Global Trailer September 2019

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INNOVATION

BUSINESS

WABCO Telematics Updates JOST Delivers Blue Brake Pads Innovative Tipper Trailer Designs Haldex’s Scalable Brake System

Tonar Executive Interview Market Report: South Africa Port Developments in Rotterdam Global OEM Ranking List

Visualization coming into Reality Modular and Digital design

CIMC Vehicle’s modular and digital design beyond the existing design language allows customers to be unprecedentedly autonomous. Customers can be free to choose the configuration and appearance according to their needs and preferences.

www.cimcvehiclesgroup.com

COVER STORY FUTURE DRIVEN

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The dire economic state of Russia is influencing how prominent OEMs in the region conduct business. Tonar, despite tremulous market conditions, is committed to manufacturing flexibility and equipment reliability without compromise.

IN THIS ISSUE Twan Heetkamp – the Dutch entrepreneur who sold his trailer rental company to TIP Trailer Services in 2016 – saw his second generation of emission-free cooling trailers hit the road earlier this year.

“WE CAN SEE THAT MORE AND MORE MINING COMPANIES IN THE WORLD NEED LONG DISTANCE ROAD TRANSPORT … TONAR RECENTLY COMPLETED A PROJECT IN SIBERIA WHERE A ROAD TRAIN IS USED TO TRANSPORT 130 TONNES OF DIAMOND ORE ALONG A 178-KILOMETRE ROUTE ONE WAY.”

56 SPECIAL REPORT

Tonar

BUSINESS 24 MARKET REPORT

Despite decades of political and investment volatility, South Africa has the potential to emerge as a dynamic and diverse player in the global economy.

37 BRAKING SYSTEMS

In a close dialogue with a commercial vehicle manufacturer, Haldex has been selected to commence the concept phase of an autonomous vehicle braking solution.

38 TELEMATICS

WABCO is driving technological advancements that will continue to enable smarter operations across the commercial road transport ecosystem, including continuous innovation in trailer telematics, IoT and cloud-based solutions.

42 EVENT PREVIEW

The sixth NUFAM will see visitors from abroad experience everything from next generation rigid bodies and semi-trailers to the latest trends in telematics and load restraint technologies.

46 JOST

Equipment specialist, JOST, is releasing a new brake pad range that is optimised for longevity and improved efficiency.

48 FLEET FOCUS

In some terminals, like Rotterdam, DFDS operates workshops to maintain trailers and is set to benefit from port-side upgrades.

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52 TRAILER DESIGN

Transparency on productivity is critical when reviewing the state of trailer manufacturing on a global scale. The numbers, according to Global Trailer, are just one part of this dynamic story.

Denis Krivtsov

FEATURES 28 KÄSSBOHRER

Kässbohrer has has expanded its construction product range to include steel halfpipe and aluminium box style tippers.

32 GORICA

The growing demand for bigger and safer tipping semi-trailers in the Middle East and Africa is a trend that GORICA is on top of.

REGULARS

60 EVENTS

04 EDITOR’S NOTE

62 MEGATRENDS

06 NEWS

55 PREVIEW

34 SCHMITZ CARGOBULL

Schmitz Cargobull brings to market a suite of tipper innovations that embrace low tare weight builds, optimised liners for improved unloading and the latest in remote control functionality.

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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

ETERNAL CONSUMPTION ENGINE

ART DIRECTOR Blake Storey

DESIGN Kerry Pert, Madeline McCarty

INTERNATIONAL SALES

TO DEFY THE LAWS OF TRADITION is a crusade only of the brave. Those words, courtesy of eclectic American bassist, Les Claypool, are a constant reminder that change is inevitable, and while it may sometimes seem like a daunting task to venture beyond our comfort zones, it is often a necessary endeavour in the interests of seeking betterment.

If we reflect on the ‘behind the scenes’ of our global OEM ranking list – which debuted in 2016 and has since become an annual fixture of the September edition of Global Trailer – it is evident that there has been a journey of trial and tribulation – and most importantly a professional commitment from the editorial team to continuously improve the industry resource.

Of course, our attempt to rank trailer manufacturers by total production numbers is ambitious in scope and should be treated as a guide in the interests of moving toward greater transparency.

Through further engagement with the commercial vehicle industry, we aim to build on what has been established and ultimately produce content that is relevant and of use.

Over the past three years there has been tremendous change. Trailer manufacturing on a global scale appears to be in a state of flux where a select

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few – predominantly multinational corporations split by region – are now competing with more complex networks of small- and medium-sized businesses leveraging their strengths in innovation and production capabilities.

Read our current global OEM ranking list (see page 56) to see where the numbers land.

What’s more fascinating for myself is how trends in transport and logistics, particularly freight demand and a government’s approach to improving a country’s economy, parallel with the key decisions that manufacturers and suppliers consider on a daily basis to remain profitable and competitive in an ever-changing industry.

In the case of the South African Government it founded a committee in 1994 with the purpose of holding the nation accountable for improving its socio-economic situation.

Dubbed a ‘Fragile Five’ country by economists, South Africa is considered an emerging market economy that is too dependent on unreliable foreign investment to finance its growth ambitions (see our market report on page 24). New developments in mining, however, could make all the difference.

Ashley Blachford ashley.blachford@primecreative.com.au

CLIENT SUCCESS MANAGER

Justine Nardone justine.nardone@primecreative.com.au

CONTRIBUTORS Tim de Jong

HEAD OFFICE

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+61 3 9690 8766 subscriptions@primecreative.com.au Global Trailer is available by subscription from the publisher. The rights of refusal are reserved by the publisher.

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.

Follow us on twitter @Globaltrailer

“On roads across the globe: JOST keeps us rolling!”

Trusting the market leader.

Truck and trailer manufacturers around the globe trust in JOST’s comprehensive range of components.

Customer-orientated solutions, innovative products and a worldwide supply of spare parts make JOST the number 1. www.jost-world.com

NEWS INTERNATIONAL ASIA CHINA The leaders of China and Colombia signed an electronic commerce cooperation agreement in July.

China’s ministry of commerce and Colombia’s ministry of trade, industry and tourism signed a memorandum of understanding in Beijing on 31 July under the joint witness of Chinese President, Xi Jinping, Colombian President, Duque, Vice Minister of Commerce and Deputy China International Trade Representative, Yu Jianhua, and Minister of Trade, Industry and Tourism of Colombia, Restrepo.

As per the agreement, China and Colombia will reportedly share experience in management and policy development, promote publicprivate dialogue, conduct joint research and personnel training, encourage enterprises to conduct e-commerce exchanges and cooperation and promote the trade of high-quality specialty products in their respective countries through e-commerce.

“In recent years, the friendly relations between China and Colombia have developed rapidly, the cooperation in various fields has continued to be deepened, and bilateral trade volume has continued to grow,” China’s ministry of commerce said in a statement. “The signing of the memorandum will further enhance the level of trade facilitation and cooperation between the two countries and inject new vitality into bilateral economic and trade relations.”

HONG KONG CIMC Vehicles is the first semi-trailer manufacturer to be listed on the main board of the Stock Exchange of Hong 6 / G L O B A L TR A I L E R / I SS U E 4 8

Kong (HKEX), effective July 11.

The OEM has reported that CIMC Vehicles is the fourth independent listed platform established by CIMC, following CIMC (A+H shares), CIMC ENRIC (H share), and CIMCTianda (H share).

As announced by CIMC, at 9m on July 11, the H shares (stock code: 1839) of CIMC Vehicles opens for trading on the HKEX at the final offer price of 6.38 HKD/share and at 500 shares/lot. It is also noted in CIMC’s announcement that, after global offering, CIMC will directly or indirectly own 53.82 per cent of the total capital stock issued by CIMC Vehicles through itself and its whollyowned subsidiaries.

The head of CIMC’s Office of the Secretary to the Chairman noted that the successful listing of CIMC Vehicles is good for both CIMC and CIMC Vehicles. “The listing of CIMC Vehicles is good for the future development of CIMC’s vehicle business, the expansion of its financing space, the improvement of its international standardised management and the increases of its independent brand premium.

The financial statements of CIMC Vehicles will still be consolidated into that of CIMC after CIMC Vehicles listing, the development of CIMC Vehicles will add value to CIMC, and bring better revenues for shareholders including CIMC.” TAIWAN Taiwan-based heavy haulage company, Chi Deh Crane Engineering, has expanded its fleet with a Goldhofer FTV 550 blade transport device to bolster its wind turbine component transport capabilities.

Chi Deh has used Goldhofer

equipment since 2000 and the fleet includes a mechanically steered PST/ SL self-propelled vehicles, modular THP/SL heavy-duty systems and electronically steered PST/SL-E selfpropelled vehicles. In addition to the FTV 550, other additions include 16 axle lines of electronically steered PST/ SL-E and three SPZ-GP flatbed semitrailers with pendular axles.

Chi Deh’s investment in the FTV 550 reportedly enables it to deliver the latest generation blades to remote locations with ease.

DUBAI Logistics company, Aramex, confirms e-commerce has spurred volume growth while business transformation accelerates.

For the second quarter and first half ended 30 June 2019, Aramex revenues grew four per cent to AED 1.279 million (€314,253,07).

Aramex said in a statement that revenues would have grown by seven per cent excluding the impact from currency fluctuations, mainly in the South African Rand and Australian Dollar, as well as the company’s strategic restructuring of its operations in India through exiting the Domestic Express market.

Net profit for Q2 2019 rose by one per cent to reach AED 123 million (€30.2 million), compared to AED 122 million (€29.9 million) in Q2 2018.

“Strong demand from e-commerce continues to spur growth in volumes we handled over the second quarter,” said Aramex CEO, Bashar Obeid.

“Our Domestic Express registered outstanding performance and International Express also enjoyed double digit growth,” he said.

“This is a testament to our strong brand, efficient services and

NEWS

MIDDLE EAST increasingly competitive positioning.

“However, lower yields, mainly on the cross-border International Express business and changes in fulfillment models, moderated our top line figures and profitability. FreightForwarding business performance came below expectations as it was affected by the regional economic uncertainty, however, today our efforts continue to be focused on commercial restructuring, which will enable us to grow that business line over the long term.

“Our Integrated Logistics and Supply Chain Management business had another great quarter, as a result of our efforts to capitalise on the growing demand for those services, especially from regional retailers wanting to tap omni-channel sales.

“We remain firmly committed to our strategic business transformation, which includes digital, commercial and operational upgrades to cater to the shifting operating environment and to retain and grow market share across different business lines. While such major changes pushed operating expenses for the period, over the long term, we are very positive that our transformation will help us improve our margins and help us further diversify our revenue mix.”

“Volumes growth was very encouraging in the second quarter, with Domestic Express volumes surging 42 per cent in core markets, especially in the GCC and Levant region,” said Aramex Chief Operating Officer, Iyad Kamal.

“The solid growth was owed to higher demand from e-commerce, the upgrade of our services and expansion of operations in some of our core markets, including Saudi Arabia, UAE and Egypt,” he said.

Aramex courier.

“Overall, Express volumes expanded by 20 per cent, thanks to winning new international e-tailers and receiving increased orders from existing ones.

Also, in Q2 2019, we accelerated our digital transformation efforts.

“Today Aramex is leaner and more operationally efficient than ever before. We are implementing technologies that will help reduce transit times and improve delivery accuracy, which will ultimately help us win more new business and enhance operating efficiencies.”

IRAN International Road Transport Union (IRU) Secretary General, Umberto de Pretto, met with the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration (IRICA) and Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs and Finance, Mahdi Mirashrafi, this month in Geneva to discuss strengthening TIR in Iran, the region and beyond.

IRU said that promoting TIR in Iran offers the opportunity to facilitate and secure transport, transit and trade not only in the

Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO) region, but also along the International North-South Transport corridor (INSTC), the Chabahar Agreement corridor, the Belt and Road initiative corridors, the Islamabad-Tehran-Istanbul corridor (ITI), the Ashgabat Agreement corridor as well as all other trade routes passing through the country.

“Over the past five years, IRU has been working closely with IRICA and IRU’s member, the Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA), to promote the benefits of TIR in Iran and the wider region, and today our relationship remains exemplary,” de Pretto said following the meeting.

IRICA is at the forefront of promoting the digital and intermodal versions of the TIR system in the region. The first digital eTIR project between Iran and Turkey as well as the first intermodal TIR operation from Slovenia to Iran involving road, sea and rail transports have all taken place successfully. Iran also initiated a second digital TIR corridor to Azerbaijan in June.

“Iran has the potential to serve as the engine of digital TIR in the region,” said de Pretto. “The eTIR pilot project with Turkey and now the digital TIR route with Azerbaijan which is due to be extended along the International North-South Transport corridor are clear examples of this fact.”

With IRICA’s commitment to make eTIR fully operational with Turkey including to all TIR customs offices and all TIR transport operators, and its readiness to extend digital TIR to other neighbouring countries, Iran remains a strategic partner and is expected to be a game changer in the region.

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 / 7

EUROPE AUSTRIA Kuehne + Nagel Austria has acquired Jöbstl, a medium-sized logistics enterprise headquartered in Wundschuh near Graz, to bolster its overland network.

With the integration of the Jöbstl Group, Kuehne + Nagel is expanding its overland network and simultaneously strengthening the region as the gateway to Eastern Europe. In future, particularly those customers requiring European groupage services can benefit from the transport operations offered by the Jöbstl Group.

“By adding the Jöbstl Group portfolio to ours, we are able to offer more services to the customers in the region, as well as further develop our overland network strategically”, said Kuehne + Nagel Senior Vice President Europe, Uwe Hött.

“With over 130 overland branch offices throughout Europe, Kuehne + Nagel is already connecting all markets in the region.

“By integrating the Jöbstl network, transport operations and in particular connections to neighbouring countries will be further strengthened while increasing frequency of depatures and shortening leadtimes. Expecially medium-sized companies will benefit from our expanded portfolio of offerings,” he said.

Kuehne + Nagel Austria General Manager, Franz Braunsberger, said the family-owned company, Jöbstl stands for reliability, flexibility and customer service with a personal touch – values that are also extremely important to Kuehne + Nagel.

Jöbstl Managing Director and shareholder of the Jöbstl Group, Christoph Jöbstl, has welcomed the acquisition.

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“We are pleased to join the Kuehne + Nagel Group and become a part of a global logistics network,” he said. Together we will be able to offer our customers an even wider range of services. At the same time, combinining our networks, we can build synergies and create room for growth that will benefit both our customers and employees.”

The acquisition is subject to approval by the responsible antitrust authorities. As part of the acquisition, 100 per cent of SLM Spedition und Logistik GmbH, Vienna, shares will be transferred to Kuehne + Nagel. The parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price of the transaction.

FINLAND Tyre manufacturer, Nokian Heavy Tyres, has acquired heavy equipment wheel company, Levypyörä Oy. With its two business lines, wheels and steel structures, Levypyörä serves OEMs and aftermarket customers in forestry, agriculture and earthmoving applications.

Annual net sales of Levypyörä is reported to be approximately €18 million.

