Global Trailer May 2021

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www.globaltrailermag.com ISSN 1839-5201

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INNOVATION

BUSINESS

NEWS

JOST’s KKS Automatic Coupling Refrigerated Transport Technology E-Axle Developments, Reefer Builds SAF INTRA Success Story

Cover Story: Ecologica Gervasi Market Report: Norway Trailer Design: Valk Welding Wielton Introduces Aberg

Trailer Deliveries, Logistics News Special Report: Vaccine Passports Megatrends: Truck Dimensions World Events

ASIA

AUSTRALIA

EUROPE

USA

GROUPED. FOR SUCCESS.

Combining decades of experience gathered in Asia, Australia, Europe and the US, global manufacturing powerhouse Fuwa has forged the strongest network of truck and trailer component specialists in the world. Merging local expertise with world-leading manufacturing prowess and an irrevocable commitment to innovation, our entire range of axles, suspension systems, landing legs, couplings, king pins, fifth wheels and ball races have been designed for one goal only -- to guarantee your success.

GROUP COMPANIES

Join the Group. Join the Revolution.

SINGAPORE

CHINA

fuwa.cn

fuwa.cn

FUWA ENGINEERING FUWA HEAVY INDUSTRIES p: +65 68631806 p: +86 750 5966333

AUSTRALIA

FUWA K-HITCH p: +61 3 9369 0000

khitch.com.au

EUROPE

VALX International p: +31 (0)88 405 8800

valx.eu

AMERICA

AXN Heavy Duty p: +1 502 749 3200

axnheavyduty.com

COVER STORY MOVING ECOLOGY

42

IN THIS ISSUE

features excellent stability and strength combined with low unladen weight and high payload volume.

The manufacturer also celebrates more than 40 years of FERROPLAST ThermoTechnology.

BUSINESS 32

MARKET REPORT

A Scandinavian land of mountains and coastal fjords in Northern Europe, Norway leans on a small but bustling trailer industry to link its maritime and rail logistics connections.

48 INDUSTRY VOICE

The Wielton Group is introducing a new aftersales service strategy in all companies and markets under one, common brand, Aberg.

50

TRAILER DESIGN

Northern Ireland trailer manufacturer, bmi trailers, invests in Valk Welding robotics to improve the quality of the products it delivers.

52

FIFTH WHEELS

The KKS automatic coupling system from JOST signals the future of logistics as it is expected to be a key component in autonomous driving.

FEATURES 36

SCHMITZ CARGOBULL

Schmitz Cargobull’s S.KO COOL box body semi-trailer

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The transportation and collection of scrap metal has no limits when you have the right vehicle according to Italy’s Gervasi Ecologica. The trailer builder’s production is made-to-measure and customised to suit specific freight tasks.

“OUR MISSION IS TO PROVIDE RECYCLING OPERATORS WITH THE BEST TRAILERS FOR SCRAP COLLECTION AND TRANSPORT AND WE WANT TO REACH THIS AMBITIOUS GOAL FOCUSING ALL OUR PEOPLE, TECHNOLOGIES AND RESOURCES ON THIS IMPORTANT CHALLENGE.” Alessia Gervasi Gervasi Ecologica

38 CHEREAU

To maintain pace with the accelerated energy transition, greater demand for fuel savings and improved options for user ergonomics and safety, French OEM, CHEREAU, unveils its latest innovative trailer designs for modern cold chain carriers.

40 SAF-HOLLAND

The electric axles from SAFHolland have made a very promising start following a testing phase with realworld transport applications.

42

SONO MOTORS

REGULARS

60 EVENTS

04 EDITOR’S NOTE

62 MEGATRENDS

06 NEWS

63 PREVIEW

Energy efficient road transport equipment can be realised by harnessing the sun according to Sono Motors.

46 VAN ECK

Netherlands-based OEM, Van Eck, strives to meet and exceed the expectations of its customers with every trailer it produces.

40

EDITOR’S NOTE

PUBLISHER

John Murphy john.murphy@primecreative.com.au

MANAGING EDITOR

Luke Applebee luke.applebee@primecreative.com.au

DESIGN PRODUCTION COORDINATOR Michelle Weston michelle.weston@primecreative.com.au

ART DIRECTOR Blake Storey

DESIGN

BETWEEN THE CANALS A LARGE CONTAINER SHIP blocked a narrow channel in Egypt’s Suez Canal in March. The Evergreen Marine vessel, Ever Given, reportedly ran aground while turning in the narrow channel. This artificially made shipping lane is a critical chokepoint for the global oil trade. Registered to Panama, the ship was travelling from China to Rotterdam in the Netherlands. It was passing through the canal heading towards the Mediterranean when it got stuck.

Inbound and outbound shipping traffic appeared to be blocked according to vessel tracking websites. The Ever Given was due to arrive at its destination on 31 March and at the time it was estimated by commentators in mainstream media that it could take days – even weeks – for a major salvage operation to rescue the vessel and restore inbound/outbound shipping through this lane. Fortunately it was restored within days of the incident.

This situation, though, has potential

to constrain the container supply chain which is not ideal during a time when the global freight industry is struggling to recover from the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic. Close to 10 per cent of world trade uses the canal – prior to the blockage it was the fastest maritime link between Asia and Europe. Lloyd’s List, a shipping expert, has determined that this blockage is disrupting more than €5.8 billion worth of goods that would normally pass through the waterway unhindered.

A significant delay in container trade could also exacerbate supply issues for manufacturers already experiencing supply issues with parts and components required to make headway on trailer manufacturing backlogs. There is potential for a delay on a range of parts and raw materials for European products such as plastic from the Middle East and auto parts from China.

Kerry Pert, Madeline McCarty

INTERNATIONAL SALES

Ashley Blachford ashley.blachford@primecreative.com.au

CLIENT SUCCESS MANAGER

Justine Nardone justine.nardone@primecreative.com.au

HEAD OFFICE

Prime Creative Pty Ltd 11-15 Buckhurst Street South Melbourne VIC 3205 Australia p: +61 3 9690 8766 f: +61 3 9682 0044 enquiries@primecreative.com.au www.globaltrailermag.com

SUBSCRIPTIONS

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ARTICLES

All articles submitted for publication become the property of the publisher. The Editor reserves the right to adjust any article to conform with the magazine format.

COPYRIGHT

Global Trailer is owned by Prime Creative Media and published by John Murphy. All material in Global Trailer is copyright and no part may be reproduced or copied in any form or by any means (graphic, electronic or mechanical including information and retrieval systems) without written permission of the publisher. The Editor welcomes contributions but reserves the right to accept or reject any material. While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of information, Prime Creative Media will not accept responsibility for errors or omissions or for any consequences arising from reliance on information published.

The opinions expressed in Global Trailer are not necessarily the opinions of, or endorsed by the publisher unless otherwise stated.

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4 / G L O B A L TR A I L E R / I SS U E 5 8

OUT OF THIS WORLD JOST KKS – push-button trailer coupling

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NEWS INTERNATIONAL ASIA CHINA Trailer axle manufacturer, Guangdong FUWA Heavy Industries, expects to save 40,000 tonnes in carbon dioxide emissions annually following the installation of an extensive solar PV system.

FUWA has installed solar PV systems in cooperation with China Southern Power Grid Company at its site in Taishan City, Guangdong Province, China.

The solar PV modules covers a roof area of approx. 480,000 square metres and generates 40 megawatts of electricity at peak output.

“We are investing in improving energy efficiency, making greater use of renewable energies and will increasingly produce green electricity ourselves,” FUWA said in a statement.

CHINA Brazilian company, Fras-le, was the only friction materials specialist among finalists to receive special recognition from Huajing this month.

The axle manufacturer recently held its annual supplier meeting and ranked Fras-le in its top 10 list of suppliers.

Fras-le Asia was represented by Sales Chinese axle manufacturer ranks Fras-le in supplier top 10 list.

6 / G L O B A L TR A I L E R / I SS U E 5 8

Manager, Kevin Zhang.

“The Chinese market of automakers and replacement products is gaining increasing representation in the results of the company as a whole,” said Frasle Friction Business Director, Anderson Pontalti.

“We are happy to consolidate this strategic partnership with Huajing, which demonstrates confidence in our work and our products with this recognition.”

Installed in China since 2009, Fras-le Asia is responsible for the production of canvases and brake pads for commercial vehicles. In addition to serving the local market, the unit also exports its products to Europe, South America and countries in the Asia Pacific region.

TAIWAN Global freight transportation specialist, Dimerco, is restructuring its business to drive rapid response and greater flexibility.

Dimerco initiated its planned organisation restructure in 2019 and reports that the company is already seeing positive impact resulting from the changes implemented to date,

Dimerco CEM, Jeffrey Shih.

with both revenue and profitability up for 2020, despite the difficult trading environment created by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Phase two of the reorganisation will reportedly see the creation of a flatter, less hierarchical structure, with a focus on managerial specialisation, team leadership and intelligent applications.

“We believe that team leadership, underpinned by a common vision, will facilitate clear communication and coordination, and enable strategic decisions to be made based on a global perspective by bringing together complementary skills and competency from multiple countries with diverse business cultures across our network,” said Dimerco Chief Executive Management, Jeffrey Shih.’

Members of the Dimerco Executive Management Board (EMB), established in phase one of the restructure program and made up of five senior management specialists heading up air freight, ocean freight, and contract logistics, will each be better equipped to make strategic decisions based on the broader

NEWS

ASIA Service Centre (CSC) will foster faster response and enable coordinated sales & marketing communication on a global basis,” said Shih.

Ultimately, the organisation restructure, according to Shih, is aimed at enhancing the company’s competitiveness in a challenging international logistics market, allowing it to provide a best-in-class logistics service with operational and management excellence and optimised customer service.

THAILAND Transport and logistics company, CEVA Logistics, continues to expand

its footprint in Thailand and has moved its country head office to the heart of Bangkok’s business district.

This change is the third relocation in recent months of a key function in Thailand following the move of CEVA Logistics’ airfreight team to a new office at Suvarnabhumi Airport and the opening of a new ocean station at Laem Chabang.

The new head office is located in a 28-story building close to the city’s two airports and one of its major ports, providing excellent connectivity for the company’s customer service teams. It is also close to the Thai Customs office.

9376

knowledge and shared experience of the team, supported by Dimerco’s intelligent IT application and cloud networking technology.

Dimerco will continue to invest in developing its IT systems, embracing the latest available technology to ensure consistent levels of service quality and enhanced visibility, allowing pre-emptive exception management.

“Dimerco believes that a flatter organisational structure will further improve management efficiency, while the integration of regional management teams from North America, Greater China, Southeast Asia, Europe and Northeast Asia into a Centralised

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EUROPE CEVA Logistics’ multi-modal offices and its new head office are now ideally located to support customers across Thailand as the country transforms itself into a value-based economy supporting innovation and technology.

More than 250 employees will operate from the CEVA Logistics head office, benefitting from close access to public transportation. The 12,000 square feet (approx. 1,114.8 square metres) of office space have been optimised to provide a modern, vibrant working environment. Key features of the office include a ‘Made in Thailand’ concept, meaning no imported materials were used in its setup.

“This new headquarters will be a tremendous asset for the Thai team with its excellent public transport links and focus on a modern working environment where they can be even more productive,” said CEVA Logistics Thailand and Emerging Markets Managing Director, Russell Pang.

“We will use the relocation to further grow our multimodal business in one of Asia’s leading gateways.”

BELGIUM Logistics company, H.Essers, has established an ISO tank terminal adjacent to its warehouses in Wilrijk.

Chemicals, according to H.Essers, are stored in tank containers at the site before being shipped to their final destination or are filled into IBCs and drums.

The Wilrijk mega site is close to the Port of Antwerp and focuses on hazardous goods and special chemicals, providing a ‘one-stop shop’ with transport, customs, forwarding and storage capabilities.

“More and more chemical companies choose to keep their stocks outside the production environment,” said 8 / G L O B A L TR A I L E R / I SS U E 5 8

H.Essers Wilrijk Operations Manager, Mikael Hagedoren.

“H.Essers addresses this trend with the ISO Tank Terminal. Instead of storing the products in tank containers at the factory site, they are kept at the terminal in highly secure conditions.

“Once the products are sold, we take care of the further logistical processing.

“The customer can choose either direct delivery of the tank container to the recipient or delivery in IBCs or drums, whereby they are filled in our three state-of-the-art installations on the site itself.”

These semi-automatic filling installations, which are used for acrylates and isocyanates among other products, have a capacity of 135,000 tonnes per year according to H.Essers.

The iso tank terminal has a capacity of 140 tank containers. It is dedicated to chemicals like polyols and isocyanates, raw materials used for the production of insulation materials. The site is sealed-off and divided into several zones. It is equipped with 30,000-litre buffer tanks below the surface to catch any spills. This limits the risk of environmental contamination to almost zero.

The ISO tank terminal is equipped with a heating station, where the ISO tanks can be heated when needed.

There are 10 connection points to heat with steam, hot water or in some cases electricity. This means that tank containers can be brought to the adequate temperature before the final delivery. The – often viscous – chemicals in the tank containers can also be warmed up for filling into IBCs or drums.

“With its ISO tank terminal in Wilrijk, H.Essers unburdens chemical companies with the distribution of

their dangerous and non-dangerous products,” said Hagedoren.

“We ensure that they are delivered at the right time, at the right temperature and in the right packaging.

And according to the highest standards in terms of safety, quality and environment.”

GERMANY Semi-trailer manufacturer, Kässbohrer has designed and manufactured the K.SKA A aluminium tipper for agricultural applications.

Kässbohrer’s K.SKA A is suitable to carry a wide range of agricultural materials such as soy, corn, rapeseed, sugar beet, sediments, grains and can also carry bio-waste, pallet goods, bagged waste and fertilisers and is available with 40, 45 and 50 cubic metre volume options.

The K. SKA A series features a lightweight bumper, walking platform and grain sliders. It is also spec’d for a long product life with S700MC steel chassis, hybrid floor and high wear and impact resistant aluminium modular upper structure.

The tipper is offered with S700MC light steel with higher yield strength to provide robustness and longer product life. Light but robust, S700MC steel usage leads to higher payload, fuel saving and less maintenance cost.

The vehicle, the OEM said, is engineered with a low centre of gravity and optimal load distribution even in the toughest off-road conditions.

“K.SKA A is offered with optimised hybrid floor in order to minimise the damage to the vehicle floor during unloading operations,” said Kässbohrer.

“Eight millimetre thick aluminium floor at rear side ensures high impact and wear resistance while 6mm at the front offers weight reduction.

NEWS

EUROPE In order to offer an improved userfriendly experience, K.SKA A features new lightweight bumper, walking platform and grain sliders. With the integration between the rear door and tarpaulin, K.SKA A allows unloading operations without opening the tarpaulin.

In addition to the operational ease and longer product life it offers, the vehicle also stands for load safety and operational flexibility.

K.SKA A features lashing rings on the floor for the safe transportation of pallet loads. With optional grain socks.

The vehicle also offers two types of seal mechanism with its upper structure, respectively liquid-tight seal and granular tight seal.

Granular tight is achieved by a special rear door hidden sealing system which helps to minimise the exposure of the rubber part of the seal, decreasing the risk of damage during unloading operations.

In order to achieve liquid tightness, the inner body is manufactured by completely welding all the components.

GERMANY Global full-service logistics provider, Hellmann Worldwide Logistics, has named Patrick Oestreich as its new Chief Commercial Officer (CCO).

He succeeds Jens Möller, who took over the position on an interim basis in August 2020.

As CCO and member of the Executive Board, Oestreich will be responsible for the global sales leadership team, which manages the worldwide sales activities of all product areas, effective 1 April 2021.

Oestreich looks back on 20 years of international sales experience

in the logistics industry. Following assignments at Deutsche Post/DHL/ Danzas and UTi Germany, he held various management positions in the Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA) region at Schenker AG from 2007 to 2018, most recently serving as Senior Vice President Road Brokerage and Land Transport in Europe. For the last two and a half years, Oestreich has been responsible for Strategic Sales and Account Management in Europe as Senior Vice President at XPO Logistics.

“In recent years, our focus has been on further developing the size and quality of our global sales organisation in terms of quality and quantity, thus creating an important prerequisite for profitable sustainable growth across all product segments and markets,” said Hellmann Worldwide Logistics CEO, Reiner Heiken.

“The optimised sales structure has successfully passed the stress test of a very challenging year 2020, and now we want to continue driving our growth agenda forward on this solid basis together with Patrick Oestreich and the international team.

“In particular, we will expand digital sales to provide solutions to the changes in the marketplace and thus our customers’ requirements for an innovative logistics service provider.”

GERMANY Equipment specialist, SAF-Holland, reflects on more than 20 years of success with its SAF INTRA axle and suspension range.

SAF-Holland’s SAF INTRA is available in many variants for various transport tasks. The air suspension system is subject to continuous development.

Its economical and maintenance-

friendly design has set new technical standards, particularly with hydraulic final drive and electrically driven axles.

Product development with fleet customers is key to SAF-Holland’s innovation.

“We develop products that support safety and continuously optimise these to ensure low operating and maintenance costs for our customers,” said SAF-Holland Vice President Engineering EMEA, Stephan Heiderich.

“During the practical tests, our new developments then have to prove that they can live up to our customer’s expectations on the road as well.”

On the test beds, the durability of the SAF INTRA suspension has nearly doubled in the past 20 years, according to the manufacturer, while the mileage is 1.8 times higher than for the original unit.

Similarly, the weight of the system has been reduced significantly. Each SAF INTRA axle, for instance, weighs 70kg less – on three axles, that saves about 210kg which fleet operators can convert into higher payload.

Axles from the SAF INTRO range follow a special design principle that ensures lower wear and more planning reliability.

The functional suspension arm and the axle tube reportedly form a permanently connected, maintenance-free unit.

“The patented Safe-Guard design of the functional suspension arm additionally protects the brake cylinder against damage,” SAF-Holland said.

“The shock absorbers, which are positioned directly in the functional suspension arm, are also well secured.”

GERMANY Freight forwarder, KAHL Group, used Goldhofer equipment to transport W W W. G LO B A LT R A I L E R M AG . C O M / G L O B A L T R A I L E R / 9

EUROPE six huge heat exchangers from engineering works near the port of Haren on the River Ems to a cargo vessel destined for Russia.

The exchangers are for two gas liquefaction plants.

Over a period of several months, according to Goldhofer, the individual components had been transported from various production facilities to the Barlage company in Haren. There the components were assembled and the final touches made to the heat exchangers.

