capable of housing rear-steer axles from different axle manufacturers, with SAF and BPW the main suppliers.
It has tapered the rear of the chassis 360mm to get the 30-degree turn required to achieve 44-tonnes GVW at 15.65m using a SAF rear-steer axle behind the double bogie. So far, SDC Trailers has taken more than 100 orders for longer trailers and demand is for 15.65m curtainsided trailers rather than the shorter option.
“Operators want the space to load an extra four pallets. Following the Freight Transport Association’s conference, the message was clear – ‘use it or lose it’,” Bratton says. “The split between self-steer rear axle and command rear steer axle is 60-40. Ordering command rear steer axles is an extra £4,000 straight away, and those ordering command tend to be operators who have older yards who can’t get the trailer straight to activate the locking pin that self-steer rear axles have.” SDC Trailers will also reveal a 4.8m-high, 15.65m-long double-deck curtainsided trailer in Knights of Old livery at the Multimodal show, also at the NEC, next week.