“With the acquisition, Nokian Heavy Tyres can offer innovative new solutions to its existing customers and increase wheel volume as well as further improve its service level,” said Nokian Heavy Tyres Managing Director, Manu Salmi.

“Levypyörä has already been a trusted partner of ours for many years,” he said.

“The acquisition provides additional growth opportunities and offers a fullservice solution for our key OE and AM customers.”

“Being a part of a leading specialty tire manufacturer gives us a great opportunity to further grow and

develop Levypyörä products and services globally and strengthen our current customer and supplier relationships,” said Levypyörä Managing Director, Lars Ojansuu.

Levypyörä was founded 64 years ago and it employs approximately 100 people in Nastola, Finland. Levypyörä was a part of Weckman Steel corporation.

FINLAND Alexanders Removals and Storage took delivery of an Ekeri side-opening 18 tonne rigid vehicle in 2017 which, according to the London-based company, has greatly improved loading flexibility and requires no maintenance or repairs.

The rigid-sided body is equipped with 6 doors, which open along the body length on the kerbside and lock centrally. While for secure loading, the Ekeri-designed lashing strap system runs along each side of the floor and both walls.

Alexanders provide a comprehensive removals and storage service for domestic and commercial customers throughout the UK and Europe and rely on vehicles which enable fast, secure and flexible loading.

“The Ekeri body has more than proved itself and despite a demanding operation, has neither deteriorated nor required any looking after – useful factors when it comes to keeping downtime low and ensuring a good return on investment,” said Alexanders General Manager, Richard Lear.

The Ekeri vehicle is designed to allow access to any point along the load bed, from the near-side or rear. This saves handling time and avoids having to manoeuvre items around oneanother or to off-load through the rear to reach a given part of the load.

NEWS

EUROPE

Nokian Heavy Tyres Managing Director, Manu Salmi.

Manufactured by Ekeri in Finland, the GRP-skinned body is also equipped with side and rear ramps for easy access.

“If required, we can load 20 pallets or 5 of our large storage boxes through the sides and rear,” said Lear. “And as there are no posts in the way, we have unrestricted access with a loading length of 8150mm and a height of 2740mm.”

Formed in 2002 by husband and wife team Alex and Sam Pope, Alexanders’ diverse range of services includes tailored removals planning, individual packing, dismantling office equipment, schools, home cleaning, IT services, antiques care, insurance cover and secure self-storage and containerised storage.

In addition, the company provides a wide range of removals and related services for schools, airlines and private businesses and in recognition of their professionalism, the company recently won Domestic Mover of the Year 2019 and were awarded Certificate of Excellence for the Commercial Mover of the Year 2019 by the industry association – British

Association of Removers.

“Overall, the Ekeri body is perfect for mixed loads and multi-drop/collections where a certain degree of security is required,” said Lear. “Add to that, its hard-wearing, low maintenance components and we have efficiency and reliability rolled into one. Good for us and good for our customers too.”

GERMANY Equipment specialist, SAF-Holland, reported a group sales record of €695.5 million (+8.6 per cent) as part of its half-year financial results.

“Outside of the Americas region, the market environment for heavy trucks and trailers was challenging,” said SAF-Holland CEO, Alexander Geis.

“Despite this, our performance in the first half of 2019 has been satisfactory overall.

“Based on the expected industryspecific conditions, we are confident that we will meet the market expectations for the full year. The consistent implementation of the group-wide operational excellence programs and our ability to promptly and flexibly respond to fluctuations

in demand are also essential prerequisites for reaching our targets.”

Group sales in the first half of 2019 reached €695.5 million, or 8.6 per cent higher than the level of €640.3 million generated in the first half of the prior year.

The additional contribution to sales from the companies acquired since January 2018 amounted to €34.5 million. Organic sales growth, which stemmed exclusively from the Americas region, contributed €4.2 million (net).

Positive currency effects resulting primarily from the appreciation of the US dollar against the Euro amounted to €16.4 million (previous year EUR -36.2 million).

Adjusted Group earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) in the first half of 2019 improved year-on-year by 13.2 per cent, reaching €49.9 million (previous year EUR 44.1 million).

The sharp rise in earnings achieved in the Americas region was able to compensate for the lower earnings contributions from the other regions.

The adjusted EBIT margin for the first half-year of 2019 equalled 7.2 per cent (previous year 6.9 per cent).

The adjusted result for the period before minority interests amounted to €33.0 million (previous year €28.2 million) and was impacted by a significantly better net finance result and a higher tax rate. Based on the approximately 45.4 million ordinary shares issued, adjusted basic earnings per share amounted to €0.73 (previous year €0.62), and adjusted diluted earnings per share amounted to €0.61 (previous year €0.53).

Additions to property, plant and equipment and intangible assets amounted to €24.2 million in the first half of 2019 (previous year €15.2 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

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NEWS

EUROPE million) and included capitalised development costs of €2.4 million (previous year €1.8 million).

Investments came to €8.0 million in the EMEA region (previous year €6.2 million), €11.2 million in the Americas region (previous year €8.2 million), €4.7 million in the China region (previous year €0.6 million) and €0.4 million in the APAC region (previous year €0.3 million). Key areas of investment included the construction of the Chinese Greenfield plant, rationalisation and expansion investments in the US and a new office building in Germany.

At €27.6 million, cash flow from operating activities in the first six months of 2019 was significantly above the previous year’s level of EUR -30.9 million. This improvement stemmed, above all, from a sharply lower increase in net working capital - despite a further expansion of sales. Net of the cash flow from investing activities in property, plant and equipment and intangible assets amounting to €24.2 million, the operating free cash flow improved substantially to EUR +3.4 million (previous year EUR -46.1 million).

“We will continue to diligently manage our net working capital in the second half of the year in order to achieve sustained positive free cash flows,” said SAF-Holland Chief Financial Officer, Dr Matthias Heiden.

GERMANY Logistics on-demand service provider, Uber Freight, is launching in Germany, following its successful expansion in the Netherlands.

The introduction of Uber Freight follows a recent call for action by the German industry to address logistical bottlenecks and severe

driver shortages in the road transport sector.

“In an increasingly demanding sector, Uber Freight has the power to unlock efficiencies that drive the entire German industry forward,” said Uber Freight Head of European Expansion, Daniel Buczkowski.

“With a global network and proven technology at scale, we look forward to seamlessly connect carriers with shipper’s loads, creating an environment in which everyone can benefit,” he said.

German shippers and carriers, according to Uber, have many of the same pain points as their European counterparts and can benefit from the technology Uber Freight has developed.

“The German trucking market is experiencing a severe shortage of drivers,” Uber said in a statement.

“The World Bank estimates that around 40 per cent of German truck drivers will retire in the next 10 years, creating a shortfall of 150,000 drivers. Moreover, of the time drivers are on the road, 21 per cent of the total miles traveled are empty.

Inefficiency of this scale results in shippers struggling to find available drivers to move their goods.”

Uber said small- to medium-sized carriers in Germany make up more than 90 per cent of the carrier pool and Uber Freight’s on-demand marketplace will enable carriers of all sizes to participate in the market, and with that increase efficiency as well as reduce wasted miles and fuel.

GERMANY German OEM, Kässbohrer, has expanded its cold chain transportation range with the launch of its Flower Carrier, K.SRI F.

Kässbohrer’s K.SRI F is equipped with cutting-edge technology and offers the best features for flower transportation.

K.SRI F is offered with the inner height of 2,700mm, an internal width of 2,500mm, integrated load security rail, protected rear door and 1,100mm fifth wheel height with 385/65 22.5 tyres as a standard offering the maximum volume for the transportation of delicate goods.

K.SRI F’s chassis, made of high strength steel is KTL coated for 10 years of no rust perforation guarantee assuring performance for the life time of the vehicle.

Kässbohrer Flower Carrier is compliant with EN 12642 Code XL to provide safer transportation of the delicate goods, FRC for perishable good transportation and Pharma Certificate for pharmaceutical material transportation.

To assure the continuity of cold chain operations Flower Carrier features an insulated door as well as buffers all around for maximum isolation.

Flower Carrier is provided with an insulated robust rear door that is equipped with full rear rubber buffer across rear width and hinge protection rubber buffers fitted vertically full height of the rear frame increasing the robustness of the vehicle, prevents damages to the box during operations and extends the life time of the vehicle.

Kässbohrer’s high-tech Flower Carrier’s steel rear frame mounted 85mm thickness insulated rear door is protected with 250mm aluminium kick strip fitted at the bases to prevent damages during operations enabling cold chain operation sustainability.

As standard, reliably secured aluminium hinges are customsW 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 / 1 1

EUROPE compliant to prevent cargo theft.

K.SRI F can be equipped with stainless steel housing door locks consisting of two parts, one part on the left-hand door and one part on the right-hand door, to make it resistant to attempted burglaries as an option.

IRELAND Northern Irish OEM, SDC Trailers, has launched a new hydraulically powered tipping skeletal trailer for use with 40’ containers to transport and tip bulk materials.

The new trailer is reported to offer a high-volume payload, providing the operator with efficient loading / offloading and increased flexibility to maximise deliveries. Designed for 44-tonne operation, SDC’s high quality finish is guaranteed with premium components including BPW axles, automatic twist locks, JOST landing legs, HYVA tipping gear and Aspock lighting.

SDC said in a statement that it carried out extensive research during the design and development process of the skel tipper and has incorporated advanced safety features including rear stabilising legs to optimise stability and a warning lamp fitted as standard to alert anyone nearby when the tipper is being raised.

The exact trailer specification can be tailored to the customer’s requirements according to SDC. The trailer tipping ram can be powered from the PTO on the truck or an on-board electric / diesel power pack.

“I am delighted to announce the new 40’ addition to our tipping skeletal range, increasing our solutions for the container and bulk materials industry,” said SDC CEO, Enda Cushnahan.

“Enhancing flexibility and efficiency, the 40’ tipping skeletal is not only 12 / G L O B A L TR A I L E R / I SS U E 4 8

cost effective for the operator, it also delivers environmental savings through reduced carbon emissions.

“Our engineers have designed and manufactured 150,000 trailers over the last 40 years and this latest innovation is testament to our continued dedication, to provide safe and practical semi-trailer solutions,” he said.

SDC’s range of tipping skeletal trailers provide a highly robust and durable option for use with various containers. The manufacturer offers four different design configurations across the range; a sliding skeletal used for tipping 20’ containers, a flexible sliding design for tipping both 20’ and 30’ containers and a rigid option for 30’ use only.

The launch of SDC’s new 40’ tipping skeletal completes the range, with a solution for efficient, high volume deliveries. The trailer is now in full production at SDC’s ISO accredited manufacturing facilities in the UK and Ireland.

ITALY Italian logistics company, Fercam, has taken delivery of 80 Krone Profi Liners with special equipment for railway transportation.

Trailer manufacturer, Krone, said that innovative solutions, quality, intermodality and reliability were key to Fercam specifies Krone for intermodal reliability.

Fercam’s decision to invest in Krone’s trailing equipment.

Johann Friedrich Harder, head of Fercam’s Bolzano branch and responsible for the company’s fleet, said Fercam’s vehicles must guarantee its customers a safe and reliable service.

Harder told Krone that as Fercam carries out around 20 per cent of all transport with intermodal systems, the business pays particular attention the intermodal qualities of its trailers when investing in new equipment. Important features include body strength, flexible use and exemplary load restraint.

The new Krone semi-trailers, which were delivered by the Italian Krone partner RealTrailer srl., are used

by Fercam on all European routes.

Fercam has 93 branches throughout Europe, 63 of them in Italy, 24 in Europe through its own subsidiaries and a further six in Turkey, Tunisia, Morocco, Serbia and Albania. Due to its 93 branches throughout the continent and in North Africa, the company can offer virtually any route, most of them even intermodal (rail/ road or road/sea transport).

The South Tyrolean Fercam AG with headquarters in Bolzano (founded in 1949) is one of the leading transport and logistics companies in Italy with its 3,350 own loading units and more

NEWS

EUROPE than 1,200,000m² of storage space.

The company’s services include international full load transports by road and rail as well as worldwide sea and air freight transports, national general cargo transports and numerous logistics services. Since the beginning of 2019, Fercam has also been represented in the Far East, namely in Hong Kong, China and Japan, with three of its own local facilities. The company currently has 2,100 employees and almost 4,000 external employees, who generated sales of 811 million euros in 2018.

operators could familiarise themselves with Dearman’s clean, quiet operation and its ease of use,” Dearman said in a statement. “TIP has seen its trailer leasing customers increasingly look to adopt cleaner and more efficient solutions for tractor units at the front of their vehicles and the new partnership with Dearman means TIP’s customers will be able to match their cleaner propulsion investments with a clean refrigeration solution.”

TIP Vice President Benelux, Rogier Laan, said its customers frequently ponder the question of how to deal with issues such as sustainability and the type of trailers they should use.

“We therefore see it as our 9376

THE NETHERLANDS UK-based ‘clean cold’ technology

company, Dearman, and TIP Netherlands (NL) have partnered to deploy Dearman’s liquid nitrogen powered transport refrigeration units in trailers leased by TIP to leading fleet operators.

Reducing the environmental impact of a logistics network is an integral part of environmentally conscientious fleet operators seeking low-carbon and clean-air transport solutions according to Dearman.

“Following successful trials in NL and Italy with a global top three multibrand foods company, TIP showcased Dearman’s zero emissions transport refrigeration technology at its recent Customer Innovation Platform so that

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EUROPE responsibility to be the best industry partner for these topics and we support innovative solutions that contribute in making our industry more sustainable,” he said. “We therefore keep a close eye on technical developments within our industry and we test these developments regularly, including this revolutionary solution from Dearman.”

Dearman Chief Commercial Officer, Khaled Simmons, said that TIP’s support for clean technology innovation is a major step to enable fleet operators to meet the increasing evironmental demand upon them from regulators, food producers and retailers.

“The license to operate diesel-powered refrigeration is closing in and it will take leadership from innovative leasing companies like TIP to support the transition to clean alternatives,” he said.

SCOTLAND Aberdeenshire-based Lunar Freezing has become the first company in Scotland to take delivery of Carrier Transicold’s new Vector HE 19 MT (High Efficiency, Multi-Temperature) trailer refrigeration unit.

Carrier Transicold is a part of Carrier, a leading global provider of innovative heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC), refrigeration, fire, security and building automation technologies.

Mounted to a 13.6-metre Gray & Adams trailer built at the company’s plant in nearby Fraserburgh, the trailer will transport fresh fish landed in Peterhead to Germany, Holland and throughout the UK. “We’ve had many years of fantastic service from Carrier Transicold and the chance to be the first in Scotland to introduce their next-generation system was one we didn’t want to miss,” said 14 / G L O B A L TR A I L E R / I SS U E 4 8

Lunar Freezing Engineering Manager, Jim Bruce. “The new Vector HE 19 is lighter, quieter, offers improved pull-down capacity and has the most efficient cooling system of any trailer we’ve had in the fleet. This brings real benefits for our business, and we fully expect it will become the standard unit for us moving forward.”

