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rewery production today is centralised and drinks in kegs, bottles
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and cans are moved first to large national distribution centres then on to regional distribution centres either by a transport operator or the brewer's own fleet. All drinks are heavy and, given the amount to be moved, 44-tonne tractor/semitrailer combinations are the vehicles of choice. Payload factor is important so lightweight 6x2 tractors and maximum-length semis are the norm.
If this part of the operation is predictable, the final delivery leg to point of sale is anything but. Deliveries are made not only to pubs and dubs, but increasingly to off-licences, shops and supermarkets, and are handled by smaller tractor/trailer outfits and also two and three-axle rigids. Drinks are heavy and, apart from maximising payload, there is an overriding need to stay within the plated axle loads throughout the distribution cycle. There is no consensus of opinion as to which type of vehicle is best, and the choice seems to collie down to tradition as much as logic.
A number of vehicle manufac turers have developed specialised lightweight tractors with low fifth wheels, to operate at 23/24 tonnes gross. A popular tractor of this type is Volvo's FL urban artic, which has a 14 tonne GVW and typically runs with a single axle semi-trailer. Both drive axle and trailer axles have iotonne design weights and thus give excellent loading latitude for a vehicle that is rated at 23 tonnes GTW. Volvo sells around 100/150 such tractors a year and has just completed an order of 78 units for Scottish Courage.
Southfields builds both trailers and rigid bodies for the brewery trade and so has no axe to grind as to which type is best—sales manager Jeremy Malpass says every drop is different and there is a place for both types. Even so, Malpass says trailer weights can still be reduced, and the company is currently engaged in government research which includes investigating the structural use of lightweight composite materials for trailer manufacturing.
Urban artics, running on 19.5in wheels and low-profile tyres, are favoured for their operational flexibility, their low deck heights and excellent manoeuvrability, but there are those who believe rigids are just as successful. Some operations still use 7.5-tonners, because of their compact dimensions and the driver licensing regulations, but most vehicles are heavier 12 andi8tanners. Iveco Ford's Cargo ML rzo EL also runs on19.5in wheels, giving a frame height of between 940 and 950rnm, depending on the wheelbase. Body and payload allowance, thanks to minimum leaf steel springs and the lightweight Tector engine, is around 8,300kg. An even lower frame height and thus deck height is achievable, by specifying front and rear air suspension. The Cargo Tector ML r2oE/FP has a frame height of 88omm regardless of
wheelbase, and the only downsi is that the body and paylo. allowance is reduced to aroui 7,650kg for a day cab model.
Scania offers front and rear suspension on its r8-tonne rigt and, together with low profile tyn they offer an excellent combinatii of payload and deck heigl Hanreys Brewery, based in Lew( Sussex, runs five such Scani which have replaced older dn frame vehicles.
However, drop frame vehicl are still used, but they are less pa ular than they once were becau of their specialist nature and rel tively poor residual values. Model air suspension vehicles are ideal f demountable body operation b are a rare solution for brewe operations. The advent of sma capacity diesels with high pow. outputs has also made drawb. vehicles more attractive than evr but this type too is rare among brewery fleets.
Illlanoeuvrability
Three-axle rigids offer inc-reast gross weights, but this in turn cal for 'longer wheelbases, which car promise the all important mance vrability. In the past, addition pusher axles were used but tl more modem solution is to use positively steered third axl Manufacturers including lye( Ford and Volvo also offer sue models, which are as mance] vrable as the equivalent two-ax versions. On Volvo's third genet tion FM 6x2, the control electron ics automatically centre the tag ax steering and lock it at speeds aboN 3oknAti (19mph). An added born. of the air suspension is that the a bags can be fitted with pressui sensors and the signals processe to give the actual axle weights on dashboard display.
Regardless of the chassis con.fi uration, the preferred body type : the curtainsider. This solution i latively light, gives a reasonable vel of security, and allows fast, mple access, from both ends of le deck if needs be. Ray Gardiner, ) charge of sales at bodybuilder J .ardiner gr. Sons, says that while Jrtains will adequately retain a lad of kegs, that is no longer a reqisite, as the load should be !tained by other means, such as !movable pillars and bars.
Southfield's Jeremy Malpass gees, and says roof .mounted lashigs are popular in the UK where Jrtainsider roofs tend to be more ibust than in mainland Europe. Ontinentals do not use roof-lashig systems and he fears we may be )rced to follow suit. The 'ontinentals also favour 'gull wing' yle doors, where the whole body de hinges at the top edge and the iiddle, allowing it to fold and lift. Vhile these designs offer the ultiiate access for fork-lift trucks, they re electrically powered, heavier, rid altogether more complex than le normal curtainsider, especially then they break down.
Body structures tend to be a ambi nation of steel for trength, aluminium nd composites for ghtness. Timber is still ie preferred floor mate al. Ray Gardiner says lat just about everyling has been tried ver the years, but only ardwood has the ideal ombination of trength, reliance and rear resistance.
;.ardiner says a floor aickness of 3.8cm t.5in) is a good comproaise, especially if it is overed by a disposable )p overlay of ply. This osts around 1200 and ists typically two years. Health and Safety is caking an impact on ae whole brewery trade in the
shape of the Manual Handlirq Regulations, and the old custom a dropping kegs on to a cushion is or the way out. Today most retail loath are palletised in some way and depending on the operation, can in unloaded in a variety of ways Vehicles are loaded by fork-lift anc in some situations unloaded too. A the same time tail-lifts are becom ing increasingly common on botl trailers and rigid bodies, allowinl the use of conventional palle trucks right down to the traditiona sack barrow. Tail-lift prices havt hardly increased over the past fivt years and one-tonne column-typ( steel lifts, weighing 320 to 37okgdepending on the width and dept1 of the platform—cost arounc £2,000 fitted. The same lift in alu minium is lighter at between 25o 270kg, but costs around an extr: 1500. Foldaway style lifts that leav■ the rear of the vehicle free cos slightly more, Clearly, there is no such thing a a standard brewery body and price: vary as much as the bodies them selves. Prices range from £5,0o for a basic curtainsider to .bo,00c for a drop frame body, to as mud as £4,000 for a body with tail-lifi storage for gas bottles and a sad barrow. The good news is that tin UK bodybuilding industry cal meet any demand.