1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244 
Export Trailers and Semi-trailers
Page 158
Page 159
Page 160
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
By A. J. P. Wilding
BRITISH trailer and semi-trailer manufacturers have, in common with the makers of rigid vehicles, for many years made great efforts to export their products. At the present time almost every country in the world imports British-made units although; of course, the volume varies considerably from place to place. In general the best markets appear to be in underdeveloped areas such as West Africa and the Middle East but in industrialized countries there is less opportunity for export.
This is not because the British product is not as good as that made locally but because the local industry is protected by tariffs or the cost of shipping makes the units uncompetitive on the ground of price. Two good examples of this are North America. and Europe. In America and Canada there would be opportunities at least for specialized trailers such as those used on logging' operations and possibly for general haulage models which could be designed for the particular requirements of the market but the high cost of shipping rules them out. An, exception to this is the export by Scammell of a number of Scarab Mechanical Horse outfits to America, but these are unique vehicles and probably better described as units in a loadhandling system.
Like other British manufacturers, trailer makers• looked forward hopefully to the opportunities which would have come with Britain's entry into the Common Market, but
now that this virtual extension of the home market has disappeared, for the time being at any rate, the trailer industry will still be concerned with what could best be called its traditional markets. In the present circumstances Europe can really be divided into two sections, the Common Market countries where exports are extremely limited— there is practically no export to France at all—and the E.F.T.A. countries Where there is a relatively good market, particularly in the Scandinavian countries.
The high tariff rates are the barrier in the Common Market countries, making competition with the highly developed industries of Germany, Italy and France extremely difficult. Here again it is not impossible that the British trailer industry, if allowed to compete on equal terms, could take a share of the market. This has been shown by the York Trailer Company whose subsidiary company in Holland produces units with parts supplied from Corby and is reported to be doing very well in the Dutch, Belgian and German markets.
One of the best markets for trailers and semi-trailers is Eire. Fairly large numbers are sold there but the exceptionally high rate of duty on completed trailers—over 75 per cent—means that export is only possible when the unit is shipped completely knocked down, in other words as a set of parts The assessment of the import duty is a very complicated business; some parts go duty free, others have a small duty, whilst others such as springs and tyres are subject to a fairly high duty.
The duty is applied to protect local industry—springs and tyres are made in Ireland—and also to encourage the use of local labour in assembly as much as possible. To keep the duty at a minimum, no assembled parts must be sent; such things as axles must be stripped right down even to the extent that nuts and bolts must be separate—the nut.. must not be threaded on the bolt—and it means in effect that parts must be taken straight from the stores bins and put in a box for shipping.
An interesting story is told by Taskers who sent a frame for a cable-drum carrier to Eire with a small length of electric wiring clipped inside it and with some bolts put through their holes and the nuts run on. This resulted in the item being assessed for duty as an assembly at a rate above 30 per cent instead of the minimum amount aimed for. It is Understandable and natural that a country trying to improve its people's standard of living by creating employment should take this sort of action but it makes life somewhat 'difficult for trailer makers.
One of the Difficulties
One of the difficulties of trying to export semi-trailers and trailers-is that such units are unsophisticated. It is not as difficult to make a trailer as, say, an engine, a gearbox or a driven axle, and therefore it is not very difficult for someone with a rudimentary knowledge of engineering to make some form' of trailer. It may be crude and made up from odd parts from various scrap vehicles, but it will at least carry goods and in many parts of the world it does not matter greatly that load distribution is wrong, that there are no brakes and so On. I am thinking here of underdeveloped areas where there are no roads to speak of, no regulations on loads and no great concern over
safety. . • The next step could be to import running gear and couplings and so on and at this stage the country has some sort of trailer-making industry. To protect it a tariff will probably be put on imported semi-trailers and for the British exporter a market with which he may haVe done a lot of business will be closed to him. As the country develops roads and a transport system the relatively crude units made will be unsatisfactory. And so the market Opens up again for British trailer exports. It will possibly be a better market by then as more vehicles will be required.
This is the sort of thing that can happen to markets for trailers which does not occur with regard to rigid-vehicle markets but is only one of the reasons why markets do close up. Other restrictions which are general to all exports are political disturbances and economic problems. Not all of these restrictions are long-lived—a particular market may be closed one year and open the next—and the fact that the general level of exports of trailers and semi-trailers from this couutry tends to increase indicates that makers are successful in finding new export outlets.
E26
The pattern of exports to the various countries varies considerably. In some markets all types of semi-trailer and trailer are required whilst in others, where there is already some form of semi-trailer industry, only the types which cannot or are not produced locally are needed. Because in the majority of cases these trailers will be used for a great deal of the time on unmade roads or on off-the-road work, the units are. built to a more robust. design than comparable vehicles used in the U.K. In many cases special models are designed, but this is not always so and indeed many requirements can be met from the wide range of standard models offered. by British trailer makers If arduous conditions have to be catered for it is rarely necessary to design a special model, it being generally possible to make modifications to a standard unit.
Besides the general haulage trailers such as flat platform units that are exported there is 'a considerable overseas demand for drop-frame machinery carrier semi-trailers and other specialized designs., It is probably the latter types which are in fact the best export bet, for, whilst production of the More straightforward platform trailers is a proposition for a country starting to get industrialized, " specials " require much more design work and skill in building. Here again, types commonly used in the U.K. are suitable' for use in many areas but in some countries American influence is very strong and designs based on American practice are required.
R. A. Dyson and Co. Ltd, has done a good deal to design models to meet the demands of particular markets. For example, where American influence is strong, dropframe semi-trailers with " knock-out " axles are -difficult to sell so Dyson has designed two types of unit which follow American practice. One is a low-deck semi-trailer with "cut-outs" over the wheels and intended for loading from the rearhy short ramps, the other, a recent introduction, is a " goose-neck " semi-trailer on which the raised front deck. lowers to the ground for loading purposes. '
Drop-frame semi-trailers also have a good sale in industrialized countries where there is a need for Machinery transporters but not the local demand to support a manufacturer of specialized trailers. This applies to areas such as Scandinavia, South Africa and Australia where general haulage types are produced by local industries.
Trailers for very heavy, indivisible loads—up to 200 tons —are not exported in large quantities, of course, but nevertheless are sent to many territories. Cranes (Derehain) Ltd. has in fact sold its 100-ton hydraulic trailer in over a dozen different countries, customers for these units being mainly government departments. Good export business is also done by Cranes—Dyson, Taskers and .Hands (Letchworth) Ltd. also—in the very specialized types of trailers' and semi-trailers required for use in oilfields, the main markets being the Middle East and Libya.
Competition to British trailer makers is provided mainly by American, German and Italian manufacturers in varying degrees according to the areas. In many respects the dice is loaded against the British exporter: American aid to a country often means that American goods have to be purchased and both America and Germany, to name only two, can offer long term credit. Other advantages makers in America and on the Continent have is that the type of trailer operation and the construction and use regulations in their own countries are often close to those in many export markets. In spite of everything, however, British exports of semi-trailers and trailers amounted to 4,276 in 1962 out of a total production of over 26,000. The 16 per cent or so which this represents is very commendable and speaks well for the efforts to export made by British trailer manufacturers.