The new Vector HE 19 system utilises Carrier Transicold’s all-electric E-Drive technology, which combined with a new multi-speed engine design, delivers up to 30 per cent in fuel savings when compared to the existing Vector 1950 unit. These figures have been independently verified against the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN) and the Association Technic Energy Environment (ATEE) partial load fuel burn standards. At the same time, the oil drain interval for the unit’s engine is doubled when compared to its predecessor.

The Vector HE 19 units use of a fully hermetic scroll compressor and economiser helps to deliver a 40 per cent increase in refrigeration capacity during pull-down, while reducing the chance of refrigerant escape by 50 per cent. The system is also 19 per cent more efficient when plugged into the electrical grid on standby, meaning Lunar Freezing will see reduced diesel, maintenance and electricity bills.

“We have enjoyed a strong relationship with Lunar Freezing since 2001, supplying both trailers and a rigid truck body for their busy fleet,” said Gray & Adams Sales Manager, Stewart Massie. “Most recently, they have worked with us on a project to trial and test a new rear buffer arrangement, which has proven so successful that it has been incorporated into this new trailer.

Being based so close to our factory, they are a great fleet to work with on research and development projects.”

Lunar Freezing operates a fleet of 10 Carrier-cooled trailers, each averaging around 100,000 kilometres a year and on the road up to seven days per week. Founded in 1990, the company offers fishing, processing, cold storage, and transportation of fish products across the UK and into Belgium, France, Holland and Germany.

SLOVAKIA AND CZECH REPUBLIC Deutsche Post DHL Group is strengthening its cooperation with Austrian Post in Slovakia and Czech Republic to create profitable growth in the booming cross-border e-commerce business.

The companies will collaborate in last-mile parcel delivery in Slovakia and Czech Republic.

Under the agreement, In Time s.r.o., a subsidiary of Austrian Post, will deliver parcels sent by DHL customers to Slovakia, while Deutsche Post DHL Group’s Czech subsidiary, PPL CZ s.r.o. will deliver parcels sent by Austrian Post customers to Czech Republic. Both relationships are expected to begin in September 2019.

“After the collaboration with Austrian Post in Austria both parties decided to further use each other’s delivery network as described in Slovakia and Czech Republic,” said Petr Horak, Managing Director PPL CZ s.r.o. & DHL Parcel Slovensko.

“With e-commerce on the rise and growing parcel volumes high quality and best-in-class customer experience in last-mile-delivery becomes increasingly a key differentiator and with this cooperation we will lay the right foundation for this,” he said.

NEWS

NORTH AMERICA US Wabash National has reported financial results for the quarter ended June 30 2019, citing net sales growth and strong operating performance.

Net sales for Q2 2019 increased two percent to $626 million USD (€564.5 million) from $613 million USD (€552.8 million) in the prior year quarter, as growth was led by the Company’s Final Mile and Diversified Products Group Segments.

Operating income was $47.5 million USD (€42.8 million) in the second quarter of 2019 and the company achieved a consolidated operating margin of 7.6 per cent during the

second quarter of 2019, which represents an improvement of 10 basis points from the second quarter of 2018, highlighting the success of both short and long-term initiatives targeting margin expansion.

“I am very pleased with our operating performance during the second quarter,” said Wabash President and CEO, Brent Yeagy.

“We delivered revenue of $626 million [USD] which is an all-time record for Wabash National and we generated our strongest operating margins in two years, driven by the Wabash Management System.

“The strength of our free cash generation allowed us the flexibility

not only to pay our regular quarterly dividend and make progress on debtreduction, but also to repurchase shares during the quarter,” he said.

Net income for the second quarter 2019 was $31.0 million USD (€27.9 million).

Operating EBITDA, a non-GAAP measure that excludes the effects of certain items, for the second quarter 2019 was $61.0 million USD, or 9.7 per cent of net sales.

Headquartered in Lafayette, Indiana, Wabash National Corporation is a diversified industrial manufacturer and a leading producer of semi-trailers, truck bodies and liquid transportation systems. Established in 1985, the

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NORTH AMERICA Company manufactures a diverse range of products including: dry freight and refrigerated trailers, platform trailers, bulk tank trailers, dry and refrigerated truck bodies, truck-mounted tanks, intermodal equipment, structural composite panels and products, trailer aerodynamic solutions, and specialty food grade and pharmaceutical equipment.

US Meritor will supply one of the industry’s lightest air disc brakes to German trailer manufacturer, Schmitz Cargobull, in 2021.

“Entering into an agreement with a highly respected OEM like Schmitz Cargobull reinforces our goal to diversify the business and positions Meritor for growth in Europe,” said Meritor Vice President Truck – Europe, Tony Nicol.

“The new brake offers significant cost and weight savings while also maintaining the performance our customers expect,” he said.

Roland Klement, Member of the Board and Chief Research and Development Officer for Schmitz Cargobull said: “We’re pleased to be working with a global supplier that has proven braking solutions with consistent quality and dedicated customer service and is aligned with our goals”.

Meritor’s braking solution for the OEM is designed to meet trailer fleet expectations for efficiency, safety and performance. Components focused on weight and performance were developed at Meritor’s braking centre of excellence in Cwmbran, UK. Meritor designed the brake based on delivering TCO benefits for customers while also retaining key aspects of 16 / G L O B A L TR A I L E R / I SS U E 4 8

current technologies. Its adjuster mechanism is based on Meritor’s proven ELSA brake design and includes a new patent pending friction pad design.

In other news, Meritor completed its €156.2 million acquisition of AxleTech from global investment firm The Carlyle Group in July.

The previously announced transaction is reported to enhance Meritor’s growth platform with the addition of a complementary product portfolio, including a full line of independent suspensions, axles, braking solutions and drivetrain components.

AxleTech will operate within Meritor’s Aftermarket, Industrial & Trailer segment.

“The addition of AxleTech advances our growth strategy while further diversifying our portfolio in strategic, adjacent markets,” said Meritor CEO and President, Jay Craig.

“We are delighted to welcome AxleTech to the Meritor team with a shared focus on driving superior performance, efficiency and reliability for our global customers with a wider array of products and solutions.

“We look forward to realising the benefits of the transaction as we continue executing on our priorities to enhance value for our shareholders, customers and employees,” he said.

US The American Trucking Associations’ (ATA) advanced seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index decreased 1.1 per cent in June after falling four per cent in May. The index in June was 115.2 (2015=100) compared with 116.5 in May. “Tonnage continues to show

resilience as it posted the twentysixth year-over-year increase despite falling for the second straight month sequentially,” said ATA Chief Economist, Bob Costello. “The yearover-year gain was the smallest over the past two years, but the level of freight remains quite high. Tonnage is outperforming other trucking metrics as heavy freight sectors, like tank truck, are witnessing better freight levels than sectors like dry van, which has a lower average weight per load.”

May’s reading was revised up compared with ATA’s June release.

Compared with June 2018, the seasonally adjusted index increased 1.5 per cent, the smallest year-overyear gain since April 2017.

The not seasonally adjusted index, which represents the change in tonnage actually hauled by the fleets before any seasonal adjustment, equaled 117.6 in June, 3.3 per cent below May level (121.7). In calculating the index, 100 represents 2015.

Trucking is reported to serve as a barometer of the US economy, representing 70.2 per cent of tonnage carried by all modes of domestic freight transportation, including manufactured and retail goods. Trucks hauled 10.77 billion tonnes of freight in 2017. Motor carriers collected $700.1 billion USD (€628.3 billion), or 79.3 per cent of total revenue earned by all transport modes.

ATA calculates the tonnage index based on surveys from its membership and has been doing so since the 1970s. This is a preliminary figure and subject to change in the final report issued around the

NEWS

NORTH AMERICA fifth day of each month. The report includes month-to-month and yearover-year results, relevant economic comparisons and key financial indicators.

US CIMC Intermodal Equipment (CIMC IE) celebrated the opening of a new facility in South Gate, California, in the US last month.

The ribbon cutting ceremony and open house event was reported to be attended by more than 50 key customers, suppliers and Board members.

The site expansion, according to

CIMC IE, added over 50,00 square feet (4,645 square metres) under roof and another 50,000 plus square feet of additional parking space to accommodate the OEM’s growing North American intermodal business.

The new building houses offices for purchasing, human relations, finance and accounting, logistics, sales support and key executives.

Additionally, CIMC IE has added, with this expansion, a new educational training centre, parts PDC and chassis showroom with a central product gallery.

“CIMC is unique in having an indoor showroom that offers visitors a clean

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and uncluttered area in which to view new container chassis,” said CIMC IE CEO, Frank Sonzala.

The additional space has reportedly allowed CIMC IE to improve and re-organise the legacy facility in South Gate to update and enlarge all offices, employee facilities and operations. A modern, fully-outfitted IT department was added along with a technical centre training room and new production support offices. The CIMC IE parts department doubled in size and re-designed production lines can now produce a hundred 53’ chassis and a hundred marine and various other stock chassis per shift.

SOUTH AMERICA CHILE Bulk haulage company, Tambo, services the copper mining industry in Chile with Meiller tippers.

The Tambo fleet has reportedly grown over the years since its founding in 1988. The family enterprise led by Camilo González Pendola comprises 120 trucks and 90 diggers. About 80 of those vehicles are fitted with Meiller superstructures.

“Camilo González Pendola puts his faith in two powerful 4-axle vehicles, the classic rear tipper H436 and 50-tons P450 which, with a nominal volume of 20 and 22m³, can be relied upon to perform under even the harshest operating conditions,” Meiller said in a statement.

“Heavyweights such as the P450 are a rare sight in Germany, as trucks weighing 50 tonnes are generally not permitted to use public roads.”

New business models have for some time now been transforming the haulage sector in Chile, according to Meiller, with major construction companies no longer investing in their own equipment and preferring to lease vehicles.

Tambo has taken advantage of these changes in recent years.

The company relies on its own vehicles and drivers to transport soil, concrete and rubble. One new core business is the leasing of equipment, including the option of trained drivers should this be requested.

The demands Tambo makes of its personnel are indeed high, with professionalism a prerequisite and regular training measures broadening the know-how of employees. This means that drivers with the necessary knowledge are available, along with mechanics who 18 / G L O B A L TR A I L E R / I SS U E 4 8

Meiller tippers take the strain on South American roads.

can remedy problems relating to vehicle superstructures on site, thus drastically reducing downtime.

It is with more than a little pride that Camilo González Pendola describes his fleet as the most modern in all Chile. Vehicles are replaced every three years, with earth moving equipment being renewed every five to six years. When it comes to tippers, Camilo González Pendola’s exclusive preference is for robust tippers from Meiller.

“Quality has paid off in the shortest possible time, proving the superiority of this equipment to that of other manufacturers,” said Pendola. “In addition to the excellent workmanship of these vehicles, the service provided with regard to wear and spare parts is far superior to that of other competitors.”

Transport companies can only exploit specific time windows for accessing the mines, Meiller stated. The repair of vehicles on the mine site is prohibited, and a breakdown can easily mean that the tipper is out of service for two days. This does not apply to Meiller tippers.

“On the one hand, we’ve experienced a lot fewer technical problems since we’ve been using Meiller vehicles and, where a small

repair is necessary, waiting times until the spare part is delivered are also practically negligible,” said Pendola.

As the company now also has a secondary line of business in the sale of used vehicles after a certain period of use, resale value is also an important issue, as Pendola explains: “After three years of use, Meiller tippers are in a significantly better condition than tippers from other manufacturers. Practically no investment in maintenance is required prior to sale, and repairs are also unnecessary. That’s not the case with other vehicles.”

After years of trials and testing under practical conditions, Pendola is convinced of the quality of Meiller vehicles. He has already been at the IAA in Germany and visited the plant in Munich and Slany in the Czech Republic to see where his vehicles come from and how they are manufactured, an experience that impressed him greatly.

Chile is one of the most prosperous countries in South America due to the resource, copper, according to Meiller. “This is primarily extracted in the El Teniente mine in Rancagua, the world’s largest subterranean copper mine. Estimates suggest that 100 megatonnes of fine copper lie underground in this location. A network of 3,000 kilometres of drifts has been developed to access this valuable major export, and around a half a million tons of fine copper are produced from the ore mined each year. However, ore, rock and soil first need to be transported to the surface, and this calls for a haulage company with vehicles designed to do the heaviest of work and continuous operation.”

NEWS

OCEANIA THAILAND South East Asia is expected to be the largest segment of the global market for beverages according to transport and logistics company, Linfox.

Growth and disruption is reported to be hallmarks of the South East Asian beverage market in the years to follow as new players seek to tap into that growth.

Despite growth in South East Asia’a markets, Linfox claims that getting the goods to market will be a challenge due to poor infrastructure and administrative systems not built for the scale required. Other challenges include skills shortage and evolving regulatory frameworks which vary from country to country in the region.

Linfox has had a presence in South East Asia for 25 years. In 2018, Linfox International Group (LIG) and Thailand brewer, Boon Rawd Brewery, formed a joint venture for the exclusive provision of logistics services to Boon Rawd’s beverages business in Thailand. This joint venture led to the formation of

get

BevChain Logistics Thailand.

Wang Noi in Bangkok is BevChain Logistics Thailand’s main distribution centre (DC), three regional DCs (Khon Kaen, Surat Thani and Chiang Mai) and other smaller DCs in key areas.

More than 800 employees and contractors operate 15 warehouses and DCs as well as nine factories, bolstered by a company and contractor fleet.

Linfox said that safety has been a priority from the beginning at BevChain Logistics Thailand. The business has built a proactive safety culture by training staff on personal protective equipment, load restraint, forklift driving, manual handling techniques, incident investigation and toolbox communications.

The first ‘Stop For Safety’ program was held in April in the lead up to the Songkran peak – Thailand’s New Year celebration.

“This was an opportunity for the senior leadership team to engage with people face-to-face and reinforce the message about safe driving and warehouse practices,”

things

KARLSRUHE TRADE FAIR CENTRE

said BevChain Logistics Thailand Managing Director, Matt Sheridan.

“The team put in a fantastic performance - more than 10 million cases were delivered and over five million cases passed through the warehouses each week.”

BevChain Logistics Thailand has invested in newly designed highcapacity trailers to improve safety and boost efficiency across the factory shuttle network.

“In just six months, we have made great progress towards competing in the local market and providing a safe and high-quality service,“ said Sheridan.

“By consolidating volume and services for existing and new customers we can lower costs and provide much more value across the supply chain, while helping them grow in their home markets and reach emerging markets of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam.”

BevChain Logistics Thailand, is on track to become a leader in back-of-factory services through to consolidation and delivery.

! g n i v mo nufam.de

26 – 29 Sept. 2019

A S PA R K O F

HOPE 20 / G L O B A L TR A I L E R / I SS U E 4 8

COVER STORY

THE DIRE ECONOMIC STATE OF RUSSIA IS INFLUENCING HOW PROMINENT OEMS IN THE REGION CONDUCT BUSINESS. TONAR, DESPITE TREMULOUS MARKET CONDITIONS, IS COMMITTED TO MANUFACTURING FLEXIBILITY AND EQUIPMENT RELIABILITY WITHOUT COMPROMISE.

