I have been looking at buying a new trailer, but would like something which is as adaptable as possible. What I have seen that interests me is a reefer, which can be loaded through the side as well as the back. Some are tautliners, and I’ve seen some on my travels to Spain.
Does anyone know who makes them? I’ve tried the usual suspects, but with no joy.
I have however seen a UK firm with blue and orange scannies who run down to Spain with them, but never seen one stopped to take a look. Anyone know who this may be?
There was an article in either Truck & Driver or Trucking a few months ago about a box reefer trailer.
It had doors on the side that could open to allow loading down the entire length.
The only draw back was that it was a bit heavier that a normal reefer.
check out this site www.trans-top.com its got links to all the major trailer builders in europe.there used to be one called the insuliner but i cant remember who made it
We had one of these trailers when I worked in Sweden,it was a Spanish made Mirofret with an insulated curtain on one side.
But these trailers cannot be used for frozen goods as the curtain does not give good enough insulation to hold down the temperature.
Fine if you only run with fresh or chilled goods.
Bren:
There was an article in either Truck & Driver or Trucking a few months ago about a box reefer trailer.
It had doors on the side that could open to allow loading down the entire length.
The only draw back was that it was a bit heavier that a normal reefer.
Arla the milk / dairy people run several of these type trailers out of I believe stourton near leeds, they have several sliding doors down the sides.
I have seen some curtain siders with reefers attached run by the CO-OP peeps
They’re not that much heavier than a normal fridge Malc,and opening the side doors is a piece of cake,they are cantilevered.
The Swede’s use them a lot on National work as they do so many pick up’s and deliveries through the day,and saves keep dragging pallets off and on to get at the front pallets.
At one time our firm were running down from Sweden with bearings and backloading boats which were loaded through the side.
Spiers and Hartwell use curtain sided fridges for market deliveries. Not sure who makes them. Phone the company and ask them.
Whilst it does give you flexibility, you might find the fridge heavy on fuel.
On the plus side there is about 2 tonnes saving in weight, but then a number of RDC’s will not allow MHE’s into curtain siders in case the floor is not strong enough. Then you also have to consider collection points where rear loading with an MHE will invariably result in a torn curtain unless you release all the straps first.
Surely, in the initial stages, it would be better to hire a trailer until you have identified a viable customer base and their particular needs.
About 3 years ago I did a day for a mushroom farm, driving a curtain side reefer, it was great, I pulled up at the drop, Co-op, pulled the curtains back & was off again inside of 15 minutes.
That was chilled goods in one direction, plastic tubs in the other.
If I remember correctly it had a mounting for a moffet on the back for when they did palletised multi drop.
I know Irlams used to have some ‘insulated’ curtainsiders but they had no fridge unit fitted.
They were basically a double layered curtain with a layer of tin foil between and were used on a chocolate contract. Much harder work than normal pulling them (curtains) though!!
As I understood it, a fridge unit was an easy option and that should provide quite an amout of flexibility.
Thanks for all your responses. As an OD I like the flexibility of these types of units but have yet to see the price. I like the idea of the Ekari units, a box and fridge which can be loaded through the back and side is ideal. I need to buy a trailer, and am thinking I’m better off buying something which can serve a couple of purposes.
We currently run mainly industrial stuff down to Spain, but sometime we scratch around for a re-load, and, after messing around doing a tile run around Castellon last week on the way home, I’ve pretty much decided a nice clean load of fruit and veg, would have been nice - although I would have got the sun tan.
Side doors are quite nice thing to have in trailer. You can load it almost like curtainsider ( no need for dock ), you can still have trailer with FRC-qualification and that trailer can be loaded to two levels with side doors open ( I suppose you call it a double decker). Go and check Ekeri’s web site at http://www.ekeri.fi/ekeri_eng/
Krankee:
Spiers and Hartwell use curtain sided fridges for market deliveries…
Most of the produce hauliers around Evesham use them. “Chrissie Chromestacks” (Spiers & Hartwell) is a good example, you could also try CBG and FerryFast too! The Fleet Manager at FerryFast is Richard Gorin, their tel. no. is 01386 562400. Also, Spencer Commercials in Evesham does a lot of repairs to units and trailers for some of the produce hauliers, don’t know their number, unfortunately!
Again, not sure who makes then, but I know Gregory distribution have a few of these curtainside reefers. They pull them out of their north tawton depot. Don 't think that they are anywhere near as efficient as a proper reefer, but can keep products cooler in the summer.