The six heat exchangers comprised: two coolers weighing 658 tonnes and measuring 46.33 x 6.22 x 7.32m (LxWxH); two coolers weighing 429 tonnes and measuring 29.06 x 5.58 x 7.53m (LxWxH); and two coolers weighing 466 tonnes and measuring 32.25 x 6.42 x 6.95 m (LxWxH).

The KAHL Group was then tasked with the heavy haulage operation of moving the heat exchangers from the assembly plant to the quay, where two heavyduty cranes (LR 1600) were waiting to lift the heat exchangers into the belly of the transport vessel.

Although the route was only about 800m long, the challenges were enormous due to the need to negotiate the confined spaces on the journey all the way round the harbor.

To move the 658-tonne cooler, the transport team relied on its trusted heavy-duty modules from the house of Goldhofer in a trailing unit configuration with 2x 12 PST/SL-E axle lines, picking up the giant cargo hydraulically without the use of a crane.

The equipment used for the operation was a P 1+1/2 split combination, i.e. with one module divided lengthwise and coupled parallel to a second full module.

The advantage of this combination, 10 / G L O B A L TR A I L E R / I SS U E 5 8

according to the OEM, is that it offers appreciably better stability than a single-width transporter on the one hand and requires less space for manoeuvring than a double-width P 1+1 combination on the other.

“Each 12-axle unit was powered by a high-performance 490 hp Powerpack,” said Goldhofer.

“With the 658-tonne load lashed onto the two one-and-a-half width selfpropelled transporter combinations, it was quite a feat to negotiate the three 90° bends with a total train length of more than 50 m and a load width of 6.43m.

“Careful manoeuvring was necessary to avoid a number of permanent obstacles (silos, walls, lighting fixtures, etc.) and various items waiting for collection.

“With electronic steering on all axles and travel speed reduced to snail’s pace, the experts successfully guided the train through all the narrow sections of the route.

“Handling such transport operations without a turntable (which has the advantage of much greater

tilt stability) calls for meticulous preparatory work and lots of experience, something that the tried and tested team at KAHL and PIEPER demonstrate on a daily basis.

“And so, in spite of all the difficulties, the huge cargo reached its destination in good time, and the transport vessel was able to sail on schedule.”

GERMANY Verdi’s call to action disrupted several Amazon distribution centres across Germany in the lead-up to Easter.

Industrial action at Amazon sites based in Rheinberg, Werne, Koblenz, Leipzig and Bad Hersfeld were expected to pressure the US e-commerce company into recognising area-wide collective agreements for the retail and mail-order business and to conclude a collective agreement for good and healthy work.

Verdi spokesperson, Orhan Akman, said in late March he was working towards improving workplace conditions for Amazon employees in light of the e-commerce juggernaut ‘making a mint’

Goldhofer axle lines move gas liquefaction plant machinery.

NEWS

EUROPE during the Covid-19 crisis.

“Due to the constant hustle and bustle and performance monitoring, it is often hardly possible to adhere to intervals and other measures against infection,” he said. “Nevertheless, Amazon has so far refused to conclude a binding collective agreement to protect employees.”

The trade union, headquartered in Berlin, is reportedly demanding a pay increase of 4.5 per cent for workers in the retail and mail order industry.

The German Trade Association (HDE) has accepted Amazon as a member without tariff binding (oT).

“With this, the employers’ association

is intensifying wage dumping and the displacement and extermination competition in the industry.” said Akman. “Associations like the HDE harm their members who are loyal to the collective agreement. It is high time to abolish memberships that are not bound by collective bargaining agreements.”

Verdi wants to ensure that the collective wage agreements to be negotiated this year are declared generally binding in all federal states.

By means of a declaration of general applicability (AVE), the Federal Ministry of Labor and the highest labor authorities of the federal states

could ensure that the negotiated collective agreements also apply to all companies that are not part of the employers’ association or are not bound by collective agreements.

According to the current legal situation, the prerequisite for this is that both parties to the collective bargaining agreement – in this case verdi and the HDE – jointly apply for general liability. The HDE and its regional associations have so far refused according to Verdi.

With an AVE, the union, employers’ association and authorities could jointly put a stop to dumping wages in the industry.

FOR YOUR EVERY TRANSPORT CHALLENGE VAN ECK HAS A SOLUTION flflflflfl 1912fl flflfl flflfl Tflflflflflflfl flflfl flflflfl flflfl flflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflfl flflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflfl flflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflfl flflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflflfl

EUROPE NETHERLANDS Family business Duis Transport from Zaandijk, which specialises in the transportation of cocoa and cocoarelated products, specifies Van Eck trailers for its extensive experience in implementing smart loading systems.

With a fleet of eight trucks, Duis maintains crucial lines between cocoa processing manufacturers and their customers.

Over five years ago, Duis used a trailer from Van Eck for this work for the first time.

“Initially, we worked with sliding tarpaulin trailers,” said Wim Duis who runs the company together with his brother Pieter Duis. “But to save time in this work, a trailer with fixed walls and with roller tracks turned out to be a better idea.

This is how the Van Eck customer came to own an Eckcellent trailer equipped with hydraulic roller conveyors, to load and unload pallets quickly.

Following the initial trailer purchase, Wim Duis preferred roller conveyors that are operated electrically.

“The electric version is significantly stronger,” he said. “The whole system responds better and the trailer is lighter, too.”

Duis had a second roller conveyor system installed, a slipchain system.

Van Eck has delivered on the best solution upon Duis’s request in working with select supplier of these systems ensuring the loaded pallets are tightly connected to each other in the longitudinal direction of the trailer.

“The result is an optimally loaded trailer that is also safer,” said Wim Duis.

In order to also make the best possible use of the axle loads, Duis opted for a TD steering system, in which the first and third trailer axles are steered.

12 / G L O B A L TR A I L E R / I SS U E 5 8

Intermodal transport specialist partners with Wielton.

Those axles have an axle spacing of more than 1.81 metres between them, which allows them to carry more weight.

“As a result, we never run into problems with the axle loads and we also have a trailer that manoeuvres optimally and whose tyres last considerably longer,” said Wim Duis.

The family business also specified Van Eck for the aftersales support.

“Van Eck listens carefully to the customer,” said Wim Duis.

“Not only when they sell the trailer, but also afterwards. That is very important to us and was the decisive factor in our decision to continue working with this supplier.”

The new trailer from Van Eck will make five daily trips in North Holland.

“So five loading and unloading operations in one day,” said Wim Duis.

“In this way, we transport 150 tonnes of cocoa product for our customer every day, which is 900 tonnes a week. Loading and unloading takes about two minutes each time. It shows that Van Eck gets full confidence to play a crucial role in our daily logistics operation.”

POLAND Wielton has supplied CLIP Group with 100 modern huckepack vehicles.

These units are dedicated to intermodal transport via railway wagons.

The full potential of intermodal transport is not being used in Poland according to Wielton – despite the advantageous geographic location and dense network of railway connections compared to other European Union countries.

“However, over the last few years, combined transport is gaining more and more importance in our country, thanks to EU funds allocated to investments in the field of road and rail infrastructure, the growing interest in this type of transport on the part of the state authorities, as well as the modernisation and expansion of accompanying infrastructure,” said Wielton.

“An excellent example of activities for the development of intermodal transport in Poland is the activity of the CLIP Group, which is one of the largest and most modern logistics centres in Central and Eastern Europe. CLIP Group is constantly investing in the modernisation of its Intermodal Terminal.

“Recently, it has installed the innovative Lohr Railway system, which is a modern technology that allows for

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EUROPE horizontal loading of standard road trailers onto railway wagons.

“This is the first and only solution of this type in Poland that does not require the use of a crane.”

CLIP Group partnered with Wielton last year to acquire modern intermodal trailers which includes an order of 50 Mega Curtain Master semi-trailers and 50 Dry Master closed box semi-trailers.

Special emphasis was placed on durability, tightness and functionality of use according to Wielton. The OEM’s R&D department carried out full truckload testing to test the modern structure of the trailer frame and superstructure to ensure high durability. Also, the low curb weight of the semi-trailer was maintained, reducing operational costs for long journeys.

“The possibility of reducing the overall costs of the transport process and reducing the negative impact on the environment make intermodal transport more and more popular,” said Wielton Director of the Western Region, Przemysław Skrivanek.

“We have many years of experience in Wielton in the production of semitrailers used in this type of transport.

“For this reason, we are glad that we have partnered with CLIP Group and we can support another customer by providing unique, personalised vehicles. We are a partner who understands the transport business, is able to listen and provides the best solutions, tailored to customer requirements.”

Mega Curtain Master and Dry Master trailers, delivered to CLIP Group, are huckepack vehicles. These vehicles have been adapted to combined transport, thanks to a reinforced frame and air suspension, as well as the use of unique solutions, such as a 14 / G L O B A L TR A I L E R / I SS U E 5 8

folding bumper. The products have appropriate reinforcements in the chassis, enabling vertical loading, ie detachable suspension, four grab handles arranged in accordance with the UIC 596-5 standard and a reinforced connection board, which is protected by additional rubber buffers.

These types of semi-trailers can also be used for transport by ferry, provided they are equipped with ferry holders that enable proper securing of the semi-trailer. Additionally, Dry Master vans have been equipped with the DoubleDeck double loading system, which allows the maximum use of the cargo space. In turn, the Mega Curtain Master trailers have additional equipment options that increase the versatility of the sets in terms of transporting various goods, including tires and drinks.

“Our main task is to properly match the products to the needs of customers who expect, above all, modern and durable products that are comfortable to use and safe,” said Wielton Business Advisor, Krzysztof Beder.

“Wielton huckepack vehicles, delivered to CLIP Group, are perfect solutions dedicated to combined transport. They are united by an innovative and proven design, high-quality workmanship and ergonomic solutions that improve the process of loading and unloading, reducing the time. Thus, using them is effective, which translates into specific savings.”

The contract between CLIP Group and Wielton was carried out as part of the project ‘Purchase of intermodal trailers to service calls’ co-financed by the European Union from the Cohesion Fund under the Operational Program Infrastructure and Environment 2014-2020.

SWITZERLAND Global transport and logistics company, Kuehne + Nagel, recorded operational profit in 2020 which was driven in part by growth in pharmaceuticals and e-commerce.

The year 2020, according to Kuehne + Nagel, was characterised by a weak first and a strong second semester.

“Kuehne + Nagel achieved a remarkably good result in an environment marked by crisis,” the company said in a statement.

“Operational profit was above the previous year; total reported net earnings of the year decreased only slightly compared to 2019.”

Net turnover of 20.4 billion CHF (approx. €18.3 billion) for the full year 2020 was below the 2019 figure due to lower volumes in the first half.

EBIT, on the other hand, was almost one percentage point higher at 1.1 billion CHF (approx. €991.3 million).

Currency fluctuations had a significant negative effect of -6 per cent on both net turnover and EBIT. Free cash flow increased by 27.7 per cent.

“Last year we proved what makes Kuehne + Nagel successful,” said Kuehne + Nagel International AG CEO, Dr Detlef Trefzger.

“Within a very short period of time, we adapted to the volatile market environment.

“We won new business and at the same time were able to position ourselves as a reliable and responsible partner for our customers and suppliers.”

The company’s Road Logistics division reported a significant increase in the number of shipments compared to the previous quarter.

Demand in Europe for Q4 2020 reached pre-crisis levels while demand for all product segments, with the

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EUROPE exception of pharma, healthcare and e-commerce, remained significantly behind the previous year in North America. The company noted market recovery was noticeable in the last quarter.

Road Logistics’ net turnover in 2020 was 3.2 billion CHF (approx. €2.9 billion) and EBIT 62 million CHF (approx. €55.9 million).

Meanwhile, Contract Logistics achieved market share gains in pharma & healthcare and e-commerce fulfilment as well as productivity gains.

In 2020, the business unit’s net turnover reached 4.9 billion CHF (approx. €4.4 billion) and EBIT of 80

million CHF (approx. €72 million).

Adjusted for extraordinary effects in 2019 and 2020, EBIT decreased by 7.6 per cent.

The company also reported positive outcomes for its Sea Logistics and Air Logistics business units.

“We were able to close the year 2020 with a record operating result – this shows the strength and resilience of our company,” said Dr Joerg Wolle, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Kuehne + Nagel International AG. “Kuehne + Nagel stands for entrepreneurial vision, dynamism and a highly motivated team who is fully committed to serving our customers

and business partners.

“With the successful completion of the restructuring of Contract Logistics, we are now ideally equipped for continued positive development.

“In view of Asia being the world’s fastest growing economic region, the announcement of the acquisition of Apex Logistics in February 2021 is a significant milestone. The Board of Directors looks forward to the year 2021 with confidence.”

TURKEY Global technology company, ZF, has signed a deal with Turkey-based integrated logistics service provider,

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EUROPE Barsan endorses ZF fleet management systems.

Barsan Global Logistics, to equip its commercial vehicle fleet with advanced Transics-branded connectivity solutions in Europe and the Middle East.

Under the agreement, ZF’s Commercial Vehicle Control Systems division, formed from its acquisition of WABCO, will equip Barsan’s 800 trucks and 1,000 trailers with its leading Transics-branded TX-SKY on-board computers and its TX-TRAILERPULSE advanced trailer monitoring and remote diagnostics solution.

Connected with the cloud-based digital services platforms TX-CONNECT and TX-TRAILERFIT, fleets get real-time access to operational data helping to optimise trailer capacity and utilisation, while also enabling access to trailer health.

Through real-time fleet management capabilities and data-driven insights, ZF’s advanced Fleet Management Solutions (FMS) will enable Barsan to further differentiate its strong customer service and quality commitment by supporting its digital transformation journey and enhancing operational efficiency.

The deal was completed in close collaboration with Intermobil, ZF’s long16 / G L O B A L TR A I L E R / I SS U E 5 8

standing Turkish partner.

“In today’s highly competitive logistics market, ensuring we deliver first-class logistics support to our customers across the globe is of paramount importance,” said Barsan Global Logistics founder, Kamil Barlin.

“So it is vital that our partners share our ambition and values, as ZF does.

“ZF’s advanced FMS capabilities for truck and trailer, along with its panEuropean service network will help accelerate our digitisation journey in addition to providing efficiency gains.”

Barsan provides its services to global companies through 74 centres located in 38 countries, including the US and China as well as across Europe and Asia.

“As ZF’s long-standing agent and distributor in Turkey, we are delighted to further build on our partnership by supporting ZF’s continued expansion in this important region,” added Rıfat Perahya, Managing Director of İntermobil. “ZF is honoured to welcome a global leader of Barsan standing as a valued customer.”

“We are confident that our advanced connectivity solutions will boost Barsan’s digitisation journey and

enable them to take their highly rated customer services to the next level,” said Peter Bal, Business Leader Digital Customer Services EMEA with ZF Commercial Vehicle Control Systems.

“Further reinforcing the market leading position of ZF’s FMS capabilities, this agreement underlines our continued expansion in Turkey’s strategically important automotive market and is the latest endorsement of the unique differentiated value offered by our comprehensive portfolio of integrated solutions for trucks and trailers. We would also like to thank our long-term partner Intermobil for their ongoing support and collaboration in Turkey.”

UK NHS Supply Chain, with its logistics service provider Unipart Logistics, is proud to play a key role in the delivery of vital equipment that NHS Trusts and other vaccination centres need to administer the Covid-19 vaccine.

NHS Supply Chain Logistics helps to deliver vaccine consumables – everything except the vaccine itself, from sharps bins to antibacterial wipes, paper towels to pens.

As soon as the vaccine was approved on 2 December 2020, Unipart ensured the products were immediately available, so that trusts and vaccination sites could start without delay. An expert team was formed across Unipart Logistics, with colleagues from Customer Service, Project Management, Inventory Management, Transport and Operations mobilising to ensure the equipment was delivered on time to mass vaccination sites and 223 hospital trusts across the country.

In addition, Unipart is providing customer services support to the national vaccination program, as part of its expanded remit during the

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EUROPE ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, which also includes dedicated support for the national PPE portal. Meanwhile, Unipart continues to manage the logistics service to the NHS Supply Chain, across its extensive network.

“We are proud to play a critical role in the UK vaccination program, the scale of which is unprecedented in the history of the NHS Supply Chain,” said Claire Salmon, Director: NHS Supply Chain, Unipart Logistics.

“A time-critical project of such national importance demonstrated our operational agility, whilst the resilience of our colleagues has enabled us to provide this vital support, in addition to our day-to-day deliveries to the NHS.” Unipart Logistics is part of the Unipart Group which has businesses in manufacturing, logistics and consultancy.

UK Refrigerated transport fleet, Romac Logistics, has taken delivery of 10 new curtainsiders from Tiger Trailers.

The acquisition brings Romac Logistics’ vehicle portfolio close to 400 trailers and more than 200 prime movers.

The new Tiger trailers are 13.7m-long units and feature 3.1m side apertures and digital print liveries.

“With our combined industry experience of over 100 years, our senior leadership team are familiar with Tiger’s innovative approach and strong brand, which fit in with our own values, so we’re very pleased that our research led us to choose them for our new curtainsided trailers,” said Romac Logistics Managing Director, Rob McAdoo.

“Tiger delivered on time and to high standards.

“Our thanks goes to Darren and the 18 / G L O B A L TR A I L E R / I SS U E 5 8

team for enabling us to serve an ever widening and diverse customer base.”

Tiger Trailers’ tri-axle curtainsided straight-frame builds for Romac Logistics are manufactured to EN 12642 XL standards and incorporate non-slip plywood floors with an overbeam design suited to the haulage of paper. Their pillarless clearspan roofs provide enhanced levels of light, comfort and safety for the trailers’ operatives, while delivering the strength and durability.

The safety of nearby road users, pedestrians and in particular cyclists is of paramount importance to this rapidly-expanding operator, and Romac Logistics is among the first of Tiger Trailers’ customers to specify flashing ‘No cyclist’ warning screens to the rear of their trailers.

“It has been a pleasure working alongside the Romac team to ensure that the trailers are to the best suited specification for them to deliver to their customer base,” said Tiger Trailers Sales Director, Darren Holland.

“As a customer they reflect Tiger’s own passionate outlook, appetite for expansion and keenness to deliver and we look forward to working closely with Romac over the coming months in support of their further growth.”

Operating alongside its reefers and rigids, the ten new curtainsiders have entered duty on routes serving the firm’s customers from its UK-wide sites ranging from Yorkshire and the Midlands to the south west and south coast.

IRELAND Freight forwarder, ABC Logistic, which specialises in transporting goods in Ireland, has added 20 Lecitrailer XL Multipoint lifting tarpaulin trailers to its fleet.