T

onar is one of the biggest trailer builders in Russia but 2019 is not looking as optimistic as 2018 according to General Manager, Denis Krivtsov. He explains that the Russian economy is stagnating, with less than one per cent of growth year-on-year.

While infrastructure projects such as the Crimean Bridge have been completed, there is nothing currently in the country’s engineering pipeline that compares. Expected works such as highspeed rail from Moscow to Kazan and a bridge to Sakhalin seem to be in a holding pattern until the Government allocates funding.

“There are also number of local factors influencing the Russian market,” he says. “The energy export ban to Ukraine via Russia has caused a collapse in the coal mining sector – coal transportation reduced consequently and the suppression of the forest trade with China has put a stop to the sales of timber trailers which were booming over the past few years.”

So far, Krivtsov confirms that commercial vehicles dropped by about five per cent this year.

In January-April 2019 the Russian new trailer and semi-trailer market increased by 5.1 per cent on the same period as 2018 and amounted to 9.23 thousand units, according to Russian Automotive Market Research.

For the reporting period Tonar sales grew by 56.9 per cent and amounted to 0.91 thousand units.

That five per cent growth in the Russian trailer market, according to Krivtsov, is a statistical anomaly.

“People buy more new trailers instead of used ones from Europe, their import was banned in April 2019,” he says.

“If the import of new and used trailers are combined then the trailer market is also technically decreasing.

“Tipping semi-trailers suffered the most, as usual. Curtainsiders and container chassis are growing, though. The winners, though, are those Russian companies that replace imported trailers – Tonar is one of them.”

Despite collapsing market conditions, Tonar is well placed with the production of around 1,500 trailers. If these conditions remain the same, Krivtsov expects to see a total production run of around 3,000 trailers by the end of the year. “We produced 170 curtainsiders in April 2019, which is our best result so far,” he says.

In addition to manufacturing a diverse range of trailing equipment, one of Tonar’s specialities is producing tipping semi-trailers.

“When most of the companies around the world were developing light vehicles, Tonar – since its foundation – has been developing more and more heavy trailers as there were no real weight control on the roads and the market demanded the transportation of larger volumes,” Krivtsov says – explaining that the in the past few years this situation is changing and more road freight operators are opting for legal transportation. “Most of our recent developments aim to reduce trailers weight and increasing legal payload capacity. It is a challenging task, when you consider tough road conditions and careless road freight operators running the risk of overloading. In more recent times, Tonar has developed a full range of light tippers for different materials made of aluminium and SSAB’s Hardox steel, with three- and four-axle variants. In combination with 6x4 or 4x2 prime movers they perfectly match Russian road regulation to assure maximum payload.”

Beyond Russia, Tonar exports trailers to ‘hard working’ countries such as Western Africa and the Middle East – countries, according to Krivtsov, that understand what a real overload is. “Standard European equipment simply does not work in these areas long-term,” he says. “Tonar fully utilises its experience with developing trailing equipment that is specified for

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 1

COVER STORY

rigorous use under difficult conditions.”

Krivtsov also compares the European and Russian markets. “The economy of united Europe is huge and quite stable, so the main players are focused on mass production of their main models, like curtainsiders and reefers for example,” he says. “Specialisation helps to increase productivity and efficiency a lot, making them unreachable for others.

It’s the opposite in Russia. Everybody is trying to increase their product range in multiple directions to remain competitive.

Specialisation for Russian OEMs is generally too risky.”

One of the greatest challenges for road transport operators in Russia is that there is a massive concentration of the population (approx. 150 million) in the west but the main natural resources are found in the east.

“Rail is, of course, playing a major role in the transportation of resources, including chemicals and metals, over long distances across the country – its turnover is almost 10 times that of road transport,” Krivtsov says. “At the same time, though, road transport can cart more cargo by weight tenfold. “For fresh food and consumer goods road transport is probably the only option regardless of distance.”

More and more industrial goods are being transported via curtainsiders from the east to the west of Russia, Krivtsov says, whereas fresh food is being sent the other way. “So, for curtainsiders and reefers it is becoming more difficult for these vehicle operators to efficiently manage return loads.”

In Russia, the more you transport, the

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

more you earn. Tonar builds road train combinations to satisfy the operational requirements of ambitious businesses looking to maximise their payload gains.

Krivtsov says that public roads can limit road transport possibilities due to regulations however, on private roads, operators generally have more freedom, and a good engineer can see them rise above their competitors.

“We can see that more and more mining companies in the world need long distance road transport,” he says. “Tonar recently completed a project in Siberia where a road train is used to transport 130 tonnes of diamond ore along a 178-kilometre route one way. There are many long uphills with a maximum gradient of 14 per cent, and there are steep declines where the proper use of a retarder is required. Ambient temperatures in this zone can reach -60°C.” This Tonar road train combination, specifically developed for the mine project, comprises a 6x6 prime mover with Cummins QSK19 engine, Allison 6000 series transmission, B-double trailers with 130-tonne payload on Tonar 25-tonne axles and IPH hydraulics.

Tonar manufactures in-house under a 50,000-square-metre roof and does everything from cutting steel to trailer assembly and painting. Krivtsov says the OEM even produces its own axles.

“We have a strong and dedicated engineering group of 50 people, which enables us to bring new products to market with relatively short lead times.

“Tonar has invested considerably in robotic and automatic production.

Generally, robots that operate in a serial production line are configured to produce the same trailer model over and over. Tonar has so many different models in its range that we often see completely different trailers on the same production line. All suppliers of robot equipment were quite sceptical about our chances to automate at the production level with so many models, but we surprised them all. I’m really proud of our production flexibility.”

In addition to bringing innovative trailers to market, Tonar is equally committed to ensuring its customers receive the best value when it comes to the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).

“TCO is more than just mathematics,” Krivtsov says. “It encompasses the customer experience as a whole.

“I started at the company 15 years ago as a purchasing manager. To build a good trailer you need world-class components and at that time you can only import them. Most of the suppliers back then didn’t have any representatives in Russia and we travelled a lot all over the world. It was a good chance to compare different sales approaches and cultures in different countries. www.tonar.info

trailer axles

Challenging themes are our motivation:

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T H E N AT I O N A L

DREAM DESPITE DECADES OF POLITICAL AND INVESTMENT VOLATILITY, SOUTH AFRICA HAS THE POTENTIAL TO EMERGE AS A DYNAMIC AND DIVERSE PLAYER IN THE GLOBAL ECONOMY.

T

he Republic of South Africa held a cabinet meeting in August at the Union Buildings in Pretoria. The Government outlined its National Economic Development and Labour Council (NEDLAC) commitments.

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

As part of the country’s democratic transition 25 years ago, NEDLAC was founded to alleviate social development and economic growth issues. The nation is characterised by severe inequality in incomes, skills, economic power and ownership, which has exacerbated society issues over time. It is the aim of NEDLAC to improve South Africa’s policies on public finance, labour market, trade and industry and development.

MARKET REPORT

DEVE LOPM E NT Specifically, NEDLAC has identified three defining challenges: sustainable economic growth, to facilitate wealth creation as a means of financing social programs and attracting investment; greater social equity, both at the workplace and in communities, to ensure that large-scale inequalities are adequately addressed and that society provides at least for all the basic needs of its people; and increased participation, by all major stakeholders in economic decision-making at all levels to foster cooperation in the production of wealth and its equitable distribution.

Virgil Seafield, Overall Convenor – Government, reported in the NEDLAC annual report 2016-17 that the organisation has been faced with a broader challenge in developing cooperative approaches to addressing socio-economic challenges “in the context of a discourse that is highly polarised and ideological”.

He explained even though effective national tripartite engagement has been weakened by an increase in community-based conflict, inter union rivalry and intra union divisions along with challenges within the business constituency, NEDLAC at the time emerged as a champion of social dialogue in the policy formulation arena.

“Over the last year the organisation facilitated ground breaking agreements on the labour relations front,” he said. “Central to the agreement on a National Minimum Wage is not the level of the agreed wage but an honest and sincere attempt by all social partners to engage on the issue of growing inequality and

Headquartered in Rosslyn, Pretoria, Afrit manufactures a diverse selection of trailers including its latest product is the T6 Sliding Curtain.

addressing, in a constructive manner, the levels of poverty in our country. The agreements reached on labour stability for government are not only about the detail but how this would contribute towards creating an investor friendly economic environment.”

Overall Convenor – Labour, Bheki Ntshalintshali, however, was more critical of South Africa’s economic status in 2017 calling it a “junk state” as a result of slow post–Global Financial Crisis recovery and falling into a recession that year.

Despite the unemployment crisis, reaching 37 per cent, equating to 9.3 million unemployed people, Ntshalintshali was adamant that NEDLAC stood up again under the leadership of then Deputy President Ramaphosa to tackle wage inequality and that positive indicators boosted confidence for NEDLAC’s cause.

Currently, high levels of unemployment and low economic growth is a concern for the Cabinet. Quarterly Labour Force Survey results for Q2 2019 released by Statistics South Africa show that the official unemployment rate increased 1.4 percentage points to 29 per cent compared with Q1 2019.

The Cabinet also remains committed to addressing structural challenges that continue to affect the performance of South Africa’s economy and its ability to respond to developmental challenges.

A rapid response agreement signed by all NEDLAC parties commits to meet the stakeholders on a monthly basis to track the 77 Job Summit commitments to be chaired by President, Cyril Ramaphosa, as of September 2019.

The Government said in a statement that the commitments by all stakeholders – which include government, labour, business, civilsociety organisations – target programs to create jobs, mechanisms to unblock barriers to effect implementation, as well as agreements on job retention and ways to prevent job

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

losses. Also included in the commitments are specific sector targeting initiatives to grow the economy.

South Africa’s Cabinet also reported its participation in the 18th African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Forum which was held in Côte d’Ivoire.

AGOA is reported to be a unilateral US trade preference program that provides duty-free quota-free treatment for over 6,400 tariff lines from 40 AGOA-eligible sub-Saharan African countries, including South Africa, into the US market.

“South Africa’s constructive and positive discussions with the US Trade Representative provides potential access to the US market and American investment in our economy, which are important ways of addressing job creation and the elimination of poverty,” the Cabinet said.

Following a visit to South Africa in June, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was optimistic that South Africa’s subdued economic growth could be reignited if the pace of structural reform implementation is accelerated. It reported that robust actions are needed to reduce fiscal deficit and reverse the increase in public debt. The IMF claim that the South African Government also has a renewed opportunity to press ahead with policies to further strengthen governance, encourage competition, increase labour market flexibility and reduce the cost of doing business.

“A focus on policy actions to remove long-standing structural constraints to growth and accelerate job creation is a must,” the IMF said in a statement.

“Acting decisively on tackling structural impediments to growth would help complement the authorities’ efforts to conduct sound macroeconomic policies, thus restoring policy certainty and boosting investor confidence.

An improved business environment resulting from reform implementation would attract much-needed private investment, and, in turn, lead to a virtuous cycle of growth, job creation, and social inclusion.”

Minerals Council South Africa confirms that the country’s Bushveld Complex, found in the northern provinces, hosts approximately 80 per cent of platinum group metals– bearing ore – more than half of the world’s platinum, chromium, vanadium and refractory minerals.

The mining industry directly contributes more than 300 billion ZAR (€17.5 billion) to South Africa’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and is said to be the economic anchor of many communities around the country, employing more than 450,000 people, according to a report published by management consulting company, McKinsey & Company.

Putting the shine back into South African mining: A path to competitiveness and growth, released February 2019, highlights that global trends, including the transition to clean energy and a shift to China’s economic focus away from infrastructure developments to new technologies, could dampen demand for South African commodities in the years ahead. In the medium and long term,

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however, opportunities to rekindle growth and job-creation including localising the value chain from mining operations, expanding downstream processing for key commodities and unlocking the potential of the country’s rich ore bodies could accelerate growth in South Africa’s broader economy.

To restore competitiveness and growth in South African mining, McKinsey & Company recommend: unleashing a productivity revolution through the smart use of new technology and improving employee motivation, the work environment and other organisational health elements; redefine the socioeconomic role of mines as catalysts of broader development in the communities in which they operate; embrace disruption in global energy markets to realise new sources of potential mining growth; and GRW, based in Worcester, develops and produces state-of-the-art road transport equipment including this tipping silo tanker.

ensure conditions are in place to unlock South Africa’s high-potential mining assets, including its rich, untapped reserves of iron ore and manganese, and niche opportunities in other minerals such as vanadium and industrial metals.

Key to driving positive change in the country, especially for mining operators, is quality road transport investment.

Equipment specialist, SAF-Holland, has a relatively small footprint in the South African market with a distribution facility and sales office based in Johannesburg and

MARKET REPORT

an additional sales office based in Durban according to Business Development Manager South Africa, Russell Vandrau.

“We have long-term goals to assemble original equipment in the next five-to-ten years in South Africa,” he said. “At present, SAF-Holland only distributes products, currently without any production capability or production facilities in South Africa.”

On trailer trends, Vandrau explained that Performance-Based Standards (PBS) or an equivalent high productivity scheme is still a new concept in the country. “PBS trailers are proving effective in reducing the number of vehicles on the road while increasing overall payload; we expect to see a positive trend in new PBS trailers over the next few years,” he said – adding that South Africa is rich in minerals and therefore the most popular freight tasks are that of transporting ore from the mines to processing facilities or to harbours for export. “The most popular trailer builds are that of tandem / tandem interlink tippers. The tandem / tandem interlink is a vehicle configuration that is native to South Africa.”

Generally, the South African trailer market has been quite volatile over the last few years, according to Vandrau, with the 2017 growth of 21 per cent levelling out to a slight negative growth in 2018.

“This is mainly due to abrupt change in political leadership and investor uncertainty,” he said. “This year looks far more positive at this stage with an 11.8 per cent increase in new trailer registrations compared to the same period in 2018. SAF-Holland South Africa is a fairly new player in the trailer market in South Africa. We are however extremely positive about our future and our market share growth in the South and Southern African regions.”

Despite SAF-Holland’s decade-long active presence in the South African market, Vandrau is seeing growth in business due to the innovative solutions that the equipment specialist is able to offer.

With a market share of more than 50 per cent, GRW is the leading trailer tank manufacturer in South Africa according to Sales Executive, Günther Heyman.

“GRW manufacture tankers for the fuel, dry bulk, animal feed and specialised tankers for chemical transport,” he says. “We also manufacture closed body trailers (both dry and refrigerated) and curtainsiders for the general freight market. The closed body trailers are SKD kits from our partner Schmitz Cargobull in Germany, which are mounted to the locally built chassis.”

GRW headquarters are in Worcester, which is approximately 120km from Cape Town in the Western Cape, and the trailer manufacturer also has a sales office in Johannesburg. There are also three service and repair branches in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban respectively. Heyman said that GRW is also opening a service branch in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, soon.

Heyman confirms that the South African economy has been sluggish for the last few years.

“The manufacturing GDP has also been retracting for the last few years with a contraction of 8.8 per cent for the first quarter,” he said. “The transport GDP was also down by 4.4 per cent for the first quarter this year.

