Plastic Tanker Saves 3,600 lb.
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WEIGHING 3,600 lb. less than as VV steel counterpart, a 3,400-gallon reinforced plastic tank is being used in America by P.B. Mutrie Motor Transportation Inc., Waltham, Massachusetts, foc loads of formaldehyde and similar chemicals. Constructed of laminae polyester resin reinforced with glass fibre, the tank (unmounted) is 21 ft. 9 in. long. 6 ft. 2 in. wide and 4 ft. 4 in. high. Its dry weight is 7,025 lb.
The tank is fitted to a trailer chassis
built by the Fruehauf Trailer Co. and is drawn by a new Mack tractor known
as the B60T. Dent-resistant mudguards and compartments for the hose and pump are constructed of similar plastic-glass material.
The tank was made on a wooden mould, laminae resin being applied by spray, followed by layers of glass mat, with catalyzed resin interposed between each layer. The same procedure was employed by the moulders, the Carl N. Beetle Plastics Corporation, for the production of a number of tanks in the service of the Arabian-American Oil Co.
As an example of the probable cost saving which use of the tank offers, the estimated increase in payload revenue can be quoted on a run between Springfield, Massachusetts and Montreal, Canada. Based on two runs a week, the annual gain would be over f1,000.