ABC Logistic sends weekly between 20 and 30 refrigerated semi-trailers, ADRs and tarpaulins to Ireland , serving a wide range of clients, including exporters of horticultural products, manufacturers of structures, or leading global brands in the retail and food sector as well as fashion.

To carry out these transport services, ABC Logistic uses the direct connections between Spanish ports and Ireland, up to four a week , and sometimes also ships from Cherbourg (France), where there are a dozen connections a week.

Due to the constant growth of activity it has had over the last two years, it has entrusted Lecitrailer to place an order for 20 XL multi-point lifting tarpaulins semi-trailers equipped with antitheft tarpaulins, and GPS, providing significant flexibility to move any type of load.

The trailer acquisition brings the fleet’s total trailer units to 140 which comprises a mix of reefers, dump trucks and tarps.

ABC Logistic is a Cantabrian-Basque family company , which in addition to the intermodal business has a large presence in the north of the peninsula with its own offices in La Coruña, Santander and Vitoria and a 5,000-square-metre multi-client logistics warehouse in Jundiz, Vitoria.

ITALY Ambrogio Intermodal has intensified its partnership with Kässbohrer following an investment of an additional 150 light swap bodies.

Over the last three years, Ambrogio has added more than Kässbohrer swap body trailers to its fleet.

Ambrogio Terminal and Purchasing Manager, Awes Botello, and Head of Key Account Management

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NORTH AMERICA at Kässbohrer, Mehmet Önen, commented on their partnership.

“As Ambrogio, we have a long-standing partnership with Kässbohrer since 1991,” said Botello.

“For our environment-friendly intermodal operations, we already operate with Kässbohrer vehicles.

“We have decided to strengthen our fleet with additional 150 Kässbohrer Light Swap Body K.SWAU CL vehicles that provide maximum payload capacity. To ensure the efficiency of our transportation services, we always look for the latest generation of intermodal equipment, technically advanced and safe.

“We are glad to cooperate with Kässbohrer once again,” he said.

“As Kässbohrer, we are offering the complete intermodal product range that covers the Lightest Swap Body in the market, K.SWAU CL,” said Önen.

“With its lowest tare weight of only 3.900 kg, K.SWAU CL enables CO2 emission and trip reductions.

“The vehicle has a C45 transportation code and 34 euro pallet capacity.

K.SWAU CL enables lower cost in operations with its robust design, allowing for stowing and freight opportunity.

“Furthermore, the light swap body is offered with 24 vertical stainless steel

reinforcements that are integrated into the curtain which eliminates the need for side rows. Vertical reinforcements enable faster and user-friendly loading and unloading operations, which is appreciated a lot by the field operators.

“With our complete intermodal product range, comprehensive sales and wide after-sales support, we will continue to meet the operational needs of our longstanding partner Ambrogio.”

US XPO Logistics, has announced the name of its spinoff logistics business.

The spinoff business, GXO Logistics, Inc., will enter the market with the

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NORTH AMERICA tagline ‘Logistics at full potential’ and made its debut with a video introduction showcasing its logo and message.

“Today [18 March 2021], we took an exciting step forward on our path to spinning off our logistics segment,” said XPO Logistics Chairman and CEO, Brad Jacobs.

“The new company is called GXO — three letters that stand for the gamechanging opportunities we’re bringing to the table for customers, employees and shareholders, with a nod to our XPO heritage.

“GXO will take this legacy into the future as an independent public company, with countless ways to deliver logistics at full potential.”

Fuelled by years of investment in technology as part of XPO, GXO will reportedly be in a strong position to capitalise on the logistics industry’s predominant secular tailwinds – the growth in e-commerce and omnichannel retail, fast-growing customer demand for automation and digital capabilities and a shift toward outsourcing supply chain services.

GXO will have an undiluted focus on its strategic priorities and blue-chip customer base, with a standalone equity currency to create long-term value for its stakeholders.

“The new company’s brand identity captures the qualities that make us an industry leader — our ability to deliver faster, leaner, smarter logistics for customers at lower cost, using advanced automation and data science,” said XPO Logistics CEO – Europe, Malcolm Wilson, who has been named to become CEO of GXO. “I’m looking forward to leading our global team to the many new opportunities in our future.”

In December 2020, XPO announced 20 / G L O B A L TR A I L E R / I SS U E 5 8

its intent to spin off the logistics segment of its existing business and create two pure-play industry powerhouses focused separately on transportation and logistics.

Post-separation, XPO will remain a global provider of freight transportation, primarily less-than-truckload and truck brokerage, and GXO will be the second largest contract logistics provider in the world. Usage of the new company name, logo and other brand components will become effective upon the completion of the spinoff.

US Net US trailer orders of 26,414 units fell nearly 16 per cent from the previous month but rose almost 88 per cent compared to February of 2020 according to ACT Research.

Before accounting for cancellations, new orders of 28.3k units were down 14 per cent versus January, but 74 per cent better than the previous February.

“Although it seems many OEMs are fully committed for dry vans and reefers this year, negotiations with fleets continue,” said ACT Research Director – CV Transportation Analysis and Research.

“While orders will continue to be booked, without meaningful increases in production rates, backlogs will remain extended.

“Although not official, the backlog-tobuild ratio points to a defacto opening of 2022 orderboards by several OEMs, although one has publicly indicated that they are pausing further order acceptance in the short-term.”

US The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company has agreed to acquire a US-based tyre manufacturer for $2.5 billion USD (approx. €2 billion).

Goodyear is acquiring Cooper Tire & Rubber Company – a parent company of a global family of companies that specialises in the design, manufacture, marketing and sale of passenger car, light truck, medium truck, motorcycle and racing tyres.

Cooper is headquartered in Findlay, Ohio, with manufacturing, sales, distribution, technical and design operations within its family of companies located in 15 countries around the world.

The transaction will expand Goodyear’s product offering by combining two portfolios of complementary brands. It will also create a stronger US-based manufacturer with increased presence in distribution and retail channels while combining both companies’ strengths in the highly profitable light truck and SUV product segments. The combined company will have approximately $17.5 billion USD in pro forma 2019 sales.

Under the terms of the transaction, which has been approved by the Boards of Directors of both companies, Cooper shareholders will receive $41.75 USD per share in cash and a fixed exchange ratio of 0.907 shares of Goodyear common stock per Cooper share for a total equity value of approximately $2.8 billion USD. Based on Goodyear’s closing stock price on 19 February 2021, the last trading day prior to the announcement, the implied cash and stock consideration to be received by Cooper shareholders is $54.36 USD per share, representing a premium of 24 per cent to Cooper’s closing stock price on 19 February 2021, and a premium of 36 per cent to Cooper’s 30-day volume weighted average price as of the close on February 19, 2021. Upon closing of the transaction, Goodyear shareholders

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NORTH AMERICA will own approximately 84 per cent of the combined company and Cooper shareholders will own approximately 16 per cent.

Founded in 1914, Cooper is the fifth largest tyre manufacturer in North America by revenue with approximately 10,000 employees working in 15 countries worldwide. Cooper products are manufactured in 10 facilities around the globe, including whollyowned and joint venture plants. The company’s portfolio of brands includes Cooper, Mastercraft, Roadmaster and Mickey Thompson.

“This is an exciting and transformational day for our companies,” said Goodyear Chairman, CEO and President, Richard J. Kramer.

“The addition of Cooper’s complementary tire product portfolio and highly capable manufacturing assets, coupled with Goodyear’s technology and industry leading distribution, provides the combined company with opportunities for improved cost efficiency and a broader offering for both companies’ retailer networks.

“We are confident this combination will enable us to provide enhanced service for our customers and consumers while delivering value for shareholders.

“We have a great deal of respect for Cooper’s team and share a commitment to integrity, quality, agility and teamwork. We look forward to welcoming Cooper to the Goodyear family,” he said.

“Cooper has transformed into a dynamic, consumer-driven organisation that has balanced traditional and emerging channels to increase demand for our products, while updating and effectively leveraging our global manufacturing footprint,” said 22 / G L O B A L TR A I L E R / I SS U E 5 8

Goodyear Chairman, CEO and President, Richard J. Kramer.

Cooper President and CEO, Brad Hughes.

“I am extremely proud of what our team has accomplished over the past 107 years and am grateful to our talented employees for their contributions and commitment.

“This transaction marks the start of a new chapter for Cooper, which we are entering from a position of strength. We believe that it represents an attractive opportunity to maximise value for our shareholders, who will receive a meaningful premium as well as the opportunity to participate in the upside of the combined company.

We look forward to the opportunity to combine Cooper’s considerable talents with Goodyear’s, and to be part of a bigger, stronger organisation that will be competitively well-positioned to win in the global tire industry.”

US North American heavy haulage solution provider, Talbert Manufacturing, has announced the winners of its latest dealer awards.

Hale Trailer Brake & Wheel, headquartered in Voorhees, New Jersey, has been named Talbert’s top dealer for 2020 for performance in trailer sales, service and parts.

This is reported to be Hale’s 13th consecutive time in the top spot. The dealership was also recognised as the top parts seller for the year.

“Talbert Manufacturing is proud of Hale’s long-term commitment to our brand,” said Talbert Manufacturing Vice President – Sales and Marketing, Troy Geisler.

“It goes beyond dollars and cents.

The top-notch customer service and dependability they provide to customers up and down the East Coast makes them an exemplary partner.

We’re excited to award them top dealer recognition for an amazing 13th time.”

Hale is a full-service dealership with 12 locations from Maine to Florida. The dealership sells new and used trailers and related equipment. Hale also rents trailers, sells commercial trailer parts and accessories and provides general trailer service and repairs.

Talbert also named Leslie Equipment Company as the Most Improved Dealer of 2020 and one of the top 10 dealers overall.

“We’d like to acknowledge the dedicated team at Leslie Equipment Company for their hard work,” said Geisler.

“Despite the many speed bumps 2020 left for our industry, the team at Leslie Equipment proved why they’re consistently a top dealer. Nearly half a century of industry experience has taught them how to listen and provide the solutions customers need, even in unprecedented times.”

Leslie Equipment is a consistent top Talbert dealer, providing quality construction, forestry, mining and oil and gas pipeline equipment for more than 45 years. The company is recognised within the industry as an innovative leader in sale and product support. Eight locations serve

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NORTH AMERICA customers in Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia.

The remaining top Talbert dealers, based on 2020 sales, are in alphabetical order below.

Columbus Equipment Company, headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, has provided heavy equipment services to customers in Ohio and the surrounding states for more than 65 years. With 10 locations across the state, Columbus Equipment offers an extensive lineup of new and used trailers as well as rental options, parts and services.

Coogle Truck & Trailer Sales of Otterbein, Indiana, features a wide selection of new and used trailers for

sale or rent and a fully stocked parts department. The family-owned company also offers custom trailer modification and full-service repairs.

Freightliner of Grand Rapids, with locations in Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids, Michigan, has a trailer division that specializes in the construction, material hauling and agricultural trailer business. Since 1978, the company has offered customers one of the most expansive and diverse used truck inventories in the United States.

Lucky’s Trailer Sales of South Royalton, Vermont, is a family-owned business that has been a top Talbert dealer for many years. The company features a

complete line of construction, traveling axle and tag-a-long trailers, a large, well-stocked parts department and a full-service repair facility. They have multiple locations in Vermont.

Lynch Chicago of Alsip, Illinois and Waterford, Wisconsin, stocks one the most complete selection of both new and used equipment for sale in the greater Chicago area. Their two locations provide a full service department, collision body shop and truck painting facility, as well as the largest tow truck parts department in the region.

Remorques Lewis of La Présentation, Saint-Hyacinthe, Québec, is a full-

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SOUTH AMERICA service general and specialized heavy-haul trailer dealer and has been selling Talbert trailers for more than 20 years.

Reno’s Trailer Sales & Rental of Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania is a leader in the open deck market, specialising in flatbeds, drop decks, lowboys, double drops, specialised heavy haul and tag-a-long trailers. The company has a 60-plus-year legacy of industryleading service for their customers in the greater Pittsburgh area.

Royal Truck & Trailer Sales & Service Inc., with four locations covering norther and eastern Michigan, carries a wide selection of new and used trailers for sale. The company also offers wheel reconditioning, service and fabrication and has one of the largest parts departments in the industry.

Talbert boasts more than 80 dealers across North America.

BRAZIL Acquisitions focused on productivity and efficiency, carried out in the last three years, contributed to a 20 per cent boost in Brazilian company Fras-le’s net revenue.

Fras-le – one of the world’s largest manufacturers of friction materials and part of the Randon Companies Group – recently released its annual and Q4 2020 financial results.

Fras-le ended 2020 with consolidated net revenue of $1.7 billion BRL (approx. €256.6 million), achieving the best result of the company in the last ten years.

The positive performance, which registered an increase of 22 per cent compared to 2019, was mainly driven by the positive performance of acquisitions and by changes and adjustments in the business made by 24 / G L O B A L TR A I L E R / I SS U E 5 8

the company in the last three years.

The company also recorded total gross revenue of $2.4 billion BRL (approx. €362.4 million), an increase of 18.1 per cent compared to the previous year, and adjusted EBITDA of $283.1 million BRL (approx. €42.7 million), with an EBITDA margin of 16.9 per cent. Net income totalled $182 million BRL (approx. €27.5 million) in 2020, an increase of 454.9 per cent.

During 2020, Fras-le completed the purchase of Nakata, the largest acquisition in the company’s history, which contributed to the company’s growth in the Brazilian aftermarket, to the expansion of the already diversified product portfolio, mainly adding the suspension and management systems, and to the direct increase in revenue.

Also, the company’s positive performance was a reflection of the improvements that began in 2018, including line readjustment, process changes for productivity gain, cost reductions and technology investment. The results of the year also include the success in the tax process related to the exclusion of ICMS* from the PIS* and COFINS* calculation base.

“The capillarity of our business and the presence in the international market were fundamental to the fulfillment of the planned strategies,” said Fras-le CEO, Sergio L. Carvalho.

“In addition, our preparation from previous years has laid the foundation for our sustainable growth, even in a year of great challenges.

“Cautiously, we have built alternatives that have enabled the maintenance of our commitments and goals, bringing Fras-le to new heights in the market.”

In relation to the results presented by

the company in the fourth quarter of 2020, total gross revenue, without eliminations, was $832.7 million BRL (approx. €125.7 million, 47.5 per cent higher than the same period in 2019.

Net revenue increased 60.5 per cent, compared to the fourth quarter of the previous year, totalling $595.3 million BRL (approx. €89.8 million). Gross profit for the period totalled $175.8 million BRL (approx. €26.5 million, an increase of 70.5 per cent compared to the same period in 2019. EBITDA reached $156.6 million BRL (approx. €23.6 million), 156.3 per cent higher than the fourth quarter of the previous year.

“The challenges of 2020 have been accompanied by significant opportunities,” said Fras-le Director – Investor Relations, Hemerson de Souza.

“Cooperation, partnership and care, values that have always guided Frasle’s activities, have become even more central in our guidelines.

“The dedication and commitment of our people, together with strict health and safety protocols, have allowed us to reach these great results more united and close as an organisation and more solid and robust as a company.”

In 2020, investments totalled $56 million BRL (approx. €8.4 million), of which 25.9 million BRL (approx. €3.9 million) was allocated to the Fras-le unit in Caxias do Sul, focusing on the railway brake shoe line, AGV’s for the supply of cutters, machinery and equipment, various automations and NR-12 safety adjustments, in addition to amounts invested in the VDA and ABS tracks of the Randon Technological Center.

In the controlled units, Fremax’s casting capacity was expanded and

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SOUTH AMERICA the machining capacity of Brakes Controil was expanded.

BRAZIL Trailer builder, Librelato, participated in the opening of a soy harvest last month.

The Soy Harvest 2020/2021 held 17-19 February was hosted by the agribusiness company, Risa, at Ribeirão Farm, in Baixa Grande do Ribeiro, Piau.

The event reportedly showcased the entire logistical operation that involves the planting and harvesting of soybeans on the farm owned by Risa in the state of Piauí which has an area of 21,000 hectares.

Risa counted on the presence of customers from all over Brazil and around 120 employees to demonstrate the work step by step.

According to Risa Operations Director, Paulo Ferrari, the operation involved more than 50 exclusive Librelato tippers to load around 4,000 tonnes of soybeans per day of harvest.

The Librelato tippers are reported to provide greater versatility to the harvesting operation, allowing faster loading and unloading, in addition to great stability to the trucks, without the need for decoupling. With this solution, the trucks maintain good driveability and less drag, avoiding excessive tyre wear.

“This project was developed exclusively for Risa, which was looking for greater efficiency and speed in its operations in the field,” said Librelato Commercial Director, Rafael Bett.

“This demonstrates Librelato’s great focus on developing customised solutions to increase the productivity of its customers, both at harvest time

and for transporting the harvest.”

For Pedro Adelir, Ribeirão da Risa Finance Manager, all the investment applied in the last year involving irrigation technologies, machinery and equipment, even planting processes such as fertilisation, seed technology and crop protection products, is estimated to be a harvest with a volume of 5,400 tonnes higher than the 2019/2020 harvest.

“In this event, we presented a productive, grandiose and technological Northeast, different from what the media is used to showing,” he said.

“In addition, the grandeur of the logistics operation was evident, in addition to all the technology present in the equipment and the complexity that requires synchronisation in the work of all those involved.”

Librelato CEO, José Carlos Sprícigo, said it was extremely important to participate in a technical event of this magnitude.

“In addition to bringing us closer and closer to the customer, reinforcing the history of the partnership that already exists between the two companies, we understand all their operational needs in the field,” he said.

“More than ever, agribusiness has a fundamental role in the recovery of the economy and this logistical operation has shown that the sector will continue to grow in the country.

CHILE Copper mining company, Codelco, specified CEVA Logistics to transport nine enormous conveyor belts to northern Chile.

Each conveyor belt was approx.

2.06 x 4.2m and weighed a total of 58.8 tonnes.

Codelco is reported to have the largest known copper reserves and is also one of the largest producers of molybdenum in the world, in addition to being a major producer of rhenium, of which Chile is the largest producer worldwide.

CEVA’s scope was to receive the conveyor belts directly discharged from the vessel onto low bed trucks in the port of Las Losas and to transport them to an intermediate site in Antofagasta.

The belts’ sizes and dimensions required special transport permits which had to be adjusted, as well as equipment and personnel on a daily base, due to constant shifts in the vessel’s unloading program caused by strike and climate impacts in Port of Las Losas.