Unemployment levels are also very high at 29 per cent for the second quarter of 2019 (source: www. Statssa.gove.za). These figures point to a struggling economy and to survive in such markets GRW have invested in resource and markets outside of the country’s borders. Currently GRW are exporting vehicles to Australia, Europe and other African countries.”

GRW has been a very strong player in the tanker trailer market for the past 15-20 years, according to Heyman, and it is still a core focus for the business.

“We are continuing with good growth in the refrigerated market and general freight market,” he said. “The rail network has seen enormous decline over the last 20 years in South Africa and as such the freight tasks in South Africa are varied across the spectrum. Most common freight tasks are bulk material (mining and agricultural related) and containerised freight.”

Heyman said that 2018 was a busy year for GRW as it launched its tipping silo range for the European market at the IAA Commercial Vehicles Show in Hanover as well as the second generation curtainsider for local markets.

“This year GRW is focussing on the existing model range, with some minor changes for the fuel tanker range and further rollouts of variations to the second generation curtainsiders,” he said. “By the end of 2019 GRW will also install its first panel production equipment (from Schmitz Cargobull) and the first, local produced panel, vehicles should be delivered in Q1 2020.”

The South African economy is ripe with opportunity, particularly for trailer builders and other OEMs. Mining market conditions alone have the potential to significantly bolster what continues to be a volatile business portfolio. Meanwhile, government initiatives such as NEDLAC are key to driving positive social change to set the FAST FACT country up for future growth and industry commentators are UK-based economic forecaster, Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), asserts that South adamant that the collection and Africa is categorised by investors as one processing of platinum group of the ‘Fragile Five’, a group of emerging metals in the lucrative Bushveld markets sharing characteristics that leaves the country predisposed to external Complex is sure to lead to a shocks. This is reported to stem from a productivity revolution. www.globaltrailermag.com

dependency on a volatile portfolio that flows to finance current-account deficits.

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TIPPI THE BALANCE ADHERING TO THE MOTTO ‘ENGINUITY’, KÄSSBOHRER DEVELOPS VERSATILE AND HIGH-QUALITY VEHICLES FOR CUSTOMERS IN MORE THAN 55 COUNTRIES. THE OEM HAS SINCE EXPANDED ITS CONSTRUCTION PRODUCT RANGE TO INCLUDE STEEL HALFPIPE AND ALUMINIUM BOX STYLE TIPPERS.

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ässbohrer tippers are making a difference with their weight advantage and robustness. Due to considerable investments in continuous innovation, backed by a strong R&D team, Kässbohrer offers a customisable product range that takes freight requirements and route geography into consideration.

The first tipper that Kässbohrer produced was in 1938, and the modern development cycle commenced with the launch of a 2011 tipper semi-trailer specified for

K.SKS V Shape.

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construction-related applications.

Through experiences in select markets, Kässbohrer continued to develop its vehicles with rigorous concept development, design validation, parts and vehicle prototyping to test the most advanced technologies.

This approach to tipper design emphasises the company’ engineering excellence.

The K.SKA, for example, features a unique patented modular structure as well as a lower centre of gravity.

Kässbohrer’s aluminium box style tipper, K.SKA, is light in design, with an unladen weight of 5,040kg, and does not compromise on durability. This build is also optimised for payload and fuel saving gains.

“Designed at our R&D centre, K.SKA features a patented unique modular upper structure design,” says Head of Product Management, Cetin Sarvan. “The aluminum side panels feature 4mm inner thickness and 2mm outer thickness, while the floor panels are 6mm in thickness and are made from 6000-series aluminum and can be reinforced with extra aluminum wear plates.”

The modular design of the K.SKA also enables easier repair and maintenance.

“The K.SKA chassis is made of S700MC and coated with KTL as standard to prevent rust perforation,” Sarvan says. “Also, the K.SKA is fitted with a five-step high pressure H type hydraulic cylinder that enables robust, stable and safe product discharge.”

K.SKA also offers prolonged product life with body fix and assistant frame structure, according to Sarvan.

“Through these features, K.SKA achieves upper

NG

TIPPERS

Kässbohrer’s very first tipper and its latest iteration.

structure and chassis integration prevents vibration and noise and increases vehicle stability,” Sarvan says. “This integrated structure reduces reverse movements on tipping shaft and hydraulic cylinder connections, as well as lateral forces on welding zones which may arise during a cruise and ensures prolonged product life.”

Kässbohrer’s steel halfpipe tipper, K.SKS, has a tare weight of 5,800kg. The upper structure is made of high abrasion resistant HB450 quality steel and the chassis are made of KTL coated S700MC steel. K.SKS can also be fitted with the five-step high pressure H type hydraulic cylinder.

To ensure safer and more efficient operations on the roughest of roads, Kässbohrer tippers typically feature a well-designed upper structure and chassis positioning with a lower centre of gravity to achieve optimal load distribution.

“On the other hand, the steel halfpipe tipper, K.SKS, prevents bulk adhesion on the body and ensures fast unloading through unique ‘V’ form on the floor,” Sarvan says. “Body floor durability is enhanced with internal box profiles under the V shape. A wide tipping shaft ensures operational safety and stable tipping operation by distributing the load to a wider area. This innovation also allows for a faster and more efficient unload.”

Options for remote-controlled hydraulic rear doors, hydraulic bumpers and tipping, along with weight saving features and inner coating solutions ensure that the Kässbohrer tipper range can be tailored for fleet versatility.

“Moreover, operational features such as tilt alert, traction help, automatic lift axle, safety brake function, automatic unloading/cruise suspension levels, finisher brake, and smartboard are standard for Kässbohrer tippers,” Sarvan says.

As one of Europe’s fastest growing semi-trailer manufacturers, Kässbohrer aims to maintain its position as one of the top tipper manufacturers on the continent.

“Kässbohrer manages all design validation and production processes

allowing it to test the robustness durability and safety of the upper structure, the chassis and their integration as a whole hence producing well balanced and safe tipper products,” Sarvan says.

Currently, Kässbohrer has 413 service points in Europe to support its customers during their operations, whereas the service network has 336 service points that are dedicated to repairs and maintenance.

“Kässbohrer’s after sales network are trained to provide the best repair and maintenance services while Kässbohrer Hotline is available 24/7 in 23 countries and 27 languages,” Sarvan says – adding that the Kässbohrer website is available in seven languages, featuring an easy-to-use map showing all service locations.

“Kässbohrer’s customer service is accessible by phone or through the website and can solve even the most complicated issues in under 24 hours.”

Kässbohrer will be exhibiting its K.SKS in Germany, Karlsruhe Messe, at the NUFAM fair in September and at Solutrans in Lyon, France, in November. www.kaessbohrer.com

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EXHIBITION SPACE NOW ON SALE 1ST - 3 R D A PR I L 2 02 0

ME L B OU R N E CO N V E N T I O N & E X H IB I T I O N C E N T R E

SUSTAINABILITY | AUTOMATION I N D U ST RY 4 .0 | E - C O M M E R C E

S U PPORTING SPON SOR S

ASS OCIATION PART NER S

DILIGENT IN

THE GROWING DEMAND FOR BIGGER AND SAFER TIPPING SEMI-TRAILERS IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA IS A TREND THAT GORICA IS ON TOP OF. AS THE REGION CALLS FOR GREATER ROAD REGULATION AND EQUIPMENT WEIGHT ALLOWANCES, THE SPECIALISED TRAILER AND BODY BUILDER CONSISTENTLY RISES TO THE CHALLENGE.

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ORICA Group is a leading developer and manufacturer of semitrailers in the Middle East and Africa. For the past three decades the OEM has specialised in the production of tipping semi-trailers and rigid mounted tipping bodies.

The construction of the tree-shaped artificial archipelago, Palm Jumeirah, in Dubai was a major project that saw the use of more than few hundred units of 40 CBM (Cubic meters) ROCK tipping semi-trailers tasked with delivering bulk materials.

“We’ve been pioneering in this segment by constantly developing new customised solutions to satisfy customer requirements from an application and design perspective,” Gorica General Manager Sales & Marketing, Domen Bockor.

GORICA is renowned for the design of its slanting rear door design – a benchmark in the tipping semi-trailer industry and a distinctive feature that ensures GORICA tippers on the road can be recognised from afar.

Due to non-uniform road regulations in the Gulk Cooperation Council (the GCC is a political and economic alliance including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates – UAE – Qatar, Bahrain and Oman) and across Middle East technical specifications vary, depending on the intended application, in terms of capacity or volume, axle configuration and axle load capacity along

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with material thicknesses.

“If we look at mature markets like Europe, for example, where there are common road regulations, most of the tippers are quite similar and only vary to accommodate specific uses,” Bockor says. “Contrary to the Middle East, you have extremes like Bahrain where maximum capacity of a tipping semi-trailer allowed by road regulations is 18 CBM and United Arab Emirates (UAE) where the market standard is 48 CBM. These differences make it impossible to standardise.”

To conform with local road regulations and international standards, GORICA has tackled this challenging task and has developed a complete range of tippers complete with unique features.

“In our complete line-up we offer both carbon steel made tipping semi-trailers and

TIPPERS

wear resistant steel (like Hardox) made tipping semi-trailers where wear resistant steel is either used when the end user requires heavy duty ROCK application or where road regulations limit total gross combination weight so we can reduce thicknesses of the steel, but still keeping same strength of the tipping body part,” Bockor says.

Generally, GORICA’s standard specifications for aggregate transportation ranges between 9 -16-tonne-wide track axles in either a two- or three-axle configuration (depending on the market), quality carbon steel of grade ST52-3 and thicknesses of 8mm floor and 6mm sides or wear resistant steel (like Hardox) where thicknesses would be 4-6mm floor and 3.2 to 4mm sides.

“For the majority of our tipper builds we traditionally partner with known European axle and hydraulics manufacturers,” Bockor says. “Where for ROCK application thicknesses would go up to 10mm floor and 8mm sides with quality carbon steel of grade ST52-3 and complete inside body would be upgraded with inverted angles to protect the body when rocks are being loaded. Unique design on the ROCK tipping semi-trailers is the scow end design with automatic rear door opening upwards.”

Backed by innovative design and bolstered by an array of special features, the market re-sale value of GORICA’s tippers is exceptionally high according to Bockor.

“In today’s market, uptime is a key decision factor and GORICA tippers are well covered in that aspect,” SPOKESPERSON says – adding that there is comprehensive after sales support in the countries that GORICA operates in.

GORICA Group offers complete after sales support in most GCC countries through its own GORICA companies and after sales support teams.

“This is also one of the reasons why we were successful throughout the years,” Bockor says. “We have enhanced that with our mobile service teams to support our partners and clients at their site for emergency repairs. Also, we have also pioneered by introducing training of operation and maintenance to our clients with the goal to enhance their safety procedures and minimise repair and break down cost. Last but not least through our GORICA owned network of companies we have local spare parts point to support the clients with same day delivery of spare parts.”

“Ultimately, GORICA tipping semitrailers are built with 30 years of innovation in the Middle East and Africa where we follow international standards in terms of design, optimised kerb weights but adding that necessary strength for rough environments and rigorous applications – conditions that are unique to the Middle Eastern and African markets.” www.goricagroup.com

GORICA recently delivered a large number of tippers to Stevin Rock Group, which is one of the largest quarrying companies in the world with a production capacity of over 80 million tonnes per year.

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TIPPING

THE ELEPHANT SCHMITZ CARGOBULL BRINGS TO MARKET A SUITE OF TIPPER INNOVATIONS THAT EMBRACE LOW TARE WEIGHT BUILDS, OPTIMISED LINERS FOR IMPROVED UNLOADING, AND THE LATEST IN REMOTE CONTROL FUNCTIONALITY.

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ith a particular emphasis on weight reduction, Schmitz Cargobull presents enhanced thermal insulation for its round steel body tippers.

To maximise payload potential, the thermal insulation for the round steel body has been improved yet again according to the OEM. The innovative insulation material has a reduced additional weight starting from approximately 310kg, offering a robust, payload-optimised transport solution.

Infrastructure, as well as DIN 70001 for thermally insulated tipper bodies. Another benefit of the segmented body is the ease of disassembly of the insulation before carrying out any welding work on the tipper body. This helps to prevent damage to the insulating material.

The modification of the Schmitz Cargobull celebrates floor area of the body allows 125 years in manufacturing. the insulated design to retain its familiar low centre of gravity. In addition, the new insulation allows a greater variety of build options so that the insulated bodies can also be configured for other European markets.

Alongside the round steel body, the aluminium box body is also available with full insulation. This weight-optimised transport solution also complies with the required insulation standards, while maximising payload potential, due to its unladen weight The newly designed insulation configuration, in which the insulating material of only 5.1 tonnes. Since the body’s external and the outside panel are no longer connected, enables segmented insulation of dimensions do not change significantly as the side wall. This provides an advantage in that the individual segments can be easily replaced in the event of damage, according to the OEM. A flexible and highly a result, the tipper trailer retains its low efficient, organic-based, insulating foam, with exceptional acoustic and thermal centre of gravity and can be combined with insulating properties, is used as the insulating material. Outstanding features, such any of the trough covering options from the as its high-temperature resistance and very low volume weight, sets this foam apart standard range. from other insulators, while still complying with the requirements stipulated in All Schmitz Cargobull thermal bodies have the notification issued by the German Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital two easily accessible monitoring vents in each

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TIPPERS

side wall, which enable manual temperature measurement to be carried out safely from ground level, directly within the freight area. It is therefore not necessary to stand in the danger area between the paver and the tipper during tipping (for temperature measurement in the paver or feeder bunker). In Germany, this measuring method comes with an electronic temperature measurement option.

Earlier this year, Schmitz Cargobull unveiled a new plastic cladding for tipper semi-trailers with an aluminium body. Where corroded and worn body finishes make unloading more time-consuming, and potentially dangerous – as the load can only really start sliding properly at extreme tipping angles – plastic body cladding ensures that the load slides from the loading surface more quickly without leaving significant residue.

The new OKULEN coating from Schmitz Cargobull prevents bulk goods from adhering to the floor of the body and optimises the tipping process. This ensures a lower tipping angle and reduces the risk of the semitrailer tipping to the side during the tipping procedure resulting from bulk goods not running out evenly. In addition, there are daily savings due to reduced unloading times and simpler cleaning requirements.

The new plastic cladding comes in two side heights (300mm and 900mm) and is clearly

identifiable by its blue finish. Plastic plates with a thickness of 12.5mm (SKI 7.2 and 8.2) and 10mm (SKI 9.6 and 10.5) are used to clad the body, which are installed floating, welded and bolted to the floor and the bulkhead at the front.

The cladding is secured by aluminium profiles to the side walls and bulkhead, and sealed against falling bulk goods. Silicone round cords to pack out the longitudinal bending slots in 9.6m and 10.5m body lengths also provide the additional benefit of minimising the ingress of fine bulks goods like seeds into the bending slots, preventing soiling and contamination of the cargo area.

The plastic cladding is eligible for ‘De Minimis’ for the German market with the Federal Office for Goods Transport.

