Big demand for walking floors
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• It's 18 months since tipper trailer dealer Andrew Smith of Newton Commercials started to sell Belgianbuilt Stas tipper and walking floor trailers— and he reckons it's one of the best moves he ever made.
"We've done over 215 Stas tippers so far this year, and their big selling point is quality," he says. "We don't have to send them back because the paint is poor or because they're suffering from air leaks."
Smith is selling them into a buoyant tipper trailer market: many operators had delayed investing in new equipment until the advent of 44 tonnes.
The walking-floor trailers have massive long-term potential, he believes, with the ability to supersede tippers on
landfill sites because they are safer to discharge and can carry more: "The biggest tipper has a capacity of 9oyd3; a standard ejection trailer offers io5yd3—but a walking floor trailer offers 135yd3.
Their versatility means they can carry virtually anything, including palletised loads.
Smith has sold 35 new examples this year: "We're buying a lot of used ones too so that hauliers can purchase one for, say, £15,000 to £20,000 and try it out before investing in a brand-new one."
Not that new walking floor trailers are as expensive as they once were, he adds: "Two or three years ago you'd he paying £43,000 to £44,000. Now they are on sale for up to £10,000 less than that."