CEVA, despite the logistical challenges of rotating staff and equipment during the two weeks of the operation, managed to maintain the availability of all its resources – complying with accreditations, Covid-19 protocols and Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) requirements.

All nine low bed trailers were positioned on time for direct reception from the vessel and transported immediately to the destination, avoiding detention of overtime charges in the stand by period at the port. The belt’s installation at the job site was delayed, hence the on time delivery was imperative for the customer, in order not to affect production.

Codelco congratulated CEVA Logistics for the successful delivery of these critical components on time.

“This action increasingly demonstrates the strengthening of the Industrial Projects and Energy W W W. G LO B A LT R A I L E R M AG . C O M / G L O B A L T R A I L E R / 2 5

OCEANIA Services (IP&ES) service in the Latin America region,” said CEVA Logistics.

AUSTRALIA Freight companies VISA Global Logistics and Mondiale Freight Services Limited have agreed to merge to form a significant entity in international transport and logistics.

The merged company will reportedly have a combined annual revenue of $1.2 billion AUD (approx. €775 million), with operations across Australia, New Zealand, North Asia, South East Asia, Indian Sub-Continent and Europe.

Both companies have made significant investments in wharf transport in Australia and New Zealand and offer a total end-to-end supply chain solution in these two countries.

The founding seven executive shareholders of VISA and Mondiale will remain with the company as shareholders in their executive positions.

VISA and Mondiale currently handle 500,000 containers per annum and employ more than 1,500 people globally, covering all aspects of freight forwarding, customs, wharf transport, and warehousing.

“The Mondiale and VISA teams have very close synergies and are an excellent fit in the merged company,” said Mondiale Director and shareholder, John Sargent.

“Each company has grown globally over the last 30 plus years, with complementary global networks and a key focus on customer service,” said VISA Global Logistics Director and shareholder, Vittorio Tarchi.

Ray Meade, who has operated in the global freight markets in both Australia and New Zealand for 30 years and managed Mondiale’s Australian 26 / G L O B A L TR A I L E R / I SS U E 5 8

operations for over eight years, will become CEO of the merged group.

“The strength of the combined entity, supported by its extremely valued and dedicated staff will deliver significant advantage to both its existing and future customer base.” said Meade.

AUSTRALIA Transport and logistics company, Toll Group, is committed to upgrading its IT systems but will lean towards smaller, more cost-effective initiatives as opposed to multi-million-dollar projects that could take years to complete.

Last year, Toll released updates on a series of cyberattacks that impacted the company’s operations.

In one instance, corporate server files were compromised, exposing personal information of employees – current and former – in Australia and New Zealand.

By May 2020, Toll had been hit by several ransomware attacks which triggered the business to shut down certain IT systems. Toll relied on a combination of manual and automated processes following a decision to mitigate the IT threats.

Meanwhile, the Federal Government took action to protect the operation of hospitals and essential services under threat by malicious cyber actors during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The issue of cybersecurity has been a trending topic for all parties in the essential services supply chain. In July 2020, The Federal Government supported the release of a Joint Cyber Security Advisory by the US, UK and Canada.

Anxiety over malicious cyber activity by Russian actors targeting organisations involved in the development of Covid-19 vaccines

served as a timely concern to acton on cybersecurity resilience.

In July 2020, Australian Government invested $1.35 billion AUD to further enhance Australia’s cybersecurity capabilities. The Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) is based within the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) and leads the Australian Government’s efforts to improve cybersecurity.

At the Digital Disruption 2021 conference, a virtual event held 1011 March, Toll Head of IT Business Partnering Customer & Digital, Stuart Robertson, said the company managed to secure additional funding to keep upgraded systems contemporary and secure.

Toll, according to a report from media company, nextmedia, has emerged from the past three years with a heavily transformed environment following a $450 million AUD investment.

The transformation work is reported to be completed, with systems running business-as-usual, however Toll is planning for the future.

“It doesn’t all have to be $50 million [AUD] or $100 million [AUD] investment – some of the stuff that I’m doing around intelligent automation can actually drive significant business value at a relatively low cost,” said Robertson.

“We’re trying to balance the business outcome and value that’s going to be achieved, and how can we deliver that a little bit differently from a traditional transformation perspective.”

Toll, according to nextmedia, is looking into a two-speed or bimodal IT operating model which could manage big projects that could also shorten time-to-value and deliver quickly, effectively, efficiently and at a low cost.

Robertson also discussed Toll’s

NEWS

OCEANIA internal IT and how Covid-19 accelerated improvements. He mentioned how the business has come from a large legacy and aged estate. In recent times, it has moved to the latest Microsoft suite with tools such as Teams and SharePoint Online.

These developments in IT functionality, Robertson said, demonstrated how Toll can move faster and give capability quickly.

Toll is now eyeing Intelligent Automation (IA), which according to nextmedia refers to the combination of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning with more traditional process automation techniques.

Robertson said Toll Group is starting to deploy IA on some internal processes but is adamant that the tech is not necessarily new, getting away from terms like ‘innovative’ and ‘exciting’ to avoid red flags associated with perceived risks or unknown variables via senior management.

Rather than jump on the innovation bandwagon, Toll appears to be committed to driving practical operational and process efficiencies on a smaller scale first.

AUSTRALIA Vawdrey Australia will be presenting its latest temperature-controlled Iceliner range and Performance-Based Standards (PBS) innovations at the upcoming Brisbane Truck Show.

The national trailer building powerhouse– with company-owned facilities in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria – will make the trek up north in May to showcase its latest trailer designs and service capabilities.

Vawdrey’s state-of-the-art Iceliner – locally engineered and manufactured for distribution and heavy duty

Vawdrey Australia to headline Brisbane Truck Show with latest Iceliner and PBS innovations.

applications – epitomises peak performance in terms of thermal efficiency and high productivity.

Cold chain carriers will see firsthand at the Brisbane Truck Show how these specialised reefers offer logistics operators a quality, long-term investment with excellent resale value.

As an industry leader committed to delivering PBS approved road transport equipment, visitor’s at Vawdrey’s trade stand will also see a complete portfolio of the trailer builder’s high-productivity prowess. In addition to supplying the latest in trailer technology and innovative engineering, Vawdrey also has the in-house expertise to guide fleet owners and operators through the PBS process.

Vawdrey Australia Director, Paul Vawdrey, said it is important – now more than ever – to reconnect and support industry partners which is why he is pulling out all of the stops for this year’s Brisbane Truck Show.

“Historically, the Brisbane Truck Show has been an immense success for us and this year will be no exception,” he said.

“At the last show we were run off our feet for the duration of the event fielding enquiries about our latest high-performance vehicles and safety products.

“Truck shows are always a great

opportunity for us to touch base with our current customers and support them as best we can while also teasing a little of what to expect from us in the near future.

“This event also allows us to meet new customers and demonstrate how our temperature-controlled Iceliner range and suite of PBS equipment can transform a business’ operational efficiency and achieve impressive safety outcomes.”

Vawdrey trailers are built to custom specification for optimal fleet utility.

“Vawdrey customers are already taking advantage of the knowledge and expertise from our experienced in-house PBS team and are utilising Iceliners to carry more freight in 30m and 36.6m A-doubles, 30m B-doubles, 26- and 28-pallet single trailers in triand quad-axle configurations and also now in 42m AB triple combinations,” said Paul Vawdrey.

“We always take pride in presenting our trailers with the highest quality finish, too, including any specific personalised touches.

“If you’re coming to the show, and you would like to learn more about how we can support your fleet, be sure to check in and say hello.”

The Brisbane Truck Show will be held 13-16 May at the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre.

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MOVING

ECOLOGY

Gervasi Ecologica co-founders Alessia and Stefania Gervasi.

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COVER STORY

THE TRANSPORTATION AND COLLECTION OF SCRAP METAL HAS NO LIMITS WHEN YOU HAVE THE RIGHT VEHICLE ACCORDING TO ITALY’S GERVASI ECOLOGICA. THE TRAILER BUILDER’S PRODUCTION IS MADE-TO-MEASURE AND CUSTOMISED TO SUIT SPECIFIC FREIGHT TASKS.

The Cobra KR65H is a tipper semi-trailer with crane spec’d for moving scrap metals.

G

ervasi Ecologica is an Italian company which specialises in the design and manufacture of semi-trailers for scrap metals.

It is a small niche in the industrial vehicle market, particularly important for the strategic role it plays within the circular economy.

These vehicles are developed to be the best solution for scrap recycling and transport companies, particularly those that deal with scrap metals.

With more than 40 years of experience, Gervasi Ecologica has seen much success in its home country and is now expanding into other markets.

Earlier this year a Belfast-based recycler specified a tipper semi-trailer with crane, the Cobra KR65H. This version is one of the most popular variants due to its large capacity. A single vehicle can collect, transport and unload up to 65 cubic metres of bulk materials almost everywhere, even without big crawler cranes and handlers.

The trailer chassis is designed and produced by Gervasi Ecologica, made in high resistance steel and slightly rear lowered for a better stability and lower loading floor.

The body is made in wear resistant steel 450HB, reinforced with folded and entirely

welded uprights and profiles. Despite Gervasi Ecologica production which has European Type Approval, all the trailers are made to measure to suit perfectly the requirements and specifications of the job.

In the case of this particular customer, Cobra KR65H features an 11.3m crane made by the Italian manufacturer, Marchesi, with a lifting capacity of 20 tonnes / m. The crane is mounted in the front part of the chassis and is equipped with a polyp grab made by Rozzi, another Italian company. These developments demonstrate that Gervasi Ecologica is transforming the scrap metal recycling industry in Northern Ireland and has made an important step in the right direction.

Alessia Gervasi – co-founder and daughter of Gervasi Ecologica Managing Director, Sebastiano Gervasi – has been a part of the family business alongside co-founder and sister, Stefania, since the very beginning.

“Sebastiano used to bring me and my sister Stefania to see his work once a week and I’ve grown up with the passion for steel and construction,” Alessia Gervasi said.

“Once I completed my education plan, I dived right into the family business, where I covered several positions in order to have a direct full view of company activities.

“I have worked in the Production Department and Vehicle Testing, Quality management, Accounting and Human Resources, Communication and last but not least Purchasing.

“Then, after about 10 years of experience, I decided to dedicate all of my energy to innovation and production process management for Gervasi Ecologica, our new family business with a green DNA and a lot of new ideas.”

In the early 1980s, Sebastiano Gervasi followed his passion for trailers and started an artisanal production in his small garage.

“His genial intuition was to focus on trailers for scrap collection in a period when ‘recycling’ was not exactly a trend topic,” Alessia Gervasi said. “At that time, scrap metals and end-of-life materials were transported with common

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vehicles, with the obvious result of a low efficiency and reliability.”

The first trailer that contributed to the facilitation of recycler work was the Canguro, a small tipper semi-trailer with goose-neck chassis designed to be extremely stable, featuring robust steel to resist hard wearing materials.

“After many years of growth in the domestic market, our work was noticed by one of the leading recycling groups in France,” Sebastiano Gervasi said.

“They were looking for a new solution and we had all the competencies to help them. So, in 2009, we started producing Maxi Tiger, a large volume tipper semi-trailer (80 cubic metre capacity) with two lateral cylinders. The tipping system we invented for Maxi Tiger is still nowadays a unique solution and an unrivalled advantage in terms of stability and safety during tipping operations.”

Over the years, Gervasi Ecologica’s competencies have been lent to other industries including construction and mining, extending the range of the manufacturer’s products beyond its initial portfolio.

It was this reason that in 2016, Alessia Gervasi and her sister, after a long experience in several different departments of the company decided with their father to bring all of their experience and passion back to the original focus on vehicles tailored for recycling. Hence, Gervasi Ecologica was born.

“Our mission is to provide recycling operators with the best trailers for scrap collection and transport and we want to reach this ambitious goal focusing all our people, technologies and resources on this important challenge,” Alessia Gervasi said. “We are currently beginning the fifth year of Gervasi Ecologica life and we are pleased to say that all our efforts have already reached important results such as a new site, patented safety system, a new product with a registered design and considerable increase of our recycling industry customer base.”

Today, Gervasi Ecologica’s production is open to any request concerning vehicles for scrap handling. The OEM can also produce truck bodies, with or without crane, tippers, hook-lift equipment and moving floor trailers with specific steel slats.

“With a wide range of possibility for all the companies involved in scrap handling, we are always open to new requests,” Alessia Gervasi said. “Our expertise in design is driven by our deep knowledge of the sector and has the shape of the strong steel chassis and bodies.”

Production mainly comprises wear resistant steel (SSAB’s Hardox or equivalent) as well as hardness suitable for waste materials such as metals, end-of-life vehicles, timber and bulk refuse.

“Knowledge of this special raw material and craftmanship in shaping it in strong and sometimes huge trailers is the result of great passion and long experience.”

Gervasi Ecologica has a five-year plan to enter and consolidate its presence in new European markets.

“Thanks to our European Type Approval, trailer registration is very easy and our trailers are already on the road in countries including France, UK,

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Germany, Belgium and others,” Alessia Gervasi said. “We want to increase the level of awareness of our specialised production.

Also, our purpose is two-fold, to grow our business and support the circular economy.

We strongly believe that the use of solutions like Maxi Tiger, with a capacity of 80 cubic metres, is extremely safe thanks to its two lateral cylinder systems which facilitate the work of many operators dealing with scrap metal. Basically, it’s a matter of doing only two trips instead of three to move the same volume of scrap, resulting in lower costs, number of drivers involved, traffic and carbon emissions. This is a huge benefit we want to promote as much as possible.”

Within the first three years of the official launch of Gervasi Ecologica, unveiled its new solution – Skyler – with a registered design and patented safety system.

“Skyler, in particular, has been an important project,” Alessia Gervasi said.

“It’s a semi-trailer with a moving floor for scrap transport, an innovative solution

The Maxi Tiger tipper made its debut at Solutrans 2019.

COVER STORY

which combines all the qualities of moving floor with the high resistance of steel. Skyler completes our range and represents an important alternative to tippers.”

Due to the specialised nature of Gervasi Ecologica’s builds, annual output is estimated to be below 100 units.

“The year 2020 marked a slowdown in our growth but the current figures in 2021 are extremely positive and confirm the objective of more than 30 per cent growth in the first five years,” Alessia Gervasi said. “The products which mostly contribute to pursue this objective are Maxi Tiger, the best seller in foreign countries, and Cobra KR (with crane and polyp grab) in Italy.”

The manufacturer is based in Buriasco, a small village near Turin, north of Italy.

“Here we carry out design and production of all our vehicles,” Alessia Gervasi said.

“The company moved into Buriasco in 2018.

When production increased we wanted to give a new house to our projects. The site is close to the former location and is a 18,000-square-metre area with a great potential and which we plan to completely recover within the next five years – in full accordance with the latest guidelines and sustainable building. Our ‘green DNA’ drives us to support sustainability in all of our internal projects and daily activities.”

Skyler is a steel moving floor trailer.

Stefania and Alessia Gervasi.

With the exception of some key suppliers such as SSAB, SAF-Holland, IPH and JOST, the trailer builder strives to reduce transport costs with all its consequences in terms of sustainability and better risk management.

As for Gervasi Ecologica’s place in the Italian economy, in the second half of 2020, the Federal Government set important incentives for the purchase of new vehicles fitted with geo-localisation and web-based interconnection.

“Our kit GEN!O is suitable to allow customers to access these contributions up to 50 per cent of the total investment,” Alessia Gervasi said. “GEN!O is a kit that is able to connect with the trailer via web and return data and information about safety checks, geo-localisation and maintenance alerts.”

Another trend in Italy at the moment is the issue pertaining to the average age of fleets.

“We are probably among the eldest in Europe but I’m confident that the recent program of incentives can be the definitive turning point,” she said. “ The number of new trailer registrations in January 2021 increased by 15 per compared to last year (source: UNRAE) and this make us look forward positively.” www.gervasiecologica.com

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NORSE CODE

A SCANDINAVIAN LAND OF MOUNTAINS AND COASTAL FJORDS IN NORTHERN EUROPE, NORWAY LEANS ON A SMALL BUT BUSTLING TRAILER INDUSTRY TO LINK ITS MARITIME AND RAIL LOGISTICS CONNECTIONS.

N

orway has a substantial number of trailers to serve the infrastructure in the country according to Tom Haugvaldstad, Head of Road Freight, DHL Global Forwarding, Freight Norway.

“We are dependent on trailer transport as the rail network is limited and temporarily disrupted by tough weather during the winter season,” he said.

“The trailer market serves the oil and gas industry along the coast on a set base-to-base service from the west to the very north of Norway.

“The country imports most of what we consume, with the majority of export being raw materials, such as aluminium, fish, plastic and paper.

“The majority of the trailer traffic moves through Sweden via Oerje / Svinesund.

In addition, they travel via ferry to/from Oslo-Kiel, Oslo-Fredrikshavn, LarvikHirtshals, Kristiansand-Hirtshals, and Bergen/Stavanger-Hirtshals.

“There is a large proportion of heavy vehicle traffic based on loose trailers where there are good logistical systems for the pickup/delivery at ferry ports.

Norway is outside of the EU and hence there is a need to custom clear goods in and out of the country. The majority of the freight forwarders are represented at the border crossings and the larger companies, like DHL, also have a fully digital custom solution where no hardcopy papers need to be handled.”

Norway, according to Haugvaldstad, is a country where most of the

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population, and business, is spread along more than 100,000km of the coastal line.

“The driving conditions partnered with the very challenging weather, makes the road authorities’ job extremely important,” he said. “They need to control and monitor the driving conditions in addition to the equipment requirements for the trucks. It is mandatory to carry chains for the tyres and safely secure the loads. Insufficient handling of trailer traffic can result in serious incidents and so it is really important to consider the driving conditions.”

The majority of Norway’s export is fish and raw materials where DHL Freight is a major player in that space.

“When the oil and gas industry is doing well the base-to-base traffic is very busy, but the

MARKET REPORT

Norway’s trade surplus, according to Trading Economics, increased sharply to NOK 25.05 billion in February 2021 from NOK 15.30 billion in the same month a year earlier.

critical mass to have a profitable traffic is not big enough for many operators,” said Haugvaldstad. He added that there is constant consumption and the population pattern is stable. “Having better rail coverage in the country will be a necessity in the future. We will always have a large imbalance of empty trucks positioning themselves to serve the export needs for fish and raw materials in the middle/north part of the country where the population is low and a large part of the imports going to other destinations with a higher population. This drives the rates to an absolute minimum for some of the exports and most of the truck companies are not Norwegian.”