This further development of the S.KI VOLUME AK tipper trailer is Schmitz Cargobull’s response to the growing demand for vehicles for bulk transport, specifically for agricultural products. The stepframe design of the vehicle has also been available with the proven Schmitz Cargobull axle since September 2018.

The S.KI VOLUME AK tipper semi-trailer for bulk transport reduces unladen weight by up to 150kg and lowers the side loading height by 160mm, while maintaining the same body volume. This makes side loading even easier and helps to protect against damage. This practical solution offers a wider scope for application and increases the potential payload. Thanks to the lower loading edge, loading and unloading pallets through the rear wall is also easier than even before.

The lower overall height also helps to reduce the vehicle’s centre of gravity, increasing ride stability and vehicle stability while tipping as a result. The new design also guarantees access through low-roofed warehouses and gates, while ensuring that you are safe to drive under silo loading stations. The stepframe model of the S.KI VOLUME AK tipper semi-trailer is available with a body measuring 45 to 59 cubic metres. The chassis frame features an 80mm offset at the front at the height of the landing gear. This stepframe construction and special contour under the body enables the chassis to be recessed into the body floor at the front. High-volume bodies with the popular, straight chassis frame will remain on the market. www.cargobull.com

A Schmitz Cargobull trailer fitted with the OKULEN coating system for optimised tipping.

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BRAKING SYSTEMS

AUTONOMY ON A

GLOBAL SCALE IN A CLOSE DIALOGUE WITH A COMMERCIAL VEHICLE MANUFACTURER, HALDEX HAS BEEN SELECTED TO COMMENCE THE CONCEPT PHASE OF AN AUTONOMOUS VEHICLE BRAKING SOLUTION.

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wedish braking technology company, Haldex, is set to lead a development The result, according to Haldex, is 15 contract of its ‘Scalable Brake System’ by the end of this year. per cent less stopping distance, but also the With the advent of autonomous driving, vehicle system architecture ability to ensure that the vehicle runs in the is about to be re-written. Currently, the vehicle operator manages the path it is intended to, with a stability and integration of propulsion, braking and steering. To reach full autonomy, Haldex is predictability not seen with other technology adamant that the subsystems need to be able to accurately control and communicate that is available today. for the system to be able to analyse the data and make correct decisions.

“When replacing the driver, you need redundancy on different levels,” Jähnke says.

System integration, according to Haldex, is the key for autonomous driving “We are not unique to provide steering by to become successful.

System integration requires open communication, according to Andreas Jähnke, braking, but our wheel end accuracy with the SVP R&D at Haldex.

FABV is unique.”

“Today, only selected data of the wheel end performance is shared in the System integration is not limited to the system, even though most of a vehicle’s behavior is determined by the wheel truck and furthermore the performance of the combination of truck and trailer will be end performance,” he says.

“Haldex wants to change that. We fully believe in open systems where the directly affected by how the subsystems are OEM gets full access to the data from the wheel end. working as part of the full vehicle system “By developing the brake systems jointly with OEMs, we re-shape the principles which includes trucks and trailers, according for the vehicle system architecture. We know that new and old technology will to Jähnke. “At Haldex we are developing the Scalable Brake System to make it feasible live side by side for many years. By separating the software from the hardware, you can use the same software functionality to execute different mechanical for our partners to optimise the safety and tasks, hence you can have a vehicle structure which can run both pneumatic and performance of the buses, trucks, trailers and ‘movers’ of tomorrow. electromechanical brakes.

“We also want to move away from the principle of the [Electronic Braking System www.haldex.com – EBS] being a black box that is the central hub Haldex’s Electromechanical Disc Brake EMB is currently for the intelligence in the brake system. To build being tested on electric buses with positive results. a scalable system with maximum control and predictability, more technology and intelligence should be placed at the wheel end,” he says.

One of the new products from Haldex that is based on this concept is the Fast Acting Brake Valve (FABV) – it is a high-performance valve, placed at the wheel end together with an Electronic Control Unit (ECU), that is reported to act ten times faster than conventional modular based systems.

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GOING BEYOND TRAILER T E L E M AT I C S

WABCO IS DRIVING TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCEMENTS THAT WILL CONTINUE TO ENABLE SMARTER OPERATIONS ACROSS THE COMMERCIAL ROAD TRANSPORT ECOSYSTEM, INCLUDING CONTINUOUS INNOVATION IN TRAILER TELEMATICS, IOT AND CLOUD-BASED SOLUTIONS.

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oad transport operations in the global supply chain are hampered by a series of inefficiencies including unnecessary driven mileage, remote workforce dependency, non-optimised loads, unplanned downtime as well as a slew of constraints imposed by virtue of regulatory compliance.

In Europe, for example, over 70 per cent land-based freight is transported by trucks, so it is critical for operators to sustain and improve the performance of today’s global logistics flow, which ultimately protects the bottom line of freight businesses.

As a means of overcoming these challenges that impact the bottom lines of many freight businesses worldwide, WABCO has recently

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established a new Fleet organisation which together with its existing Trailer Solutions organisation focuses specifically on the needs of transport operators and the ecosystems in which they operate.

WABCO’s Fleet organisation is delivering innovations that improve fuel efficiency, reduce downtime while also providing solutions for regulatory compliance, workforce management and load optimisation via advanced Fleet Management Solutions (FMS), Software as a Service (SaaS) and cloudbased technologies.

The organisation operates from over 45 markets, but extends its reach through an impressive 4,600 independent distribution points and 3100 accredited workshops across 115 countries.

WABCO’s combined Trailer and Fleet solutions expands WABCO’s capabilities in delivering transporters new levels of road transport safety, environmental efficiencies and leaner operations.

The FMS and digital technology suite which WABCO provides for trailers harnesses a holistic portfolio of advanced technologies that increasingly make use of the Internet of Things (IoT) and Big Data to deliver new information and

TE LE MATI C S

Telematics, cloud-based and IoT technologies for trailers are increasingly at the heart of fleet competitiveness in a rapidly changing world.

critical data to operators wherever they may be. This development is part of a greater shift to IoT tech that is used across the transportation sector as a whole to overcome fleet inefficiencies.

WABCO’s FMS and digital technology offering leverages the unique data set generated via Trailer Braking Systems and the associated sensors to provide fleet operators with precise insights that lead the way for improved operational efficiency through data integration and advanced analytics.

The WABCO trailer telematics suite consists of three solutions: • TX-GEO to provide location data of any powered or unpowered asset • TX-TRAILERPULSE to provide trailer EBS & health data.

• TX-TRAILERGUARD to provide connection to multiple peripherals and available trailer systems TX-GEO: is an autonomous tracer that localises a fleet’s trailers and assets.

The operator receives location information of the trailers it is tracking and can be used to determine the number of trailers on the road or not in use. It can be fitted for any asset type and features: discrete housing, a long-lasting battery and can be quickly and easily installed with options for custom positioning.

TX-TRAILERPULSE is designed to capture a maximum of data on trailers with limited electronics, such as curtain siders or box trailers. Recently launched in Europe and Australia, this solution is a robust trailer telematics solution which combines real-time track and trace functionality with additional remote

trailer health and diagnostic information. The solution, according to WABCO, is the first of its kind, combining both trailer tracking and advanced remote diagnostic in one solution at a price level which allows fleet-wide deployment across all trailer types.

Directly connected to the trailer’s EBS, TX-TRAILERPULSE captures the data and forwards this information to TX-

FAST FACT Trailer telematics is reported to be one of the fastest growing branches of Internet of Things (IoT), with subscriptions expected to increase by 16 per cent through to 2023.

Technology company, WABCO, provides cloud-connected Trailer Electronic Braking Systems (T-EBS) that feature dedicated portals for each customer segment while also leveraging unique data access.

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TE LE MATI C S

TRAILERFIT which further processes and visualizes it. This information can be used to assess the technical health of the trailer and can provide, for example, root cause indication and repair hints. Additionally, users can monitor the EBS’ use over a trailer’s lifetime and check critical EBS events.

Health and diagnostics insights can be shared easily and securely with workshops and service partners building a digitally connected repair and maintenance chain, creating a direct positive impact on the total uptime of fleet vehicles.

TX-TRAILERGUARD, with its numerous connectivity capabilities, is the natural fit for trailers and transports requiring complex tracking and remote control functionality. In the field of temperature management for instance, TX-TRAILERGUARD connects and integrates seamlessly to most reefer and data logger solutions on the market.

TX-TRAILERGUARD can also interface with cargo security solutions such as OptiLock™: WABCO’s electronic high security locking system for trailers and container doors that is suitable for a range of applications including pharma product and food protection. The connection to TX-TRAILERGUARD delivers new levels of security by enabling office personnel to remotely lock/unlock/arm/ disarm security locks without driver intervention.

In general, WABCO telematics solutions provide transporters with trailer, trucks and driver-related information on one back office platform and is designed to optimise logistical processes thanks to its track and trace capabilities, remote diagnostics which allow fleets to provide immediate support to drivers on the road and reduce downtime by allowing them to schedule preventive maintenance and allows vehicle data can be visible to the dispatcher in the fleet’s existing Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system or Fleet Management System (FMS).

WABCO Vice President and Global Fleet Solutions Leader, Philippe Colpron, says every kilometre driven has a cost attached to it – every fleet wants to optimise its trailer space, reduce potential theft, save on vehicle costs, reduce expensive and unexpected downtime, ensure regulatory compliance

WABCO TX-TRAILERPULSE unit.

and optimise the use of its remote assets.

“These are the basics that ensure that fleet and transport operators can continue to be profitable and it is these areas in which we will operate, offering one of the widest, most complete portfolios in the sector that combines the strength of both advanced on-board technologies and an ecosystem of automation solutions, with an extensive integrated global service network,” he says. “And as the industry evolves, we are working to stay ahead of change to enable our customers to transition, benefit from and be successful in an ever-changing transportation world.” www.wabco-auto.com

FAST FACT

Built on data collected from the trailer EBS system and TXTRAILERPULSE, the web-based TX-TRAILERFIT portal provides insights into the technical performance and health state of your trailer park.

4 0 / G L O B A L TR A I L E R / I SS U E 4 8

The introduction of WABCO Fleet Solutions anticipates a rapidly changing transport industry where global megatrends such as population growth, the Internet of Things, higher customer expectations and a push towards sustaining a greener world, combined with increasingly demanding customer requirements for flexibility, speed and safety are putting further pressure on supply chains and fleet profitability.

As the commercial vehicle industry moves decisively towards increasingly autonomous, connected and electric vehicles to meet these challenges, WABCO’s Fleet Solutions organisation will drive the technological advancement that will continue to enable smarter operations across the commercial road transport ecosystem.

2017

WINNER CATEGORY SAFETY

2019

WINNER CATEGORY CHASSIS

KÄSSBOHRER AT NUFAM 2019 AM AT NUF S A IT 04 IS V AND A3 T S | 3 HALL

ENGINUITY Adhering to the motto “Enginuity”, combination of engineering excellence and ingenious customer centricity Kässbohrer offers the widest product range including the complete construction portfolio from non-tipping silo to tipper, platform to low-bed semi-trailer product ranges. With exceptional build quality, Kässbohrer ensures maximum uptime for constant performance.

Visit us at NUFAM to find out more about our 125 years of innovation meeting the needs of our customers from our hometown Ulm to Seul.

Kässbohrer Sales GmbH Ulm | Im Katzenwinkel 5, 88480 Achstetten - Ulm, Deutschland T +49 (0) 7392 96797-0 | F +49 (0) 7392 96797-67 Goch | Siemensstraße 74, 47574 Goch, Deutschland T +49 (0) 2823 9721-0 | F +49 (0) 2823 9721-21 | E info@kaessbohrer.com Kässbohrer Customer Support | 00 800 527 72 647 37 | www.kaessbohrer.com

KEEPING

APP

THE SIXTH NUFAM WILL BE HELD 26 - 29 SEPTEMBER 2019 AT THE KARLSRUHE EXHIBITION CENTRE. VISITORS FROM GERMANY, THE NETHERLANDS, ITALY, FRANCE, AUSTRIA AND ABROAD ARE SET TO SEE EVERYTHING FROM NEXT GENERATION RIGID BODIES AND SEMI-TRAILERS TO THE LATEST TRENDS IN TELEMATICS AND LOAD RESTRAINT TECHNOLOGIES.

W

ith over 25,000 expected visitors, NUFAM – The Trade Fair for Commercial Vehicles will be the industry’s meeting place from 26 to 29 September in Germany. Approximately 400 exhibitors from 13 countries will present a complete range of products and services: vehicles of all weight classes, bodies and trailers, tyres, parts, accessories, workshop equipment, telematics solutions and services.

An insight into the portfolio of the sixth NUFAM at Karlsruhe Trade Fair Centre was provided by the (online) press conference with top-class exhibitors and a presentation of the trade fair’s highlights.

“Karlsruhe is not only renowned as a centre of contemporary technology and IT, but also as a pioneer in merchandise mobility,” said Karlsruhe Trade Fair Managing Director, Britta Wirtz. “In 2019, the commercial vehicles industry will present its latest innovations at NUFAM. We are the information and investment platform for decision-makers from the transport, freight forwarding and logistics sectors, small and medium-sized businesses, the

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

skilled trades and the municipal sector.”

NUFAM is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. For the first time, the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure will assume patronage of NUFAM in collaboration with the Ministry of Transport of Baden Württemberg.

In 2019, NUFAM will occupy an exhibition area of 70,000 square metres, comprising all four halls of the Karlsruhe Trade Fair Centre and its adjoining open-air campus. NUFAM can report growth in all exhibitor segments in 2019.

Due to the steadily growing number of exhibitors and the increasingly strong

EVENT PREVIEW

UP

EARANCES demand for large stands, the catering and special areas have been optimised in favour of new stand presentations. Qualitative and quantitative growth can be reported, especially in the areas of body and trailer manufacturers, vehicle construction components and workshop equipment.

For the first time, Fahrzeugwerk Bernard Krone, BENALU, Lamberet, Titgemeyer Group and WM SE will all be exhibiting at the trade fair for commercial vehicles. The major manufacturing brands are likewise represented. For instance, more than 40 commercial vehicles will be shown by S&G Automobil AG, which is Daimler AG’s largest Mercedes-Benz service partner.

Numerous exhibitors present their latest innovations in the field of digitisation and automation at NUFAM. A teaser was provided at the press conference

by Palfinger, a manufacturer of loading cranes, which demonstrated a VR crane simulator, and by BPW Bergische Achsen, which presented digital products along the entire transport chain. The spectrum ranged from digital undercarriages to tracking for intelligent cargo securing and freight tracking systems.

The increasing digitisation of the industry is also reflected in the supporting program of the trade fair. The use of turn assistants is a particular focus. It is often difficult for drivers of heavy commercial vehicles to keep an eye on the overall situation when turning. It can be argued that turning

assistants should therefore be mandatory for heavy vehicles.

Mobility and Logistics under the direction of Prof. Dr. Jochen Baier, in collaboration with the Verband Spedition und Logistik Baden-Württemberg e.V., is conducting a field trial to determine how turn assistants can be used most effectively.