Norway is also reported to be a front runner in its sustainability efforts.

“The demand to deploy electric vehicles for all distribution with cities is ever increasing,” said Haugvaldstad. “We are seeing a high demand for B2C logistics, as a consequence of Covid-19, and this means even more deliveries within cities are being made to private homes.

In addition, we take grate responsibility in controlling fair pay, cabotage rules, equipment and road authority controls.”

Meanwhile, Lineage Logistics owns three temperature-controlled facilities in Norway and coordinates trucking transportation.

Senior Associate, Rachael Collins, said Lineage entered the Norwegian market in October 2020 with the acquisition of Teglverksveien 47-49, a port-centric property

which features a newly built modern cold storage and freezer building.

“The property, located outside Oslo, totals over 14,000 square metres of capacity,” she said. “The facility serves the central Eastern Norway cold-storage market. Similar to other properties that Lineage owns as a REIT, this facility is leased to a third-party operator.

“Additionally, in December 2020, Lineage announced the acquisition of Kloosterboer Norway facility. The facility totals 17,500 pallet positions and is strategically located outside of Oslo where it is well-positioned to serve both food producers and retailers.

“In January 2021, Lineage also announced the acquisition of Larvik, which consists of one net leased facility in proximity to Larvik Harbour, Norway’s second largest container port.

“Lineage hopes to continue to grow in greater Scandinavia and offer cold-storage services to customers in this critical geography.”

Lineage Logistics is the largest network of temperature-controlled warehouses globally, with more than 330 strategically located facilities offering nearly two billion cubic feet of capacity and spanning 15 countries across North America, Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand and South America.

The business also offers transportation solutions, including less-than-truckload (LTL) consolidation, managed transportation, on-demand transport, port logistics, customs brokerage, import/export, drayage, last-mile delivery and related valueadded services.

“After 39 acquisitions in 2020 alone, Lineage has clearly established itself around the world as the acquirer of choice to family owners,” said Collins. “Lineage has a deep understanding of the needs of each seller and strives to integrate the people into the company’s culture first, while also respecting the legacy of the businesses that it welcomes into the Lineage family.”

Norwegian trailer builder specifies TRIDEC

Vangs, based in Inderøy, Trøndelag – 100km from Trondheim – specialises in the manufacture of multipurpose bulk carriers and oversized carriers. These products are versatile, with the bulk carriers being able to carry general cargo as a return load.

The oversize carriers can also carry general cargo which are important factors for reducing costs and emissions on long distance transport operations in Scandinavia.

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Norway experienced its largest trade surplus in February this year since January 2019, as exports jumped while imports fell, amid an improving in global demand.

The company regularly uses TRIDEC HF-E and DL-S products as well as TRIDEC LO-V and TP-O. TRIDEC provides solutions for individualists and develops manufacturerindependent steering systems and axle suspensions for diverse weather conditions and terrain types. There are currently over 50,000 TRIDEC systems on the world’s roads. TRIDEC currently employs around 160 members of staff in Son in the Netherlands where development, installation and sales are located and its production facility in Murtede-Cantanhede, Portugal.

Since 2008, the company is part of JOST, a leading global producer and supplier of safety-critical systems to the commercial vehicle industry with the brands JOST, ROCKINGER, TRIDEC, Edbro and Quicke. JOST employs more than 3,500 members of staff worldwide and has been listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange since 20 July 2017.

No two truck or trailer hitches are alike. Based on its many years of experience and diverse expertise, TRIDEC is able to offer tailored solutions for every task. Modular systems allow implementation on all types of trailer.

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The specialists at TRIDEC not only develop mechanically controlled steering systems, but also those controlled by hydraulic and electronic means. In doing so, they place great emphasis on long-term, cooperative collaborations with customers and users, ensuring that the perfect TRIDEC system can always be developed according to requirements.

The systems can be installed regardless of the axle or vehicle manufacturer. Hydraulic steering systems use cylinders to create a hydraulic connection between the clutch plate and the axles.

Alongside steering systems, TRIDEC also manufactures independent axle suspensions for double-deck and glass-transport trailers as well as for hydraulic suspensions and swinging axles.

TRIDEC axle suspensions increase the trailer capacity with regard to both volume and payload. Calculations from TRIDEC show that this solution can reduce transport movements. Reduced tyre wear and fuel consumption then result in further savings, meaning that TRIDEC systems contribute to a greater profit margin in the long term.

Vangs has enjoyed a long partnership with TRIDEC of more than 20 years.

“We have found that TRIDEC is a reliable partner for our products,” the company

MARKET REPORT

Exports in Norway surged by 12.6 per cent earlier this year due to higher sales of mineral fuels, lubricants & related materials.

FAST FACT A guest speaker at the International Transport Systems World Congress in Singapore, November 2019, National Heavy Vehicle Regulator Chief Engineer, Les Bruzsa, said Australian high productivity vehicles were a hot topic of interest among overseas attendees with a number of European countries actively looking to develop Performance-Based Standards high productivity programs.

These included Sweden, France, Belgium, Holland and Norway although the driving force behind the introduction of high productivity vehicles in Europe, according to Bruzsa, is not so much the productivity but rather the environmental benefits.

“They have very ambitious targets in terms of reducing the greenhouse gases of the transport sector and this applies to the individual countries in general,” he said. “Transport can have a major say in that and, as we’ve already demonstrated in Australia, high productivity vehicles can deliver significant benefits in this area by lowering emissions.”

said. “Their product line matches what we need to source.”

In March, Vangs is delivering a three-axle low bed designed to carry forestry machinery (45-tonne payload) with TRIDEC HF-E steering; a four-axle low bed for moving construction machines (72-tonne payload) with TRIDEC HF-E steering around Stockholm; and a four-axle drop deck trailer fitted with TRIDEC HF-E steering for carting construction equipment and general cargo around Oslo. www.globaltrailermag.com

LOGISTIC HEADACHE?

Automatic loading & unloading

cargomatic.nl

Dock to trailer Short distance shuttle (A to B) Super fast & efficient No product damages No manpower required Less/No forklift trucks needed Less trucks more loads Also available in 24V/DC autonomic Also available with an unique patented ANTI-SLIP floor for load safety Whisper quiet 24/7

ELEPHANT’S SCHMITZ CARGOBULL’S S.KO COOL BOX BODY SEMI-TRAILER FEATURES EXCELLENT STABILITY AND STRENGTH COMBINED WITH LOW UNLADEN WEIGHT AND HIGH PAYLOAD VOLUME. THE MANUFACTURER ALSO CELEBRATES MORE THAN 40 YEARS OF FERROPLAST THERMOTECHNOLOGY.

DRE

T

he S.KO COOL refrigerated box body semi-trailer has long been Europe’s top-selling refrigerated trailer according to Schmitz Cargobull. With the current refrigerated box body generation, the OEM has further optimised the total cost of ownership and value retention. The effectiveness of the renowned FERROPLAST® panels has been improved with a K-value of 0.33 W/m2K. This serves to reduce energy consumption by up to 15 per cent. In addition, the body is better protected against damage. A lead of many years in development and manufacturing ensures that the German trailer specialist, provider of the refrigerated box body semitrailer S.KO COOL with the FERROPLAST® body, will remain the European market leaders.

FERROPLAST® is an in-house development from Schmitz Cargobull, which is being constantly improved by continuous development and optimisation of the production processes. New production facilities ensure continuous product improvements in the vapour-tight panels with their two metal covering layers and intermediate, high-density foam core. As such, Schmitz Cargobull has the in-house expertise together with a direct influence on both the quality and the design.

As such, a number of developments and improvements could be put into effect by working together with customers, for example, the sturdy integration of load securing rails or double-decker equipment flush with the surface into the panels.

The coated and galvanised covering layers

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minimise impact damage or the effects of bumps from forklifts. The covering layer does not split but rather only buckles locally, preventing water ingress, which would damage the insulation. If the damage actually requires repair, Schmitz Cargobull has developed simple repair concepts that ensure invisible damage repair and preservation of the original quality.

Schmitz Cargobull has overhauled the latest model generation of the S.KO COOL in numerous aspects. One of the innovations is a partition wall, which is easier to use for the driver and which, if it is not being used, can be folded up to the roof to save space. The central locking is not only easy to use for the driver; the sealing system ensures vapour-tight cargo-space partitioning into different temperature zones. In addition, the partition ensures automatic pressure balancing.

To increase transport efficiency, the S.KO COOL has a height-adjustable doubledecker loading option, which means the number of Euro-pallet spaces is doubled from 33 to 66. As an option, Schmitz Cargobull offers meat transport equipment, integrated in the robust, load bearing roof design.

The new door sealing system with a low air leakage rate minimises the cooling capacity required. As the cooling unit running time is consequently reduced, operating costs are likewise reduced. The improved, rivet-free bonded rear frame-side wall connection not only looks good but also impresses with its

R E FR I G E RATE D TRAN S P O RT TE C H N O LO GY

AM

Program) as standard. The possibility of preventing accidents thanks to the RSP further reduces life cycle costs. The S.KO COOL holds a load securing certificate (as per DIN EN 12642) from TÜV Nord. Likewise, the S.KO COOL meets the requirements of the comprehensive HACCP certificate (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) as well as the ATP classification and Cemafroid.

A Europe-wide Service Partner network and a 24h spare part service ensure the customer receives a fast damage repair service. The optional trailer telematics from Cargobull Telematics open up the option of controlling and checking load temperature, trailer and trailer technology independently from the tractor unit and of providing required data via Internet transfer to the end customer as well.

In addition, Schmitz Cargobull offers the following equipment for the International market: New Schmitz Cargobull S.CU transport cooling unit

Schmitz Cargobull’s own cooling unit, the S.CU, is equipped with the latest Common Rail diesel motor. The new cooling unit generation offers the same high cooling performance and precise temperature management but reduces fuel consumption by up to 10 per cent. The weight has also been reduced by 50kg. The S.CU cooling unit fulfils the Stage V emission standard, benefiting the environment.

Through the optimum interface design of cooling unit and improved air circulation, operators can achieve even more consistent temperature distribution in the cargo area. Thanks to the new display design, the large digits make it easy to read and improve its user-friendliness. As an alternative to the display, all functions of the S.CU and telematics system can be controlled via a smartphone.

Schmitz Cargobull air distribution system

improved hygiene properties.

Schmitz Cargobull has decided on plastic for the cooling unit diesel tank. This increases payload and prevents corrosion. The tank is bio-diesel resistant, has its own fuel filter and is also equipped with fuel-theft prevention.

In addition, it also fulfils the legal requirements regarding resistance to stone impacts. With high product quality and quick, Europe-wide spare part supply and sophisticated repair methods, Schmitz Cargobull ensures that both customers and users of the S.KO COOL benefit from low life cycle costs. As an extension to the standard variants of the S.KO COOL, the freezer specialist can also be ordered as a MEGA or a rail-transport variant.

A standard component of the S.KO box body semi-trailer is the ROTOS Drive Technology running gear. In this case, too, Schmitz Cargobull was the first manufacturer to begin developing its own, premium running gear.

The ROTOS running gear offers innovative braking technology and RSP (Roll-Stability-

Schmitz Cargobull’s engineers have further developed the air distribution system for more efficiency, consistency and robustness. The primary goal of these enhancements was to prevent ‘heat nests’ and to simplify handling to improve efficiency in everyday transport. Hoods made of flexible and collision-resistant material secure the connection between the cooling unit and the air duct. Their flexible design also provides protection against collision damage. The air flow and the air circulation in the trailer are optimised by the targeted guiding of primary and secondary flows in the air ducts. The air ducts have an enlarged cross-section and the optimum arrangement of the ducts directs the air to the rear of the body and then back to the front. This uniform air circulation throughout the entire structure ensures that the goods always maintain a reliable temperature. Return air barriers above and on the sides of the circulation wall prevent hot and cold air from mixing.

This helps ensure optimised air circulation.

Schmitz Cargobull door locking system

The new door locking system automatically controls the door locking functions via the TrailerConnect® web portal. This ensures that the load is guaranteed to remain intact and unauthorised access is prevented. Ultimately, security is a top priority in the transport and logistics industry. Transport companies and customers demand that their goods remain safe from manipulation during transport. The intelligent door locking system is based on a rear door locking device that is invisible from the outside. When it is locked, a sword-shaped pin moves out of the roof beam and reliably prevents unauthorised opening and access to the cargo area. www.cargobull.com

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WORKING TOWARDS A

GREEN COLD CHAIN FUTURE TO MAINTAIN PACE WITH THE ACCELERATED ENERGY TRANSITION, GREATER DEMAND FOR FUEL SAVINGS AND IMPROVED OPTIONS FOR USER ERGONOMICS AND SAFETY, FRENCH OEM, CHEREAU, UNVEILS ITS LATEST INNOVATIVE TRAILER DESIGNS FOR MODERN COLD CHAIN CARRIERS.

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continuation of trends have emerged in recent years, exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic. For cities planning to ban diesel vehicles, for instance, there is pressure on road transport operators to commit to environmentally friendly urban deliveries by investing in ‘clean’ vehicles.

Meanwhile, there also seems to be a misperception in the market, according to Damien Destremau – Chairman of The Reefer Group and of CHEREAU – about traditional city trailers or rigid-bodied vehicles being the right French OEM CHEREAU is solution for ‘green friendly’ urban deliveries taking hydrogen to the next level. and minimising road traffic.

“There is a false notion that typical small vehicle solutions for urban delivery mitigates environmental impact and eases traffic fluidity,” he said. “Indeed, for example, a two-axle city trailer vehicle can carry five times the volume of a 3T5 LCV and 22 times its payload for a fuel consumption of about 2.5 times the fuel consumption. With regard to noise limitation, CHEREAU proposes PIEK labelled vehicles, which allows our vehicles to emit less than 60 dB of noise, the equivalent of a conversation.”

Normandy body builder based in Ducey and Avranches, CHEREAU, proposes an alternative choice for refrigerated transport companies in the form of a hydrogen-powered vehicle.

“With regard to the energy transition and the reduction of CO2 and NOx emissions and the desire for more respectful vehicles, CHEREAU has worked on the FROM ROAD TO REAL program,” Destremau said. “It is an ambitious program to industrialise many of the technologies from the ROAD project and has enabled CHEREAU to unveil the world premiere of four new CHEREAU product ranges.”

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Inogam Evo

From the ROAD project, Inogam Evo is now a lighter-weight design and has been enhanced via an aerodynamics program.

The benchmark refrigerated semi-trailer on the French market gains nearly 430kg of payload capacity, and optionally integrates the new CHEREAU aerodynamic elements and offers new equipment for ergonomic and user safety purposes. The evolution of the interior partition and the SmartOpen-C is particularly notable.

The AeroTop, which reduces fuel consumption by 0.3 l/100km, and the AeroFlap, which saves 0.7 l/100 km, are

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available now, and the savings are even greater when coupled.

CHEREAU NEXT = Inogam Evo + multiplexes architecture

The first multiplexed refrigerated semitrailer fully benefits from the entire Inogam Evo program. In addition to its unique coupled functions that enhance ergonomics, performance and safety, CHEREAU Next includes a new module enabling it to be coupled to several truck brands such as Scania, Renault and Volvo. Currently, information feedback to the dashboard remains limited to these three brands. A new communicating box also allows a complete remote diagnosis of the vehicle.

CHEREAU PERFORMANCE = Inogam Evo + VIP insulation

Since 2020, CHEREAU has noticed an increased interest in very high performance bodies, which is why the company has developed the reefer bodies with Vacuum Insulated Panel (VIP) technology, a breakthrough innovation (the best insulation available on the market according to Destremau), achieving a record level of insulation performance, a K coefficient of 0.27. It brings the refrigerated semi-trailer into a new mode of use that is even more sustainable and efficient, while reducing the energy needs to be more environmentally friendly, and which is even more respectful of the cold chain. The expected gain on energy consumption is up to 25 per cent.

CHEREAU HYDROGEN POWER H2 = Inogam Evo + CHEREAU Next + CHEREAU Performance + hydrogen

CHEREAU believes in hydrogen as a clean energy vector and, as a pioneer in terms of innovation, is actively participating in the quick implementation of the entire hydrogen supply chain. Encouraged by the ROAD program tests, which have shown that the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of this technology should be completely realistic and relevant for a carbon-free transport business in the future, CHEREAU is now preparing its industrialisation.

“Three new pre-production vehicles will leave our production plants in 2021,” Destremau said. “These vehicles will be field tested and our team will continue to industrialise the product range.”

At the same time, CHEREAU is committed to the hydrogen industry in order to develop a cold chain that is more respectful of the environment in various ways.

CHEREAU has been a member of France Hydrogène since 2019 and a member of Hydrogen Europe since 2020. It is also an official supporter of Energy Observer, the first hydrogen-powered vessel around the world.

The company acts in favour of the development of the hydrogen industry by participating in various hydrogen projects such as Ethyr Co Manche or Corridor H2.

CHEREAU has also developed its own hydrogen project by developing CHEREAU H2ColdChain, a project that aims to bring together food manufacturers, supermarkets and transporters to develop a green hydrogen industry and a green cold chain. www.chereau.com

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A PROMISING

SPIN

THE ELECTRIC AXLES FROM SAF-HOLLAND HAVE MADE A VERY PROMISING START FOLLOWING A TESTING PHASE WITH REAL-WORLD TRANSPORT APPLICATIONS.

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he SAF T RA K r regenerative braking axle and the SAF TRAKe trailer axle with auxiliary electric drive are currently undergoing intensive testing around the world – with positive initial user experiences and new findings for further development.

First presented at the IAA Commercial Vehicles 2018, electric axles from equipment specialist, SAF-Holland, have since gone through additional steps of development.

SAF TRAKr and SAF TRAKe use regenerative braking to lower the emissions and fuel consumption of the overall vehicle. In addition, SAF TRAKe uses the stored energy to support the main drive of the tractor unit, for example on hills or in difficult road conditions. Both axles are currently undergoing rigorous testing in real-world operation: While the SAF TRAKr is on the road in Germany and France, the SAF TRAKe is being tested in France as well as in South Africa, the US and Switzerland.

situations, are supporting the progress of the electric axles towards production maturity.

“The test results are supplying us with important information regarding the use and application profile of SAF TRAKe and SAF TRAKr,” Drewes said.

The recorded data are continuously compared to the design criteria for the individual components and used in the further development.

Demand for more test vehicles

“The first feedback from the drivers and fleet managers has been very positive, and there is increased demand for equipping more test vehicles with the electric axles,” according to Olaf Drewes, Director Group Innovation EMEA at SAFHOLLAND. He said the SAF TRAKr regenerative braking axle is particularly popular: “The drivers are highlighting how much more comfortable it is to drive with the refrigeration unit running purely on electric power.”