The initial results will be presented at the ‘Right Turn Assistants Save Lives’ event in the Demo Park at NUFAM. This project is supported by the Ministry of Transport of Baden-Württemberg.

At NUFAM, Baden-Württemberg’s Minister of Transport Winfried Hermann Taking prime movers to new heights – NUFAM visitors are set to experience the latest in road transport innovation.

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 / 4 3

EVENT PREVIEW

will take part in a presentation of the interim results on this subject and in a live demonstration of the behaviour of the blind spot with and without a right-turn assistant.

Grouped subject areas in the halls will reportedly enable trade visitors to enjoy a well structured visit to the trade fair. A large number of workshop equipment suppliers and parts suppliers are exhibiting in the ‘Workshop, Parts, Accessories’ area in Halls 1 and 2. For example, industry giants such as Winkler, Hofmeister & Meincke and Werbas will present their products here.

Major tyre manufacturers such as Aeolus Tyres, Bridgestone and Falken Tire, as well as Bohnenkamp, Pneuhage and Reiff Reifen, will be represented in the ‘Tyres’ section (Hall 3 and dm-arena).

PTC Telematik, Yellow Fox and DAKO will present the latest telematics systems in the telematics area (Hall 3).

Visitors will also have an opportunity to familiarise themselves with the latest telematics solutions and obtain information at lectures and discussions in the adjacent Telematics Forum and in the ‘Telematics VIP Lounge’. The focus in Hall 3, according to the event organisers, is on job search, further training opportunities and networking with associations and institutions.

The four exhibition halls and the openair exhibition area are augmented by the Municipal Mile (between Halls 1 and 2,

NUFAM press conference in the lead-up to the official event.

as well as in Hall 3 and the dm-arena), where commercial vehicles for the municipal sector are presented, and by the Demo Park with its comprehensive program for the public.

Visitors can also take part in guided tours of the fair. In addition to the Classic tour, which gives a broad overview of the trade fair, New Mobility tours are also offered. Here, exhibitors present their innovations from the fields of alternative drives, digital assistance systems, and vehicle and product premieres relating to New Mobility.

The program for trade visitors provides practical information

FAST FACT In cooperation with NUFAM, the ‘Quality is Added Value’ initiative is conducting a survey to find out how commercial vehicle workshops deal with the challenges posed by autonomous driving, alternative drive systems and telematics. The survey is intended to determine how workshops are adapting to changes in market conditions caused, for example, by driver assistance systems and the digital networking of vehicles. The results will be presented in a whitepaper.

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

As an information platform and industry meeting place for personal networking, NUFAM offers specialised days dedicated to telematics, municipal vehicles and cargo securing, as well as lectures and discussions on current topics in the commercial vehicles industry. The spectrum of topics covered by the lectures and discussions at NUFAM’s forum extends from cargo securing and digital tachographs to the use of driver assistance systems. Current topics and questions facing the commercial vehicles industry will be critically examined in a solution-oriented manner during the four days of the fair.

The focus will be on future topics such as electric-powered mobility and autonomous driving, as well as on ongoing issues such as energy efficiency, time savings, cost reduction, and the shortage of drivers. The specialised program also considers technical and regulatory challenges facing the industry. www.nufam.de

“Intelligent approach: Staying cool on the data highway.�

Jan Hermeling, KRONE Telematics / KRONE Fair Care

Our Cool Liner and KRONE Telematics are a perfect team to relieve you of many transport worries. The intelligent interaction of the trailer with KRONE Telematics allows you to monitor the position and temperature of your cargo online easily and at any time, and even to make direct contact with the refrigerator in order to update settings. As a result, you will always have documentation confirming the status of your refrigerated goods.

All in all, this saves you time and money. And it allows you to always keep a cool head even in hot situations.

Cool code for more info.

BLUE IS THE COL

INNOVAT EQUIPMENT SPECIALIST, JOST, IS RELEASING A NEW BRAKE PAD RANGE THAT IS OPTIMISED FOR LONGEVITY AND IMPROVED EFFICIENCY.

B

rake pads are an important element of any disc brake system and can have a huge impact on road safety according to JOST. The latest brake pads from JOST – coloured blue, the colour of innovation – feature unique premium friction material, a steel backplate in JOST Blue for easy recognition, a slot for reliable dirt extrusion, a green coating to aid the conditioning process between pad and disc (even with used discs), an underlay for safe connection between friction material and backplate and a retaining bracket for a stable position in the brake carrier.

“With brake pads by JOST, available summer 2019, heavyweight truck and trailers are brought to a stop reliably, even in challenging transport operations,” JOST says. “With the JOST friction material the brake system is brought to its optimal brake

JOST blue brake pads are tested and approved to the highest standards.

performance and lowest braking distance.”

JOST has invested in decreasing the ‘fading effect’ – where excessive brake use leads to decreasing brake performance.

JOST brake pads feature a friction material that is reported to yield the best possible results at extreme temperatures as they occur during long downhill travel.

“The comparative test according to ISO 26865 with top of the market pads show that the blue JOST brake pads perform significantly better even in challenging transport operations,” JOST says.

Seven million successful test kilometres are proof of concept for the reliability of the JOST blue brake pads.

JOST Head Technical Service – Axle Systems, Klaus Lincke, says that individuals with experience with low quality brake pads realise the consequences of investing in inferior components: increased wear, shorter exchange intervals and worst case scenario – the investment in new brake discs if the old ones are totally worn out.

JOST is committed to ensuring the lowest possible environmental impact.

4 6 / G L O B A L TR A I L E R / I SS U E 4 8

PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT

OUR OF

ION “Pay attention to quality when it comes to spare parts and be careful regarding cheap offers from an unknown origin,” he says.

JOST asserts that the effect of abrasion of the friction combination in brake systems is being analysed and brakes with reduced wear reduce the burden on the environment.

“Long-life brake pads support fleets in their transport operations,” JOST says.

“The longer the lifetime of the pads the less downtime required in workshop. The

FAST FACT The JOST blue pads are a result of longlasting experience of JOST: ECE R90 certified, JOST went much further. All functionalities and characteristics are ISO – and JOST laboratory tested. Additionally, a Europe-wide field test with vehicles in different transport operations has been carried out.

With the JOST friction material the brake system is brought to its optimal brake performance and lowest braking distance.

vehicle’s availability improves. Proven competence of the blue JOST brake pads is also guaranteed here.”

Increased lifetime of the JOST blue pads and higher vehicle availability helps impact the economic success of each fleet, according to JOST. With all customers business success has highest priority, JOST focuses on a winwin pricing strategy.

With the enlargement of JOST pad portfolio by the blue pads for all truck and trailer applications, JOST strengthened its portfolio of original pads for JOST Truck and Trailer Axles. Made possible by the ECE R90 certification.

“It was our goal to develop state-of-the technology pads with of convincing pricing,” JOST Axle Systems Head of Product Development, Tobias Neutze, says. “The new blue pads perform in all transport operations – this we have extensively tested.” www.jost-world.com

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 / 47

DFDS E X PA N D S IN ROTTERDAM

DFDS is an integrated shipping and logistics solution provider.

DANISH LOGISTICS SERVICE PROVIDER, DFDS, IS KNOWN FOR ITS FLEET OF VESSELS THAT CONNECT NORTH-WESTERN EUROPE. IN SOME TERMINALS, LIKE ROTTERDAM, IT OPERATES WORKSHOPS TO MAINTAIN TRAILERS AND IS SET TO BENEFIT FROM PORT-SIDE UPGRADES. [ Story by Tim de Jong ]

M

aintaining some 25 routes in the Eastern Sea and in the North Sea is the core business of Danish operator, DFDS. Aside from that, DFDS operates its own trailers, which customers use for complete loads or for part loads. DFDS also offers multimodal services. Since the takeover of Alphatrans, a Dutch company, DFDS also provides the transportation of exceptional loads under the new name DFDS Special Cargo. The trailer fleet is being serviced in the Rotterdam port area, among others.

Trailers

From the Rotterdam terminal, ferries leave loaded with hundreds of trailers to Immingham and to Felixstowe. These ships do not only carry DFDS-

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

trailers, but also many trailers of specialised trailer operators. At the large workshop in the terminal, DFDS offers a number of maintenance services. DFDS operates a fleet of 7,800 trailers.

A considerable number of this fleet have a Dutch license plate. In Europe, DFDS runs eight terminals. Those in Immingham (GB) and Gent (B) also have their own workshop, like the one in Rotterdam. But according to Leon van Campen, Manager Trucks Services and Warehouse and Assets, the reason why

FLEET FOCUS

DFDS Manager Trucks Services and Warehouse and Assets, Leon van Campen.

“They spend hours on deck of a ship suffering from salt water blown over deck by fierce winds,” he says. “The result is that sometimes you already see the damage after only two years in service.”

Wooden planks

the Rotterdam workshop is the biggest, is that very many clients request DFDS to do a lot of maintenance work on their trailers.

“The idea is that waiting times for our customers to board the ship, can be used to execute common maintenance, as well as MOT, tyre checks , or any other kind of technical service.” Van Campen explains that they work closely together with a local tyre specialist and with fridge supplier, Thermo King.

“DFDS even provides services on the Rotterdam terminal to temporarily store goods waiting to be transferred again. Recently, two brake benches were installed to be able to do more annual examinations on trailers. Sometimes we manage to execute eighteen examinations in a day, which requires some expertise as well as knowing where to look underneath a trailer.”

He says that at any moment, up to 1,100 trailers can be parked at the terminal premises, waiting for the moment to board ship for the UK. DFDS also purchased lifting columns to provide mechanics with more space while they work on a lifted trailer.

“Investments were mainly made for the part of our workshop which deals with axles and braking systems,” Van Campen says. “We also have a workshop taking care of the bodywork of the trailer.”

Van Campen demonstrated a trailer which nearly seems to collapse when the mechanic manages to open one of the rear doors. This doesn’t happen, but mechanics hurry themselves to reinforce the bodywork before the revisions on the bodywork start.

“It’s not possible to exactly tell how many trailers we service here on an annual basis,” he says. “The work varies a lot. But I can assure you it is always busy.”

He explains that trailers being operated in ferrywork are the trailers that suffer most.

In this bodywork-part of the workshop there are many wooden planks stacked for use. ”Planks and stanchions are loose parts which for some reason get lost every now and then,” Van Campen says. “Of course, we see developments towards trailers without planks or with planks stacked in vertical folders inside the tarpaulin. Those planks are made out of aluminium, but they tend to get lost sometimes as well. It would be a good thing if a definitive solution would be found.”

Van Campen explains that the trailers DFDS buys for its own fleet, are coming from Krone, Schmitz Cargobull and Kögel. Not all of them are yet equipped with telematics, but Van Campen says that he works closely with some DFDS customers who are bringing their fleet online.

“I expect that it is a question of time DFDS has its own workshop in Rotterdam.

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 / 4 9

FLEET FOCUS

before we will see more of this,” he says. “You always know where your trailers are, you have insight in the numbers, the distances, the maintenance, uptime, you name it.”

Maintenance

Trailers in the DFDS fleet stay in operation for some ten years. So, on an annual basis, some 750 need to be replaced.

“Ideally, I’d like to see the trailers to be replaced some time earlier, for instance after seven or eight years. Nowhere in road transport does a trailer wear quicker than in ferrywork,” Van Campen says. “In the final three years we see more expensive repair work and parts replaced. I suspect that maintenance costs would come down when we would maintain a somewhat shorter lifespan.”

On an annual basis, trailers are maintained twice a year, for the annual examination and a second time in between.

and mechanics. Van Campen now has 28 people working in shifts at the workshop in the terminal.

“The level of education at high schools these days falls way apart from the skills we need here,” Van Campen says. “So, we started to educate people for our jobs by ourselves. Recently, we hired a young guy with another background in education. We see that he’s a big talent who feels at home at our workshop.

That is actually comforting. We hope that he will stay with us.”

Van Campen says that his current workforce is stable with sufficient experience in various skills – and these go as far as revising the terminal trucks needed to move trailers to and from the ferries as well.

Brexit

Less of a comforting thought is the upcoming Brexit.

“All we see is that DFDS is ready for any scenario,” Van Campen says. “However, we fear that across the pond, this is not yet the case. This worries us actually.

Nothing seems to be prepared and the attitude of the British is that ’we’ll see, let’s just get out of the EU in the first place.’ Nobody knows where this will lead to.”

Extension

Mechanics

In spite of Brexit, DFDS in Rotterdam eyes to extend their terminal significantly.

Terminal management waits for an approval to make use of the area that they have bought to make the terminal much bigger.

“We’re looking to ready the area for construction work,” Van Campen says.

“When ready, we can accommodate 500 more trailers.”

In Europe, there’s a severe shortage of drivers

www.dfds.com

DFDS is reported to be one of the busiest shipping companies of its kind in northern Europe.

5 0 / G L O B A L TR A I L E R / I SS U E 4 8

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CTHEH STATUS ALLE

QUO 5 6 / G L O B A L TR A I L E R / I SS U E 4 8

SPECIAL REPORT

NGING

TRANSPARENCY ON PRODUCTIVITY IS CRITICAL WHEN REVIEWING THE STATE OF TRAILER MANUFACTURING ON A GLOBAL SCALE. THE NUMBERS, ACCORDING TO GLOBAL TRAILER, ARE JUST ONE PART OF THIS DYNAMIC STORY.

F

irstly, it is a privilege to speak with the world’s most prominent and up and coming OEMs in the trailer manufacturing sector. The commercial road transport industry depends on a diverse variety of trailing equipment from container chassis (skeletal trailers) to dry freight vans, road tankers, reefers and other specialised combinations spec’d for either general or specific applications. As a result, transport and logistics operators defer to these trailer builders innovative engineering solutions to meet demand and to keep the economy moving.

So, it must be said that the while this ranking list uses total production as a key metric (see breakout box), there are a large number of specialist manufacturers in the global mix that work towards very specific goals which may be at odds with simply producing at maximum capacity. This list, therefore, does not compare revenue or business profitability, but instead should serve as a snapshot of the current OEM scene purely from a productivity standpoint.

Another point worth stressing is that many of the total production numbers sourced through direct industry engagement or through publicly available surveys and similar reports are sometimes skewed. This special report demanded trailer production numbers only however several OEMs supplied information that included the production of other equipment like truck bodies and/or intermodal containers. The editorial team, on several occasions, attempted to distinguish between the trailer production count and the ‘other’ to ensure a more refined and realistic total for accurate reporting.

To complicate matters, some OEMs withheld specific details due to confidentiality, refused to participate or did not respond in time – these factors have influenced the current OEM line-up. Most notably, the Chinese manufacturers that dominated last year’s results – Lutong, Xiangluo, Ruyuan, Feiyuda, Shengyuan, Huashuo, Junhua and Hongtai – are absent from this year’s report as well as Spain’s Lecitrailer and Austria’s Schwarzmüller.

Trailer manufacturing productivity around the world has surged in general compared to year-on-year data. Sitting comfortably at the top of the ranking list is China International Marine Containers (CIMC) Vehicles Group with a total production number of 137,762 – an increase of about eight per cent compared to last year’s results. The group comprises 150 subsidiaries and has 63,000 staff across China, North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. As a multinational

manufacturing enterprise, the business has recognised the benefits of maximising the potential of its global network.

One of the key innovations that CIMC is most proud of is its digitalised factories and automated production facilities in China.

The business has shifted from the traditional labour-intensive manufacturing model to a technology-intensive manufacturing model which leverages cross-ocean manufacturing, local engineering and the global supply chain.

Industry estimates show that the relatively quiet achiever, Hyundai Translead, is a rising star for the US; with an eight per cent spike in activity year-on-year as it overtook Germany’s elephant on the road, Schmitz Cargobull.

Hyundai Translead – founded in 1989 – manufactures dry and refrigerated van trailers, flatbeds, chassis and dollies in North America.

Headquartered in San Diego, California, the OEM is reported to invest heavily in R&D and engineering to raise industry standards with its state-of-the-art facilities.

For the trailer builder headquartered in Horstmar, it saw a four per cent boost in total production based on preliminary vehicle figures from its business year. Interestingly, local rival Krone – at the time of writing – were only able to confirm figures up to 2018 so time will tell how these two OEMs compare in the near future.

The innovations that Schmitz Cargobull has introduced to the European market over the past few months has been consistently impressive. At the end of 2018, Schmitz

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 / 57

Cargobull passed a Good Distribution Practice (GDP) audit of its TrailerConnect telematics offering – a boon for pharmaceutical freight operations.

In the beginning of 2019 the OEM launched an updated range of container chassis on the back of data that underlined the fact that containers will continue to play a key role in the global transport of goods in the future: 38 million containers are currently in circulation worldwide, and 98 percent of all packaged goods arrive at or leave Germany’s largest sea port, Hamburg, by container.

To bolster its insulated semi-trailer production, Schmitz Cargobull commissioned a new foaming press at its Lithuanian plant in April. This development tripled insulated trailer production from 10 to 30 trailers a day and has led to further expansions of the OEM’s box body and trailer product range.

Even though Wabash National – another US-based heavy weight – claimed rank number four it is important to note that the number used is an estimated shipment value where there is no distinction between trailer and shipping container.

Headquartered in Lafayette, Indiana, Wabash National is a diversified industrial manufacturer and producer of semi-trailers, truck bodies and liquid transportation systems. Established in 1985, the company manufactures a diverse range of products including: dry freight and refrigerated trailers, platform trailers, bulk tank trailers, dry and refrigerated truck bodies, truck-mounted tanks, intermodal equipment, structural composite panels and products, trailer aerodynamic solutions and specialty food grade and pharmaceutical equipment.

Wabash National delivered an all-time revenue record this year of $626 million USD (€564.8 million) and generated its strongest operating margins in two years driven by the Wabash Management System according to CEO, Brent Yeagy.

Meanwhile, the Wielton Group continues to grow in production capacity, delivering an impressive 30 per cent increase year-on-year. One of the biggest announcements of 2018 was Wielton’s acquisition of British business, Lawrence David. This power play by Wielton Group CEO, Mariusz Golec, was integral to his multibrand development strategy – the same successful method that gave rise to Germany’s Langendorf, France’s Fruehauf and Italy’s Viberti and Cardi.

TIRSAN Group is steadily rising in the ranks, too, which can be attributed to Kässbohrer’s M ETHODOLOGY commitment to producing high quality vehicles for customers in While the latest edition of Global Trailer’s annual OEM Ranking has been compiled more than 55 countries. Earlier with the utmost commitment to accuracy this year, Kässbohrer reflected and professionalism, it is still supplied on its manufacturing excellence, without liability. All up, we reached out to more than 100 OEMs globally since June specifically the founding of its 2019. The official data submission deadline welding technologies academy was 13 August 2019. If we were not able to in 2013. obtain an official production number directly The Academy for Welding from the OEM, our source of choice, we consulted a range of industry sources Technologies demonstrates to obtain an estimate. If no estimate was Kässbohrer’s dedication to lifelong available, the brand was not considered. learning and continuing education Build numbers cover the timeframe between 1 July 2018 and 30 June 2019 unless including manufacturing core stated otherwise. competencies. As Kässbohrer

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

masterfully manufactures the widest product range from steel and aluminium tanks, silos, tippers to light and robust platforms, container chassis, low-beds, and general cargo vehicles, attention to detail and mastery of craftsmanship guarantees quality and longest vehicle life.

South Africa, a ‘Fragile Five’ economy (see market report), is represented in this OEM ranking list by Afrit. The Afrit story began with Dutch immigrant Arend van de Wetering, who arrived in the country in 1955 with his wife and eight children. Van de Wetering is said to have had a remarkable affinity for steel and the ability to fashion it into quality automotive components, a skill he passed onto his sons – Gerrit, Klaas, Johan and Theo van de Wetering. In 1968, van de Wetering and his two oldest sons, Gerrit and Klaas, formed Van de Wetering Engineering, focusing on the design and manufacture of vehicles for the South African military. In 1983, now with brothers Theo and Johan on-board, the company took over local trailer OEM, Afrit – an acronym for Alf Finn Road Industrial Trailers – and started specialising in articulated trailers, for which it has since become famous across the African continent and beyond.

Also, an honourable mention for South Africa’s GRW which produced a total of 1,520 trailers.

Russia also makes an appearance via Tonar at position 24 (learn more about this ingenious OEM in our cover story).

There are a large number of North American OEMs represented in this list, and they are mostly performing better than the year prior, which is interesting when you consider how volatile the market has been of late in the US. ACT Research released a freight forecast in August that anticipates a fall due to overcapacity and weaker demand in freight.

Time will tell how these numbers in the months to follow influence trailer manufacturing productivity and how similar trends influence the market on a global scale. www.globaltrailermag.com

RAN K

OE M

COU NTRY

TOTAL PRODUCTION

2 0 18 RESU LT

2 0 18 RAN K

CHANG E

1

CIMC Vehicles Group

China

137,762

127,600

1

8%

2

Hyundai Translead

US

65,700

60,300

3

8%

3

Schmitz Cargobull

Germany

63,500

61,000

2

4%

4

Wabash National

US

58,600

54,800

4

6.5%

>

5

Krone

Germany

56,200

45,200

6

20%

>

6

Great Dane

US

49,000

46000

5

6%

7

Utility

US

48,800

43,400

7

11%

8

Wielton

Poland

23,253

16,200

10

30%

>

9

Kögel

Germany

18,920

22,600

8

-16.3%

>

10

Stoughton

US

15,830

15,600

12

1.5%

11

TIRSAN Group

Turkey

14,350

13,100

14

8.7%

12

Manac

Canada

8,750

8,200

22

6.3%

13

Fontaine

US

8,540

5,900

24

31%

> > > >

14

EnTrans International

US

7,680

5,000

Not listed

35%

New

15

Gorica

UAE

6,500

6,000

23

7.7%

>

SPECIAL REPORT

16

Strick Corporation

US

6,100

4,500

Not listed

26.3%

New

17

MAC Trailers

US

5,994

4,800

25

20%

18

The Reefer Group

France

5,293

-

Not listed

-

New

19

Pitts Enterprises

US

4,800

4,400

Not listed

8%

New

20

Afrit

South Africa

4,755

-

Not listed

-

New

21

Reitnouer

US

3,695

3,040

Not listed

17.7%

New

22

East Manufacturing Co US

3,393

2,880

Not listed

15%

New

23

Timpte

US

3,080

3,220

Not listed

-4%

New

24

Tonar

Russia

3,065

-

Not listed

-

New

25

Trail King Industries

US

2,400

2,100

Not listed

12.5%

New

MOVE M E NT

>

>

>

> >

> >

>

>

Disclaimer

Throughout the production process, it has come to Global Trailer’s attention that a portion of the data provided may contain truck bodies and/or intermodal containers, too. Global Trailer was not able to verify if any other figure was biased and thus decided to trust in the respective OEM as a source.

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WORLD EVENTS

FTR TRANSPORTATION

CONFERENCE 2019 10-12 SEPTEMBER Indianapolis, Indiana, US Historic Union Station FTR’s annual conference is recognised for delivering the most complete and comprehensive outlook on freight transportation in North America. Attendees receive indepth information from industry leaders on all the surface freight transport modes. www.ftrconference.com

NUFAM 2019 – TRADE FAIR FOR COMMERCIAL VEHICLES

26-29 SEPTEMBER Messe Karlsruhe, Germany NUFAM 2019 is the trade fair for the commercial vehicle sector in Germany and for experts and guests from France, Austria and Switzerland. Compact yet comprehensive and clearly structured and also diverse, it offers a concentrated overview of the entire portfolio of the commercial vehicle sector. www.nufam.de

SYMAS 2-3 OCTOBER

Kraków, Poland The 11th International Trade Fair for Powder & Bulk Solids Technologies – SYMAS – unites all technologies connected with manufacturing, reloading, transporting, warehousing, processing, sorting, filtering, separating, grinding and packing of powders, granulates aggregates and many other solid and bulk materials. www.symas.krakow.pl

NORTH AMERICAN COMMERCIAL VEHICLE SHOW 2019

28-31 OCTOBER Georgia World Congress Centre, Georgia, US The first North American Commercial Vehicle Show (NACV Show) in 2017 hosted 439 exhibitors covering 370,000 square feet of net exhibition space at the Georgia World Congress Center. Thirty per cent of exhibitors are headquartered outside of the United States. A total of 6,000 unique visitors and 9,000 visits for the four-day show represented industry leaders, suppliers, top fleet owners and managers and 234 accredited international journalists. www.nacvshow.com

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KEEP A LOOK OUT Breakbulk Middle East 2020 25-26 February Dubai World Trade Centre, Dubai www.middleeast.breakbulk.com

SOLUTRANS 2019

19-23 NOVEMBER Euroexpo, Lyon, France Now in its 15th edition, Solutrans remains a benchmark event for technological innovation and transportation solutions in France. It is not only a forum for the entire commercial transport industry, but a meeting place for all industry professionals associated with road haulage and urban transport. www.solutrans.eu

MEGATRANS2020 1-3 April Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre Melbourne, Australia www.megatrans.com.au FOR Logistic 2020 12-15 May Prague, Czech Republic www.forlogistic.cz CEM 2020 13-15 May Kraków, Poland www.ilmexhibitions.com/cem IAA Commercial Vehicles 2020 24 September - 1 October Hanover, Germany www.iaa.de

INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION FOR

TRUCK, TRAILER, TIPPER, TANKER, TYRE OEM & ALLIED INDUSTRY 2019

Transport Scandinavia 2021 15-17 April Herning, Denmark www.transport-messen.dk

22-24 NOVEMBER

CIDCO Exhibition & Convention Center, Mumbai, India Truck, Trailer and Tyre Expo has been instrumental in providing an apt platform to the industry players and OEMs to explore the market potential for their products in India, according to the event organisers. The Expo is set to showcase a complete range of commercial vehicle technologies and products as well as provide B2B networking opportunities. www.trucktrailerntyreexpo.com

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M E GATR E N D S

S TAT E O F

PLAY

THE INDUSTRY HAS OBSERVED A UNIVERSAL TREND OF ‘GOING STEADY’ WHEN IT COMES TO TRANSPORT AND LOGISTICS COMPANIES ACROSS THE GLOBE INVESTING IN NEW PRIME MOVERS AND SEMI-TRAILERS.

O

ptimism is in the air regarding the uptake of commercial vehicles around the world. While Europe sees positive demand for the sixth consecutive month, Australia is set to potentially plateau, while industry is projected to pick up in the US. The European Automobile Manufacturers Association reported solid growth in June where the UK (+18.5 per cent) and Germany (+10.5 per cent) saw the strongest gains in commercial vehicle registrations.

Over the first half of 2019, the EU market for commercial vehicles grew by 5.8 per cent counting 1,348,271 new vehicles in total. Germany led this growth with a 13.9 per cent increase followed by the UK (+10.2 per cent), France (+6.9 per cent), Italy (+4.8 per cent) and Spain (+2.6 per cent).

Meanwhile, the Australian Road Transport Suppliers Association (ARTSA) released its Q2 2019 market report, following last year’s annual growth in new registrations of 23 per cent across heavy vehicles.

ARTSA Data Executive Director, Rob Perkins, said that growth in new registrations was very strong for 2017-18 and it was an exceptional and recordsetting year for new registrations in all categories.

“The results for financial year 2018/19 show a small decline in total new registrations when compared to the last, record setting financial year,” he said. “Rigid truck and trailers managed a very small (less than one per cent) growth in the new registrations compared with the previous year, but heavy prime mover new registrations slid backwards six per cent compared with the previous year. Given that the previous year was a record with 35,700 new heavy vehicle registrations, 2018/19 has come very close to equally that total with 35,400 units newly registered.

“So, it seems to be steady going with new registrations remaining at or close to the record-breaking levels of 2017/18. The graph below shows the history of total new annual registrations for prime movers, trailers and rigids since 2015.”

Perkins said the lead indicator for new registrations (called the ‘never registered VIN index’) is still rising for prime movers. “The significance of this trend remains to be seen,” he said. “Trailers numbers in the never registered VIN index are steady.”

In the release of its Commercial Vehicle Dealer Digest, US market research firm, ACT Research, noted that the heavy truck and trailer industries are heading for

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a market correction in 2020, even as the US economic picture remains largely unchanged, aside from concerns about trade and tariffs.

The key driver of the near to mid-term outlook is the US consumer, who remains well positioned to keep the economy out of the ditch, even as key freight-generating sectors of the economy take a pause, according to ACT Research President and Senior Analyst, Kenny Vieth.

“Data that support our forecast of an impending market correction continue to mount, with the biggest driver of the change for both Class 8 and trailers being the continued building of new equipment inventories in 2019 that will require rightsizing in 2020,” Vieth said.

“Since March 2018, ACT’s forecasts have targeted 2019’s third quarter as the point at which the supply of Class 8 tractors and demand for freight services would likely tip so far as to break the current period of peak vehicle production, as demand reverts to the mean.

“Current data and anecdotes make a strong case that the call for a Q3 inflection remains intact,” he said.

Vieth explained that ACT Research monitors freight volumes and rates, fleet growth and other metrics that point to a demise in the current ‘upcycle’ in heavy commercial vehicle demand. Economic data of note in July reportedly came from weak manufacturing industrial production. www.globaltrailermag.com

Efficiency runs in the family.

THE IDEAL SOLUTION FOR EVERY TRAILER WHEELEND: THE ST7 AND THE ST6.

With their potential to reduce weight and minimize downtimes, wheelends can play a valuable part in making your fleet even more efficient. With the trailer-specific two-piston ST7 brake, Knorr-Bremse set new standards in the 22.5-inch wheel segment. The identically designed ST6 version for compact wheelends is extending the success story to 19.5-inch applications. Tipping the scales at less than 32 kilograms, the ST6 is a real lightweight, enabling you to save fuel and/or increase the payload. | www. knorr-bremseCVS.com |

LANDING LEGS

Superior Lifting Performance. Globally Delivered.

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