The preferred applications for the electric axle are refrigerated vehicles in which the refrigeration units can run fully electric on a temporary basis.

This extends the service life of the individual components. In addition, purely electric operation avoids or reduces noise and exhaust emissions. This allows semi-trailer trucks to meet all legal requirements, including night-time refrigerated transports for inner-city deliveries.

The test vehicles, which are currently on the road worldwide in real-life

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SAF TRAKe, the electric axle with auxiliary drive from SAF-Holland, is currently being tested worldwide.

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For internal tests with emission-free, temperaturecontrolled local transport, SAF-Holland is currently using a refrigerated semi-trailer with a hybrid refrigeration unit and a system for energy recuperation on the basis of the SAF TRAKr electric axle, among other things.

Coordinated overall system

The electric axles from SAF-Holland are a modular package consisting of the electric axle, power electronics, battery system and control module.

The operating strategy and components are configured to be ideally matched, allowing the system to run smoothly.

Many components are already permanently integrated into the electric axles. This allows trailer manufacturers to install the trailer axles easily and use standard interfaces. Maintenance is also simple and cost efficient: The drive unit does not have to be removed for uninstalling the wheel ends and wheels. Wear parts such as brake pads or brake discs are identical to the components of non-driven axles from SAF-HOLLAND to ensure and simplify spare parts supply.

Modular structure of the electric axles from SAF-HOLLAND

The SAF TRAKr uses a high-voltage generator module (400 V) for electric regenerative braking, with a maximum power of 26 kW by design. The SAF TRAKe is a trailer axle with regenerative braking and an auxiliary electric drive (maximum power 120 kW) for more traction and stability of the semi-trailer truck. Both axles are designed for axle loads from nine to 12 tonnes. They are also available: with different disc brakes and drum brakes for 19.5” and 22.5” tyres; with different air suspensions such as SAF INTRA or SAF MODUL; with different wheel connections and offsets for single and twin tyres. www.safholland.com

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THE ORIGINS OF A

SOLAR EMPIRE ENERGY EFFICIENT ROAD TRANSPORT EQUIPMENT CAN BE REALISED BY HARNESSING THE SUN ACCORDING TO SONO MOTORS. THIS MUNICH-BASED OPERATION IS DEVELOPING REVOLUTIONARY SOLAR-POWERED INNOVATIONS THAT COULD TRANSFORM THE SEMI-TRAILER INDUSTRY.

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aurin Hahn founded Sono Motors in 2016 alongside Jona Christians and Navina Pernsteiner in a garage where they developed their first prototype by hand. They wanted to see whether their vision of a Solar Electric Vehicle (SEV) could come true.

“We envision a world without fossil fuel,” said Hahn. “That’s why we want to make electric cars available to the mass markets. Fossil fuels are a limited and unsustainable resource. That is why we want to use the energy of the sun to power cars as well as other commercial vehicles.

“With our solar technology, we want to help the logistics industry become greener and meet CO2-targets while operating as efficiently as possible.”

Solar can be used to bring down the costs associated with diesel in diesel engines via solar integration, while there is potential to extend range and operating hours of electric engines.

“Driven by the ambition of realising system change, I decided to stop my studies in

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electrical engineering and fully dedicate myself to the development of an efficient, affordable electric vehicle suitable for everyday use and whose battery can be additionally charged by the sun,” said Hahn.

“Within three years, me and co-founder Jona built our first electric car with integrated solar modules in a garage. We named this car the Sion. Based on this project and the vision of a sustainable mobility concept independent of fossil fuels.”

Fossil fuels, according to Hahn, are responsible for a significant amount of global greenhouse gas emissions with mobility being one of the five main contributors to CO2 emissions.

“The main issue in mobility is the burning of fossil fuels,” he said. “Sustainable transportation is currently constrained by infrastructure (charging grid for EV) and

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the next twenty years (2021-2041) and the market will grow in value from $0.2 billion USD to $39.5 billion USD in the same period (2021-2041).

Sono Motors, according to Hahn, is committed to addressing these industry issues with affordable, convenient mass market electric vehicles and technology.

“We want to become a role model in how we can enable individual mobility while preserving what is important to us: the environment, people and nature.”

From prototype to development to series production

Sono Motors Senior Advisor Transport Innovations, Detlef Borghardt.

industry conventions (technology development bottleneck). The demand for personal and commercial transportation is only rising.

Due to growing demand, future availability of petroleum continues to present economic, political and environmental risks. Renewable energy sources are not only more sustainable but also more economical due to the rising energy prices.”

Environmental awareness, urbanisation, policymaking and technology development are key industry trends that the team at Sono Motors are following closely.

“We are seeing access restrictions in cities for the diesel fuelled transportation and logistics sector where diesel bans are already in effect across many large cities,” said Hahn. This will only increase.

Also, the EU wants to be carbon neutral by 2050, mobility is one of the main contributors to CO2 emissions. Hence, the EU has support for EV mobility, and its infrastructure.

“The Paris Agreement and the EU’s 2030 Climate & Energy Framework will require steep cuts in CO2 emissions from transport.

Solar EV is the next wave in electric vehicles – there are some OEMs currently integrating PV panels into their EVs (Cybertruck, Prius).”

According to the IDTechEx Report on Solar Vehicles, the number of units of Solar Energy Cars will grow from 5,300 to 2,852,400 in

Mathieu Baudrit – Solar Integration Group Lead at Sono Motors – has worked in photovoltaics (PV) since 2002 and has immersed himself in everything from solar cell development to high efficiency PV module development. Following several international PV product development projects in different countries, Baudrit joined Sono Motors in the beginning of 2018.

As the lead of Sono Motor’s Vehicle Integrated Photovoltaics (ViPV) business unit called Sono Solar, based in Munich, his primary responsibilities include driving innovation in the team by bringing experience in this field between PV and automotive and overcoming challenges that hinder his team in developing solar integration for vehicles.

“Our mission is to develop ViPV solutions to make mobility greener, to save energy, reduce fossil fuels (and protect the environment),” he said. “Our vision is that every vehicle consuming energy and having access to sunlight should have PV integrated on it. It is at the end the cleanest and cheapest source of energy available for years according to the International Energy Agency.”

Sono Solar has a team of 23 members with lots of open positions.

“The team is growing, and it is really multicultural and multidisciplinary,” said Baudrit. “We have in the Sono Solar group five different nationalities (and increasing) represented and a perfect mix of experienced and younger people, from the automotive industry and the photovoltaic industry.”

Among the exciting projects that Sono Motors is engaged in, Baudrit is passionate about the Sion – the reason why he joined the business.

“We wanted to tackle this challenge of having a real Solar Electric Vehicle (SEV), but there was not really a satisfying solution for us in the market to fully cover our car with PV,” he said. “In the end, we created and patented our manufacturing process to embed the solar cells on the car body panels during the manufacturing. “

Sono Motors Solar Integration Group Lead, Mathieu Baudrit, and Sono Motors co-founder, Laurin Hahn.

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“This is where it all started, manufacturing in one step our solar integration concept, for any kind of vehicle, became our motto, in order to save cost and integration complexity. And it seems now people really love our idea to push further the solar integration on vehicles such as trucks and trailers.”

The Sono Motors PV-system will allow electric cooling engines to run independently from other energy sources for a certain amount of time while operating, depending on the individual use cases “It is our goal to make the benefits from the sun accessible to a wide range of vehicles,” said Baudrit. “Trailers with cooling engines have a huge potential to satisfy most of their energy needs due to the vast areas of the trailer available for our solar technology. A 13-plus-metre-long reefer trailer with solar modules on the roof and on the sides can satisfy up to 100 per cent of its energy needs for the refrigeration unit. The coverage proportion mainly depends on the sun irradiance of the region and the refrigeration parameters, like target temperature and ambient temperature and can therefore vary. In our hometown Munich the yearly average of energy earnings by our solar technology is approximately 50 per cent of the energy needed. Just imagine the upside potential in regions with more sun irradiance and hours than we have in Munich.”

This solar technology is expected to be a game changer for autonomous vehicles and electric reefers because logistics companies will ultimately cut costs through efficient energy use.

“We can provide by far the cheapest form of energy compared to diesel or energy from the power grid,” said Baudrit. “Fleet owners also gain more autonomy from charging infrastructure – they can expect less standing time and can increase the operating hours of their trailers on the streets. With the rise of electric logistic vehicles over the following decades the importance of decentralised energy generation like our solar technology will be key in order to reduce charging cycles for the operating fleets. Here electric trucks can gain extra range or don’t lose range if the refrigeration unit can be fed by the sun. With the upcoming trend of access restrictions in cities for the diesel fuelled transportation and logistics sector, the electrification of these fleets will gain momentum. We can support the fleet owners with our solar technology by offering range extension, charging autonomy and maximised operating times. Finally, with our sustainable approach the fleet owners can lower their carbon footprint.”

Sono Motors’ offering comprises a one-stop shop featuring all needed components, software and aftermarket services.

“We do not only deliver the solar panels, but also sophisticated power electronics, engineering services for the mechanical and electrical integration into the host vehicle, and even telematics software for the integration of the solar energy forecast function into the fleet management system,” said Baudrit. “For maintenance purposes we offer diagnosis tools and currently build up a wide network of service and repair partners for the fleets to run smoothly. One of our main advantages is our solar control unit, called Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) central unit.

This intelligent control unit features an optimisation algorithm that considerably maximises the energy yield from solar. Especially in half-shadowed fast-changing

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Sono Motors MPPT unit.

sun irradiance situations our MPPT central unit can react in only 40 milliseconds, whereas other such control units are stuck in local optima and do not reach such energy yield levels.

“With our telematics service we can give the fleet manager a report on the energy yields and even a forecast of what to expect in the next few days.

“We offer several depths of solar integration – from low level integration giving easy replacement possibilities to full vehicle integrated solar technology.

“Our solar panels are mostly embedded in polymer instead of glass which results in low weight while combining robustness with a high vibration resistance and cutting-edge efficiency levels.

“We work with a wide range of materials such that we can adapt our solution to the various needs of our customers’ vehicles. “ As for retrofitting Sono Motors’ tech, Baudrit recommends it is a good first approach and entry point for new customers.

“Indeed, for every customer, the energy consumption profile is completely different, and retrofitting existing vehicles is an excellent step to gather data and properly dimension the solar system to be integrated in the future for the particular customer needs,” he said.

“But what we are targeting is really the series production. We are developing technologies adapted to series production, meaning they will add very little extra weight and height compared to normal trailers but will offer a powerful source of energy.”

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In addition to the benefits of reducing energy operation costs compared to diesel and the power grid, Baudrit said the system can reduce Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) concerning by decreasing the dependence on charging infrastructure and also by decreasing the needed battery capacity.

“Due to the constant low speed charging the battery lifetime can be extended which gives the opportunity to also prolong the whole vehicle’s lifetime,” he said.

“Due to our automotive background, we can benefit from cost efficient sourcing while maintaining high quality in all our components and services.

“We use a best-in-class self-developed solar control unit with unrivalled efficiency level. With these maximised energy yields our customers can feed the majority of the energy needs of their auxiliary systems, such as refrigeration units and lifters. For full electric trailers fleet managers can extend the range of their fleets and lower the dependence of charging/fuelling infrastructure. Every kilowatt hour or litre of diesel saved gives the trailer the opportunity to stay longer on the streets.

Our customers appreciate the low additional weight and thin solar panels while maintaining robust quality and a lifetime adapted to the one of the vehicle. With this decentralised energy provision approach we seek to offer the logistic and transportation industry a sustainable and efficient way to contribute to the decarbonization of their fleets.”

Baudrit said the project has come a long way but there is never a one-size-fits-all solution.

“We are looking for partners interested in testing our technology and then we will do the last part of customisation of our solution with them,” he said. “In general, we can make working prototypes in a few months but then a series product needs a bit more time. We estimate between one and two years, as we always try to adapt our product to the assembly concept of our customers to make sure our product will not cause a headache in the assembly line.”

This year the company is set on expansion.

“Since last year we have started to market our technology and we have received so much positive feedback,” said Baudrit. “It is definitely

a technology with a lot of potential, and potential customers convinced us to continue.

“This is the year we are definitely setting up the team to go to the next speed and further improve the technology. This year, we will also integrate our technology for the first time on existing buses, but I cannot say more at the moment. We are constantly testing and improving the efficiency of our solar technology. We are in a working collaboration with the Fraunhofer Institute for the testing and certification of our solar technology.”

Industry luminary brings commercial vehicle enlightenment

Former SAF-Holland CEO, Detlef Borghardt, is no stranger to Global Trailer or the international truck and trailer market. He is an expert in trailer axles and suspension systems as well as fifth wheels and furthers his extensive career by venturing into new territory – the electrification and solar integration of cars and commercial vehicles.

“I have worked for three decades in the global commercial vehicle and automotive industry,” he said. “Most recently as CEO and Board member of SAF-Holland between 2011 and 2019 and before that in several different managerial positions within SAF-Holland since 2000. Prior to that, 10 years of experience in the aluminium industry in the Alusuisse Group. From March 2020, I am an independent consultant, and in this role I am engaged longterm with Sono Motors as well.

I also serve the Supervisory Board at TIP Europe and the BoD at Haldex AB.” With more than 30 years of specialised industry experience, Borghardt is supporting Sono Motors’ ‘triangle combination’ by bringing his valued knowledge and market expertise to a start-up-like environment boasting brilliant product innovation.

“I am asked to support the Sono Motors team in all aspects of a successful market entry in the global commercial vehicle world. Our industry is very different to automotive, it is B2B with unique players and characters, its own roles and very special terms and conditions. It is a people’s business. Sono Motors knows that I was the driver for some successful market introduction of several new products in the CV market already. Remember, the introduction of the disc brake technology for trailers approx. 20 years ago was and is a prime example of how a game changer idea can change even a very conservative industry that much. The entire SAFHolland team under my leadership was the driver behind that disruptive change and perhaps, Sono Motors is able to achieve something similar.”

Borghardt is convinced that the entire cooling logistics with all reefers, regardless of container, trucks, trailers, from heavy duty to light duty will look very different in the future.

“The commercial harvesting of more or less free of charge solar energy will play a significant role in these changes and will influence the design and utilisation of all related equipment,” he said. “Sono Motor’s system approach is in my eyes the actual best available option to fulfill the different requests of all stakeholders in cooling logistics and does have the potential to become the global market leader in solar integration. I see huge opportunities for solar integration in general but for Sono Motors in particular. This is because of their high focus on one product only, the technically and commercially very interesting synergy effects with the intended high volume car-production and the unstoppable megatrend of decarbonisation.

I look forward to being an active part of this exciting development.”

For more information contact: solar-integration@sonomotors.com www.sonomotors.com/solar-integration

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POWER AND THE

PASSION NETHERLANDS-BASED OEM, VAN ECK, STRIVES TO MEET AND EXCEED THE EXPECTATIONS OF ITS CUSTOMERS WITH EVERY TRAILER IT PRODUCES. STARTING FROM THE INITIAL ORDER RIGHT THROUGH TO DELIVERY, VAN ECK RELIES ON A STRONG TEAM WITH ACCESS TO AN EXTENSIVE AFTERSALES NETWORK TO ENSURE THE BEST CUSTOMER EXPERIENCES.

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an Eck, established in 1912, provides innovative transport solutions for cold chain carriers. company’s main production facility, including production and R&D teams, is based in Beesd whereas the company’s dedicated aftersales and service site is situated next to it.

“While access and know-how transfer between the production and aftersales teams provides the best service to our customers, our R&D team also benefits from observing the whole product life cycle as input data for further product developments,” Van Eck said.

“In our main service, Van Eck experienced service team also provides maintenance and repair, planned maintenance service, damage repair and changeover projects.

“Taking into account our international customer base, in the last two years we focused on our aftersales network expansion and today Van Eck has 158 authorised aftersales points in 22 countries.

“From these service points, we assist our customers directly with service and maintenance issues they may face. Regular training and evaluations are being carried out as part of upkeep of our network as Van Eck constantly improves the competencies of its service points to offer the service quality parallel to the highest quality of the Van Eck trailers.”

The OEM also provides 24/7 roadside assistance which is available in 23 languages across 27 countries.

As trends in the transportation of temperature-sensitive goods, Van Eck has

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identified reliability as the most immediate challenge – especially in light of demand for pharmaceutical products and vaccine distribution.

According to IATA research, even though the global pharma industry has been booming, the air cargo share of global pharma product transport has declined due to a lack of compliance and standardisation, across the air transport supply chain.

IATA said in a statement that as consequence, “products are rendered worthless and harmful for patients due primarily to temperature deviations and annual product losses range between $2.5-12.5 billion USD, unacceptably high in a $300 billion USD a year market.”

As a solution, IATA established the Center of Excellence for Independent Validators (CEIV) to assure standardisation in air cargo logistics, as well as to improve the level of competency and operational and technical preparedness.

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CEIV advocates globally accepted standards and regulations, establishes validation checklists developed alongside the industry, develops training content, certifies operators and locations and manages database of certified instructors and validators.

“Today, many of Van Eck’s customers in the air cargo segment are CEIV Pharma certified carriers or supply chain operators,” Van Eck said. “With our state-of-the-art FRC and FNA certified air cargo vehicles, we are proud partner of our customers as we support them to fulfill the requirements of CEIV Pharma Standards.”

Another industry challenge, according to Van Eck, is the climate crisis.

“As it has been acknowledged by Paris agreement, climate crisis is a fact which requires global action to reduce the CO2 emissions to mitigate the adverse effects of global warming,” Van Eck said.

“Taking into account the CO2 reduction targets that Paris Agreement imposes, our twindeck concept stands out with its immediate impact on CO2 emission reduction.

“We offer twindeck vehicles with plywood and isolated upper structures. Whereas isolated twindeck vehicles enable you to carry 53 euro pallets in one trip, your CO2 emissions are decreased linearly as a result of the 60 per cent more loading capacity.

“To tackle the CO2 reduction challenge further, our R&D team also focuses on the smart loading and unloading systems, such as movable floor option in the twindeck vehicles or the NMLU, new modular loading unit, to streamline all general cargo packing loading, unloading and documentation processes in the supply chain.

“As part of a Horizon 2020 project Clusters 2.0, our R&D department focused on load factor optimisation which resulted in operational efficiency benefits up to 50 per cent and load capacity efficiencies of average 20 per cent, distributed along with the players of the logistics systems.”

As part of NMLU achievements, Van Eck Trailers won third place at the Trailer Innovation 2021 awards in the category ‘Environment’.

Van Eck’s trailers are designed and built

Van Eck isolated twindeck.

with uncompromising quality in Beesd for the aim of getting an increased return for its customers. As a result, the Van Eck R&D team focuses on maximising the load factor while providing smart loading and unloading systems to eliminate operational lags and inefficiencies.

Today, Van Eck’s product range comprises five categories: Eckstreme, Eco Co2mbi, Eckcellent, Eckspress, and Eckspert Series. In each category refrigerated upper structures are available to meet the specific transport challenge of its customers.

One of the first developers of twindeck trailers, Van Eck presents Eckstreme Series, which is the benchmark for the industry. The isolated twindeck can carry 53 euro pallets, 39 industry pallets or 87 roll pallets. Also, the vehicle body is constructed with isolated panels suitable for cold chain supply.

The isolated twindeck can also be offered with an isolated movable floor for maximum efficiency, loading flexibility, ease of loading and shorter loading time.

Eckspress Series stands for the air cargo vehicles that are offered since 1983 with various upper structures. Especially in refrigerated segment, Van Eck’s extensive experience in air-freight transportation results in a unique box construction with wet-in-wet panels that provides high quality isolation performance.

Van Eck’s FNA and FRC air cargo vehicles are also certified according to EU Commission Guidelines on Good Distribution Practice (GDP) of medicinal products for human use which are based on Article 84 and Article 85b (3) of Directive 2001/83/EC which lay down the provisions for distribution of medicines in the EU with certificates approved by Pharma/GDP authorities.

In order to meet and overcome the demanding, heavy air cargo pallet loading and unloading operations, Van Eck vehicles are equipped with strong chassis and floor design. The superior heavy duty floor construction provides the solid base for the whole upper structure, which enables you to carry forklift operations within the vehicle, even in the kingpin section.

As a result of the accumulated experience in air cargo transportation, Van Eck R&D team introduced Van Eck Rollerbed System in 2007 and currently Van Eck is the only trailer manufacturer to design and produce its own roller beds.

Van Eck is also reported to be the only trailer manufacturer that can offer an automated driving system to maximise operational health and safety. www.vanecktrailers.com

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AB E R G-TAK I N G CAR E OF THE WIELTON GROUP, A LEADING EUROPEAN MANUFACTURER OF TRAILERS, SEMI-TRAILERS AND CAR BODIES, IS INTRODUCING A NEW AFTERSALES SERVICE STRATEGY IN ALL COMPANIES AND MARKETS UNDER ONE, COMMON BRAND, ABERG. THIS DEVELOPMENT IS EXPECTED TO BOOST PRODUCT USER SATISFACTION AS WELL AS GAIN AN ADDITIONAL INCOME SOURCE FOR SPARE PARTS OFFERED UNDER A SINGLE BRAND.

I

n line with the newly adopted strategy of aftersales services consolidation, customer service in the Wielton Group is based on three pillars. Firstly, through the creation of the umbrella brand Aberg, all companies in the Wielton Group’s portfolio, Fruehauf, Wielton, Lawrence David, Langendorf and Viberti, received support in terms of service and spare parts sales.

The second pillar of the strategy is to establish seven international service centres responsible for serving the different regions of the Wielton Group. Each centre will be fully responsible for providing service assistance, spare part supply and technical advice to customers owning a vehicle of any Group brand. As part of the third pillar of the strategy, the necessary IT tools will be implemented and a global web platform will be created, accessible to service partners for the efficient flow of product information regarding warranty, repair history and spare parts availability.

“The implementation of an aftersales service strategy under a common brand is a breakthrough decision for the entire Wielton Group,” said Mariusz Golec, I Vice President and CEO of the Wielton Group.

“Aberg combines the Group’s brands and unifies the aftersales service process, responding to market trends and customer needs in the broad service area.

“This synergy will allow us to build market advantage and increase customer satisfaction, while gaining additional business benefits. Activities involving the entire Group, such as the implementation of a common aftersales strategy, will

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definitely be an important direction for our development in the coming years.”

The role of aftersales service, according to Wielton Group, is crucial from the customers’ perspective. Such clear conclusions can be drawn from a customer satisfaction survey conducted by Wielton in cooperation with GFK. According to the results, customers value above all efficient repairs that reduce downtime to a minimum, as well as constant contact with the service team. With this knowledge, Wielton Group has adopted a development plan in this area. The aim of introducing the new aftersales service strategy is to ensure a high level, consistent standard and excellent quality for each brand and all Group markets in this area.

The introduction of the Aberg brand ensures a uniform level of all service points within the Wielton Group. In the near future, spare

INDUSTRY VOICE

BUSINESS parts and components for products within the Group will also be available under the Aberg brand. The aftersales service strategy is focused on increasing customer satisfaction through comprehensive customer service. Aberg will provide customers with an accessible, competitively priced and professional aftersales service across the Wielton Group, based on local operations and a global online platform.

“A comprehensive and professional service is a very important aspect of working with customers, especially after purchase,” said Sergiusz Mitek, Business Development Director of the Wielton Group.

“Being open to our customers’ expectations allows us to effectively develop our aftersales service in order to achieve their full satisfaction at every stage of using our trailers and contact with our brand. To this end, we have introduced new service strategy at the Wielton Group, we have established the Aberg brand and develop a network of professional service centres that have the necessary knowledge, experience and technical facilities.

“We also plan to launch a global online platform for our service partners.

Aberg is a modern and global approach to after-sales service that unites all brands in the Wielton Group and provides the highest quality of service in a premium standard for increasingly demanding customers.”

The offer of the Aberg brand will include signature spare parts and service through a network of partner garages. Its introduction will greatly simplify logistics processes related to spare parts distribution, thus increasing their availability and reducing operating costs. The Wielton Group will not build new service centres, but will rely on proven, specialised service centres that provide customers with the highest quality standards.

The partner network will initially operate under the Aberg umbrella brand, simultaneously with the Group’s local brands, to eventually operate in the field of service and sales of components under the Aberg logo.

Establishing the brand and offering spare parts under its own logo will enable the Wielton Group to gain an additional source of income. As part of the launch of the Aberg brand, seven service centres will also be established in Europe to support all Group companies. Each centre will be fully responsible for providing service assistance, spare parts and technical advice to customers owning a vehicle of any Wielton Group brand in its area. The implementation of the new aftersales strategy and the Aberg brand will start as early as the beginning of 2021 and the process is planned to be completed in 2025. During this time, the necessary IT tools will also be implemented and an online platform will be created.

The establishment of the Aberg brand is another example of the synergies in the Wielton Group, which, while offering products of well-known local brands in individual countries, is at the same time focused on international development and leveraging their common potential for this purpose.

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ROBOTE NORTHERN IRELAND TRAILER MANUFACTURER, BMI TRAILERS, INVESTS IN VALK WELDING ROBOTICS TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF THE PRODUCTS IT DELIVERS.

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notable shortage of specialist welders was the reason for the Northern Ireland trailer manufacturer, bmi trailers, from Dungannon to take the step to welding robotisation. This manufacturer now welds complete walls, floors as well as partitions and tailgates with a Valk Welding robot system. Thanks to the use of macros as part of the QPT programming system, the programming time for single pieces could be drastically reduced.

A good example of robot deployment in a high mix/low volume environment.

With a skills shortage within the Northern Ireland and UK labour market and exacerbated by the uncertainty around Brexit since the referendum decision, bmi felt that to help them to overcome this skills shortage they needed to consider the introduction of robotic automation for their manufacturing and production facilites in Dungannon.

The trailer builder researched many videos and products, and came across YouTube videos of Valk Welding which encouraged them to get in touch with Valk Welding.

“Due to the expansion of aluminium as a result of the heat input, the position of the weld seam occurs during the welding operation,” he said. “A manual welder can correct this instinctively, but each welder does so in his own way. The result is therefore never consistent.”

During a visit to the Dutch trade fair ‘Metavak’, the bmi team presented the demand for an automation solution to a number of robot suppliers.

“Only Valk Welding could help us further in this and that was the beginning of a good collaboration,” McIlvanna said.

Welding seam tracking

Welding aluminium sidewalls

Brendan McIlvanna, Managing Director of bmi trailers, saw the biggest challenge in robot welding was with the aluminium sidewalls.

bmi trailers relies on Valk Welding robotics to deliver quality trailing equipment.

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With the laser-controlled Arc-Eye welding seam tracking system, Valk Welding has proven to be able to weld the welds in aluminium assemblies with the robot exactly and with high quality consistency.

The concept for a welding robot system for bmi trailers consisted next to a TM1400 WG3 welding robot on a longitudinal movement of 30 meters, also an Arc-Eye CSS laser camera and integrated welding fume extraction.

Eventually, bmi trailers commissioned Valk Welding to also create the programs for different products in order to be able to start production as soon as possible. Prior to commissioning, some of the bmi team had completed the robot and programming training at Valk Welding in Alblasserdam to help them to master all the details of this software.

TRAILER DESIGN

CH High mix/low volume

During the start-up phase, the number of variants in the dimensions of the side walls turned out to be larger than foreseen. To limit the programming work for this as much as possible, Valk Welding used the QPT programming system (Quik Programming Tools). This software makes it possible to copy parts of programs within DTPS using macros.

(DTPS is the successful Off-Line programming system of Valk Welding,) Users with their own product can thus create programs faster. At bmi trailers, this has resulted in the advantage of also being able to weld single pieces and small numbers with the robot.

Capacity and quality increase

“After some adjustments in the preliminary process, we had the process fully under control

after just 6 months, the weld quality improved significantly and the capacity increased,” said bmi trailers Process Development Manager, Stephen McMahon.

“The welding robot now delivers the output equivalent to the production of eight professionals and we now weld all the side walls, floors, bulkhead panels and back doors with the welding robot.

“We even quickly switch between Aluminium and Steel. Our next goal is now to also weld the chassis, which we have made externally, on a separate welding robot system.”

Excellent Service

The fact that bmi trailers was able to make the automation move to robotic welding so quickly is partly due to the high-quality service support provided by Valk Welding, says Stephen McMahon.

“For example, an employee from the Valk Welding organization was here for 3 weeks during the start-up phase to optimize the work preparation and answer practical questions. That’s what we call service and we are now manufacturing more trailers with the same number of employees, Stephen concluded by telling us “We would definitely recommend Valk Welding”. www.valkwelding.com

Scan this QR code to learn more.

W W W. G LO B A LT R A I L E R M AG . C O M / G L O B A L T R A I L E R / 5 1

A JOST

REVOLUT THE KKS AUTOMATIC COUPLING SYSTEM FROM JOST SIGNALS THE FUTURE OF LOGISTICS AS IT IS EXPECTED TO BE A KEY COMPONENT IN AUTONOMOUS DRIVING.

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s a world-leading producer and supplier of safety-critical systems for the commercial vehicle industry, JOST delivers components that link trucks and trailers. And this link is now being revolutionised: The new KKS automatic coupling system enables the driver to couple and uncouple a semi-trailer via remote control – automatically, safely and quickly. Heavy vehicle operators, with this innovation, can increase efficiency, convenience and safety.

Intelligent end-to-end system for the coupling process Coupling and uncoupling a trailer is still a lengthy, expensive and hazardous procedure. The truck driver has to be aware of many different things, each of which are time-consuming and pose a hazard to health and safety. According to figures from the DGUV (German Social Accident Insurance), professional truck drivers suffer falls quite often. Simply getting in and out of the cab can result in such an accident, potentially causing injury.

As a global market leader for fifth wheel couplings and landing gears, JOST is providing a smart solution for the future of coupling with its KKS automatic

JOST CEO, Joachim Dürr.

coupling system. The KKS 42 fifth wheel coupling, Modul E-Drive electric landing gear, sensor coupling system, 3-sensors, LubeTronic automatic lubrication system, KKS remote control and the ISO 13044-2-certified KKS connector all combine to form an innovative system for the coupling process.

Automatic coupling and uncoupling with KKS

Fifth wheel KKS.

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The driver is guided through the coupling process, with sensors providing live information on the KKS remote control

FIFTH WHEELS

ION throughout every step of the process. With the KKS, the driver no longer needs to climb out from the cab, crank down the landing gears, climb behind the cab, unplug the spiral cables and pull the fifth wheel open when uncoupling. Instead, the Modul E-Drive electric landing gears automatically deploy at the push of a button and the fifth wheel is unlocked remotely. This eliminates the danger caused by climbing on and off the catwalk, as the spiral cables for air, electrics and ABS/EBS no longer need to be detached manually: the KKS connector on the fifth wheel and trailer detaches all the necessary electrical and pneumatic connections between the truck and trailer.

For the coupling process, the driver raises the vehicle chassis to bring the fifth wheel coupling plate into contact with the trailer support plate. Equipped as standard, the support plate sensor indicates that the trailer plate is touching. Once this information is displayed on the KKS remote control, the truck is reversed until the kingpin has securely engaged in the lock of the fifth wheel coupling and the mechanism closes. The position of the

kingpin and the correct locking of the fifth wheel coupling are also monitored by sensors and displayed to the driver on the KKS remote control. Together with the mechanical connection via the kingpin, the KKS connector also automatically connects the air, electrics, ABS and EBS. The KKS Connector.

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More efficiency through KKS: Save time and money

Using a KKS can cut the time required to change a trailer by up to 50 per cent, as there is no need to manually crank the landing gear, connect the supply lines or open the fifth wheel coupling. The KKS significantly reduces the total costs for each circuit, with savings of up to 50 per cent possible during the coupling and uncoupling process. It is particularly well suited for transport companies which perform coupling processes often and drive short distances, such as those in on-site transport, as the time saved here really pays off financially. Another application is the transport of goods where safety plays a key role, such as hazardous goods, as the sensor monitoring guarantees a high level of security against trailer losses and incorrect coupling. The

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KKS is also an ideal solution for transport between production sites and logistics facilities. Errors or damage caused during the coupling process are eliminated almost completely thanks to remote operation and monitoring through the KKS. For example, the Modul E-Drive landing gear is always fully retracted automatically. Moreover, the KKS reduces the probability of trailer losses due to erroneous operation, damage and occupational accidents to virtually

FIFTH WHEELS

reducing stress. A standard pneumatic cylinder opens the fifth wheel coupling effortlessly, even when the tractor-trailer is twisted. The automatic coupling process means that the driver does not have to climb in and out of the cab as often, nor climb onto the catwalk – two factors that significantly reduce the potential for injury. These benefits mean the KKS opens up new possibilities for a more diverse driver pool; as such, JOST is providing an answer to demographic change and the lack of specialist workers.

Contributing to the future of logistics

zero. The KKS system can be introduced to mixed fleets step by step.

KKS makes workplaces safe and ergonomic

The KKS makes all the physically demanding tasks of the coupling process a thing of the past, as well as ensuring that this process is no longer dependent on the weather or time of day and significantly

Joachim Dürr, CEO of JOST Werke AG, is thoroughly impressed by the KKS automatic coupling system.

“The innovative KKS provides our customers in the highly competitive logistics sector with clear benefits with regard to safety and efficiency,” he said.

“And the drivers also benefit, as using the KKS significantly reduces the risk of injury during the complex coupling process while simultaneously making it more convenient. I am delighted that we are taking a big step towards highly automated, convenient and safe logistics solutions with this system and are making our contribution to autonomous driving as a supplier.” www.jost-world.com www.kks-futurenow.com

KKS Modul E-Drive electric landing gear.

W W W. G LO B A LT R A I L E R M AG . C O M / G L O B A L T R A I L E R / 5 5

WHAT YOU NEED

VACCINE PASSPORTS A DIGITAL CERTIFICATE OR VACCINE PASSPORT IS BEING CONSIDERED BY GOVERNMENT BODIES AROUND THE WORLD AS PART OF A PROCESS TO LIMIT THE SPREAD OF COVID-19 AS VACCINATIONS ROLL OUT.

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digital certificate or vaccine passport is being considered by government bodies around the world as part of a process to limit the spread of Covid-19 as vaccinations roll out.

In January, the US administration released a document from the Executive Office of the President detailing science-based public health measures to preventing the spread of Covid-19.

It outlines the conditions and actions for international and domestic travel, by mode, as well as other guidelines including quarantine, testing, vaccination, follow-up testing, symptom monitoring, air filtration requirements, environmental decontamination standards and contact tracing.

One such measure also explored the feasibility of linking Covid-19 vaccination to International Certificates of Vaccination or Prophylaxis (ICVP) and producing electronic versions of ICVPs. If the US proceeded to implement this change to ICVP, it could be used as a means to control people movements domestically and internationally.

A senior advisor to the White House, Andy Slavitt, said it was not the role of any government to create such a passport or hold that kind of data on its citizens.

He described the ideal vaccine passport to mainstream media as free, equitable, secure, accessible in multiple languages and available as a digital and paper product.

The US administration, under Biden, is expected to provide guidance to the private sector on these developments.

A benefit of introducing this system would presumably be to helping industry return to some form of pre-Covid normalcy.

Meanwhile, the European Commission presented a proposal earlier this month to create a Digital Green Certificate to facilitate the safe free movement of citizens

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within the EU during the Covid-19 pandemic.

A Digital Green Certificate is designed to be digital proof that a person has either been vaccinated against Covid-19, received a negative test result or recovered from Covid-19.

Key features of this certificate are reported to include digital/paper format with QR code, free of charge, safe and secure, digital seal for authenticity and validity in all EU countries.

National authorities including hospitals and test centres would be in charge of issuing Digital Green Certificates.

“The Digital Green Certificate will be accepted in all EU Member States,” the European Commission said in a statement.

“It will help to ensure that restrictions currently in place can be lifted in a coordinated manner.

“When travelling, every EU citizen or thirdcountry national legally staying or residing in the EU, who holds a Digital Green Certificate, should be exempted from free movement restrictions in the same way as citizens from the visited Member State.

SPECIAL REPORT

TO KNOW ABOUT

“If a Member State continues to require holders of a Digital Green Certificate to quarantine or test, it must notify the Commission and all other Member States and justify this decision.”

The European Commission will build a gateway for these certificates to be checked.

Through this gateway, all certificate signatures can be verified across the EU. The personal data encoded in the certificate does not pass through the gateway, as this is not necessary to verify the digital signature. The Commission will also help Member States to develop a software that authorities can use to check the QR codes The Digital Green Certificate contains necessary key information such as name, date of birth, date of issuance, relevant information about vaccine/ test/recovery and a unique identifier.

The certificates will only include a limited set of information that is necessary. This cannot

be retained by visited countries. For verification purposes, only the validity and authenticity of the certificate is checked by verifying who issued and signed it. All health data remains with the Member State that issued a Digital Green Certificate.

A legal proposal on Digital Green Certificates is with the European Parliament and EU Member States for review.

Should this pass, preparation will be carried out for the logistical rollout of these certificates along with the appropriate digital infrastructure as well as necessary changes to national health record systems among Member States.

Interestingly, the World Health Organization said last month that national authorities and conveyance operators should not introduce requirements of proof of Covid-19 vaccination for international travel as a condition for departure or entry, given that there are still critical unknowns regarding the efficacy of vaccination in reducing transmission.

In addition, considering that there is limited availability of vaccines, preferential vaccination of travellers could result in inadequate supplies of vaccines for priority populations considered at high risk of severe Covid-19 disease.

WHO also recommended that people who are vaccinated should not be exempt from complying with other travel risk-reduction measures.

In February, Air New Zealand announced the trial of a global digital travel pass.

Air New Zealand Chief Digital Officer, Jennifer Sepull, said the goal is to enable customers to seamlessly manage their digital travel documentation throughout

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their travel experience.

“Once borders reopen, travel is going to look very different, with customers’ health data needing to be verified at check-in,” she said.

“It’s essentially like having a digital health certificate that can be easily and securely shared with airlines. This will give customers peace of mind that they meet all travel requirements for the different countries around the world before they even get to the airport.

“Reassuring customers that travel is in fact safe is one of our priorities.

By using the app, customers can have confidence that everyone onboard meets the same government health requirements they do.

“By having a place to store all your health credentials digitally in one place, it will not only speed up the check-in process but unlock the potential for contactless travel.”

Customer privacy, according to Air New Zealand, is reported to be at the heart of the design – there is no central database storing personal information and is shared at the traveller’s discretion.

In related news, A study involving care personnel, first responders and essential workers provides strong evidence that Covid-19 vaccines are highly effective in preventing SARS-CoV-2 infections in real-world conditions.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in a statement that the groups mentioned in the study are more likely than the general population to be exposed to the virus due to their occupations.

The study looked at the effectiveness of Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna mRNA vaccines in preventing SARS-CoV-2 infections among 3,950 study participants in six US states over a 13-week period from 14 December 2020 to 13 March 2021.

Results showed that following the second dose of vaccine (the recommended number of doses), risk of infection was reduced by 90 per cent two or more weeks after vaccination. Following a single dose of either vaccine, the participants’ risk of infection with SARS-CoV-2 was reduced by 80 per cent two or more weeks after vaccination.

It takes about two weeks following each dose of vaccine for the body to produce antibodies that protect against infection. As a result, people are considered ‘partially vaccinated’ two weeks after their first dose of mRNA vaccine and ‘fully vaccinated’ two weeks after their second dose. These new vaccine effectiveness findings are consistent with those from Phase 3 clinical trials conducted with the vaccines before they received Emergency Use Authorizations from the Food and Drug Administration. Those clinical trials evaluated vaccine efficacy against Covid-19 disease, while this study evaluated vaccine effectiveness against infection, including infections that did not result in symptoms.

“This study shows that our national vaccination efforts are working,” said CDC Director, Rochelle Walensky.

“The authorised mRNA COVID-19 vaccines provided early, substantial real-world protection against infection for our nation’s health care personnel, first responders,

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and other frontline essential workers.

“These findings should offer hope to the millions of Americans receiving Covid-19 vaccines each day and to those who will have the opportunity to roll up their sleeves and get vaccinated in the weeks ahead. The authorised vaccines are the key tool that will help bring an end to this devastating pandemic.”

One of this study’s strengths is its design: participants self-collected nasal swabs each week for RT-PCR laboratory testing, regardless of whether they had developed symptoms of illness. Researchers were able to look for evidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection irrespective of symptoms. A small number (10.7 per cent) of infections in this study were asymptomatic. However, the majority of infections (58 per cent) occurred among people whose infections were identified by testing before they developed symptoms or knew they were infected. The study demonstrates that these two mRNA vaccines can reduce the risk of all SARS-CoV-2 infections, not just symptomatic infections.

This is important because preventing both asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic infections among health care workers and other essential workers through vaccination can help prevent the spread of SARS-CoV-2 to those they care for or serve. Findings from this study complement earlier reports that these two mRNA COVID-19 vaccines can reduce both asymptomatic and symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infections.

This study also provided positive news about partial (one-dose) vaccination. The one-dose VE estimate of this study (80 per cent) is consistent with other recent VE studies following the first dose of PfizerBioNTech vaccine among health care providers. Studies conducted in the UK and Israel showed that one dose was about 70 per cent and 60 percent effective, respectively, against SARS-CoV-2 infection. The current results provide reassurance that people start to develop protection from the vaccine two weeks after their first dose. The greatest protection was seen among those who had received both recommended doses of the vaccine. www.globaltrailermag.com

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WORLD EVENTS

INTERMODAL ASIA TRANSPORT LOGISTIC 2021 20-22 JULY 2021 4-7 MAY 2021

Messe München Munich, Germany One of the leading transport and logistics events in Germany, Munich’s aptly named Transport Logistic show saw more than 2,374 exhibitors and some 64,000 from 125 visitors from 125 countries and regions in 2019.

Shanghai, China The Intermodal Asia exhibition and conference will bring together the leading international decision-makers from over 90 different countries, from all areas of container transport and logistics, making it the most important industry annual meeting point in Asia according to the event organisers. www.intermodal-asia.com

www.transportlogistic.de

BRISBANE TRUCK SHOW 2021

13-16 MAY

Brisbane, Australia The Brisbane Truck Show is staged by Heavy Vehicle Industry Australia (HVIA), the national association representing and advancing the interests of manufacturers and suppliers of heavy vehicles and their components, equipment and technology. With a proud history dating back to 1968, the 2021 Brisbane Truck Show will be the sixth to be held at the worldclass Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre. On display is the most comprehensive range of trucks, trailers, components, equipment, accessories and technology in Australia. www.brisbanetruckshow.com.au 6 0 / G L O B A L TR A I L E R / I SS U E 5 8

MEGATRANS2021 8-10 SEPTEMBER 2021 Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre, Melbourne, Australia MEGATRANS returns in 2021 as an important industry event, facilitating cross-industry collaboration in a multidimensional and integrated conference and exhibition for the freight and logistics industry. It will showcase the latest in artificial Intelligence, robotics, automated racking, telematics and route optimisation, warehouse automation, intelligent fleet systems, blockchain, Internet of Things, big data and advanced analytics. www.megatrans.com.au

KEEP A LOOK OUT Elmia Lastbil 2022 24-27 August Jönköping, Sweden www.elmia.se/en/lastbil

TRANSPORT SCANDINAVIA 2021

16-18 SEPTEMBER 2021 Herning, Denmark Transport 2021 is an inspiring fair for all those with roots in the transport industry. This is the place to find new vehicles, new equipment, new services and new ideas. The Transport trade fair was launched in 1988. Since then more than 450,000 professionals from the transport industry have attended the event.

IAA Commercial Vehicles Show September TBC Hannover, Germany www.iaa.de InnoTrans 2022 22-23 September Berlin, Germany www.innotrans.com

www.transport-messen.dk

TRANSPORT LOGISTIC CHINA 2022 15-17 JUNE 2022 Shanghai New International Expo Centre Shanghai, China Transport logistic China 2022 attendees can expect transport logistic China, one of Asia’s biggest trade fairs, to showcase the entire spectrum of logistics products, technologies and services. www.transportlogistic-china.com

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M E GATR E N D S

TESLA JOINS INDUSTRY IN QUESTIONING AUSTRALIAN

TRUCK DIMENSIONS CALLS MADE BY TESLA FOR AUSTRALIA TO EASE ITS VEHICLE-SIZE LIMITS HAS REIGNITED THE DEBATE AROUND TRUCK REGULATIONS WITH FEARS THEY WILL PROHIBIT UPTAKE OF IMPORTED LOW-EMISSION COMMERCIAL VEHICLES.

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submission made by Tesla late last year to the National Transport Commission (NTC) revealed that the first generation electric heavy truck the Tesla Semi was too wide by 34 millimetres for Australian roads under current laws.

Under Australian laws a commercial vehicle cannot, without special exemption, be wider than a 2.5 metres. In the US commercial vehicles like Class 8 trucks are permitted to be 2.6 metres long whereas in Europe the cap is 2.55 metres.

Tesla have called on the NTC to amend the laws so that its long anticipated electric truck can be made available here by as soon as 2022.

Given the size of the Australian market compared to North America and Europe, it is highly unlikely Tesla will modify its design.

Now the Australian Trucking Association (ATA) has joined a growing chorus of industry bodies — Austroads and the Truck Industry Council among them — in asking that revisions be made to the current regulations so that width dimensions on heavy vehicles increase to the European standard.

Local manufacturers have in the past objected citing safety concerns in regard to the impact increased truck sizes might have on other road-users and existing infrastructure.

As it stands the Tesla Semi isn’t legally fit for local roads although it was pushing for what it called “urgent changes” to Australian vehicle design rules.

“The Commission will be aware that given Australia’s small size in comparison

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to global markets, inconsistencies like this between Australian regulations and larger markets will delay or preclude vehicles coming to local markets,” said Sam McLean Tesla Public Policy Manager Australia and New Zealand.

The comments made by battery electric automotive company led by Elon Musk, which have since been made public, have prompted the NTC and “governments of all levels to prepare for rapid decarbonisation.”

The ATA claims the decision will only delay the introduction of zero emission trucks in the country.

“Electric and hydrogen trucks developed overseas will need to be redesigned for the Australian market to meet our dimension rules. This will slow the rollout of zero emission trucks in Australia,” said ATA CEO, Andrew McKellar.

McKellar said an increase in vehicle mass was also needed to encourage the purchase of newer, greener vehicles.

“Euro VI, battery electric and hydrogen trucks are heavier, which reduces the amount of freight they can carry and their commercial viability,” he said. “There needs to be an extra 500 kg axle mass allowance for single steer trucks and an extra 1000 kg for twin steer trucks.”

Zero emission trucks were, according to McKeller, a reality and needed the right policy settings to increase their uptake in Australia.

“We are getting to the stage now where international vehicle manufacturers are bringing electric vehicles to the market,” he said. “To support this, government must ensure vehicle standards regulations are flexible enough to allow that to happen.”

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ISSN 1839-5201

2021 | ISSUE 58

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NEWS

BUSINESS

INNOVATION

JOST’s KKS Automatic Coupling Refrigerated Transport Technology Builds E-Axle Developments, Reefer SAF INTRA Success Story

Trailer Deliveries, Logistics News Special Report: Vaccine Passports Megatrends: Truck Dimensions World Events

Cover Story: Ecologica Gervasi Market Report: Norway Trailer Design: Valk Welding Wielton Introduces Aberg

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NEWS 31.03.21 16:17

*All features and special reports are subject to change.

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COVER STORY

MAR KET U P DATE

JEFF BEZOS, AMAZON.COM

FOR EDITORIAL ENQUIRIES: luke.applebee@primecreative.com.au FOR ADVERTISING ENQUIRIES: ashley.blachford@primecreative.com.au

OUT OF

PRECEDENT FOR

ON THE QUEST TO BECOMING THE FIRST TRULY GLOBAL ORGANISATION IN THE HISTORY OF TRAILER MANUFACTURING, CIMC VEHICLES HAS LEARNED THAT STAYING TRUE TO A GRAND VISION DOESN’T PRECLUDE STRATEGIC FLEXIBILITY.

PERSE VERANCE D [Story & Interview by Sebastian Grote]

avid Li, General Manager of CIMC Vehicles, the trailer building arm of China’s International Marine Container (CIMC) Group, isn’t quite what you’d expect of a man who has built a €1.93 billion industrial empire from the bottom up.

Distinctly humble in his bearing and refreshingly unpolished in his language, the industry veteran is enveloped in an aura of authenticity and adventure that is much more Silicon Valley than Shenzhen Special Economic Zone (the official jargon for a giant business incubation area the Chinese government has set up across the bay from Hong Kong to help local businesses connect more easily with the western world).

As such, there is nothing imperious about Li laying out his plan to build the world’s first international trailer building company – only genuine excitement in an idea so captivatingly grand that it would arguably suit an intrepid start-up more than an asset-rich manufacturing firm operating FAST FACT in a time of extreme economic volatility.

CIMC Vehicles’ US subsidiary, Understanding the phenomenon that is Vanguard, is currently finalising CIMC Vehicles is therefore not so much a construction of a second factory in question of mapping out the business itself Trenton, Georgia. The €32 million as it is one of getting to know the man manufacturing plant will eventually employ 400 people and produce behind it – a scenario akin to US start-up 10,000 semi-trailers annually.

Tesla, which is largely dependent on the

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MIND

A KEY TALKING POINT OF THE 2014 IAA COMMERCIAL VEHICLE SHOW, THE BRUISED RUSSIAN ECONOMY HAS FAILED TO TURN ITSELF AROUND IN TIME FOR THE NEXT EDITION OF THE ICONIC EVENT. WILL IT STILL CONTINUE TO OWN THE CONVERSATION, THOUGH? [ Story by Sebastian Grote ]

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uddling through the longest recession since the turn of the century, Russia has racked up a sizeable budget deficit and is on track for yet another year of negative growth. Meanwhile, the prospect of fiscal relief is growing distant, with oil in a bear market after closing below $40 a barrel in August – theoretically making for a highly dramatic narrative in the lead-up to the largest transport industry gathering on the planet.

But if you ask Denis Krivtsov, head of Russian OEM, Tonar, the country’s fragile economic state doesn’t necessarily mean it will become as prominent a topic as it was in 2014, when the Ukraine conflict and the annexation of Crimea were still fresh in mind and the European Union (EU) put an abrupt hold on west-east trade.

According to Krivtsov, much of the western trailer community has since found

new growth potential in the heart of Europe and the still-sprawling east of the continent, leaving Russian businesses alone in dealing with what could be the most severe market slowdown in a decade or two. As a result, he says it is now up to the domestic transport equipment community to consolidate ahead of the parliamentary election in mid-September, which is hoped to give the battered economy a much-needed boost.

“The Russian economy hasn’t really improved much since the last instalment of IAA. In fact, many local businesses have since folded as they simply refused to learn from the last crisis,” he explains – pointing to the EU’s recent decision to prolong economic sanctions against Russia until 31 January 2017.

In August 2016, the Financial Times publically wondered whether Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos was intending to drive everyone else in US retail crazy. The reason: Bezos is on a mission to re-define the classic concept of retail logistics. Instead of outsourcing the whole process, he set up a complex in-house transport network that has been aggressively expanding its reach, capabilities and capacity in the logistics and distribution arena over the past year or so. As part of the process, the Seattlebased company is now operating thousands of trailers emblazoned with Amazon’s logos acrosss North America. In Europe, Amazon is expanding rapidly as well, potentially making it a key talking point of the next IAA.

PEOPLE TO WATCH

THE

HUMAN

ELEMENT ALBEIT A SUBSTANTIAL BUSINESS EXPENSE, VISITING A TRADE SHOW LIKE IAA IS A UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY TO MEET SOME OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE IN COMMERCIAL ROAD TRANSPORT IN THE FLESH – A KEY ADVANTAGE IN THE DIGITAL AGE. [ Story by Sebastian Grote ]

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rom wireless connectivity to electric mobility, the digital world is slowly infiltrating every aspect of commercial road transport. Yet although high technology is expected to dominate the conversation at this year’s IAA Commercial Vehicle Show in Germany (see page 52), it will be people that ultimately set the narrative. In fact, there is a distinct irony to the rise of technology in the manufacturing, according to best-selling US author, Daniel Pink, who has found that forging personal relationships is becoming ever more important as skill-sets evolve and demand more cognitive proficiency.

So-called ‘thought jobs’, as Pink puts it, require a higher level of creativity, problem-solving prowess and out-of-the-box thinking, meaning that in order for a business to be successful, leveraging the unique human element behind each employee is key.

FAST FACT According to Russian Economy Development Minister, Aleksey Ulyukaev, the country’s economy is set to grow in the near future, as “the situation in the real sector of economy is improving and the dynamics of industrial production are positive”.

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As such, he says fostering personal relationships in real life, for example in the context of a trade show, will ultimately help businesses become more profitable.

In line with Pink’s assumption, Global Trailer has selected ten prominent individuals that have the potential to put their mark on the 2016 edition of the largest global transport industry gathering – either by attending it or as the subject of intense discussion. www.globaltrailermag.com

ALEXANDER DOBRINDT, GERMAN FEDERAL GOVERNMENT Germany’s Federal Minister for Transport and Digital Infrastructure, Alexander Dobrindt, is slated to officially open the 66th IAA Commercial Vehicle Show in Hanover.

Dobrindt recently made headlines in Germany when he proposed self-driving vehicles in Germany should be fitted with a black box that is able to record specific details of an accident, much like in the aviation industry. According to newswire, Reuters, his proposal would require drivers to stay seated in front of the steering wheel, even tough they may not have to pay attention to traffic or actually steer. Despite that cautionary measure, Dobrindt approved six German cities – Hamburg, Munich, Ingolstadt, Düsseldorf, Dresden and Braunschweig – to become testing grounds for self-driving vehicles as part of a US$89 million (€80 million) project.

İIFFET TÜRKEN, KÄSSBOHRER As the Executive Board Member responsible for Business Development at German OEM Kässbohrer – which is part of the Tirsan Group, the largest trailer manufacturing company in Turkey – Türken is considered one of the most influential personalities in European trailer building, and one of the most powerful women in the global transport equipment industry. The now 44-year-old joined the Tirsan Group in 1996 after graduating from Bogaziçi University in Istanbul and has since been stirring up Europe’s trailer building landscape – helping establish the Kässbohrer brand amongst the top ten in Europe.

PETER SIJS, TIP TRAILER SERVICES Overseeing the procurement processes for a 71,000-unit strong fleet that covers some five billion kilometres every year, Sijs, Services and Sourcing Operations Leader Europe at TIP Trailer Services, is considered one of the most influential people in Europe’s transport equipment industry. Having to replace up to 15,000 trailers annually, TIP Trailer Services spends an average of €30 million per year on parts alone – prompting Sijs to work closely with component suppliers and OEMs to leverage the latest in technology and develop new strategies to create competitive advantages. Most recently, he collaborated with German braking specialist Knorr-Bremse on the development of the company’s awardwinning iTAP system with FleetRemote functionality.

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