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CURTAINSIDER DOUBLE-DECKS
Page 32
Page 33
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0 Double-decks on curtainsiders have conventionally been fixed, or a butterfly or swivel system in which the deck tilts along a centre spine when not required, forming a central bulkhead.
Now there are two more options: Independently-powered decks or mechanically-lifted or ratchet decks.
There can be two, three or four of these decks per trailer and the key is that they retain the flexibility hauliers need to carry loads of varying heights. Modified side pillars contain either the rams and cables for the lifting decks or the location points for the ratchet decks.
Don-Bur was the first company to offer a ratchet-style deck, developing it for its Palletmaster Evolution curtainsider. Christian Salvesen has been a key user, ordering 135 units. Each deck is 4.26m long and is raised or lowered by a fork-lift truck. The location points are at 300mm increments. The deck is lowered to the floor and as it is raised, floor stops automatically ratchet in to position.
Boalloy new offers Tautliner curtainsIders with fixed and moveable second decks. Rental company Hill Hire has ordered 39 4.6m trailers for Wickes/Focus DIY. They feature a fixed second deck, with ratchet type adjustable-height deck in the rear section. Mounted on an P&G stepframe tri-axle chassis for 44-tonne operation, the heavy duty body is designed to accommodate the high centre of gravity needed for second deck loading. Wickes has specified a swing-out ladder for safe access to the top deck.
BIcester-based Kel-Berg is perhaps best-known to UK hauliers for Its construction bodies, but it has also had some sales success with its powered-deck curtainsider. Bibby Distribution, for example, has ordered ten D90 hydraulic double-deck trailers for use on its Hiss-Today contract. The trailer has two platforms and a raising roof that increases side access by 400mm.
Kel-Berg offers a 13.8m curtainsided trailer with powered deck from £688 per month for a straight-frame trailer, and £708 for a stepframe, on a five-year lease. Carrying capacity is 44 pallets on the stepframe and 52 on the straightframe trailer.
Montracon has developed a new version of its wedge-shaped fixedfloor double-deck trailer. Wedges are popular with parcels carriers, and for other manual loading operations, because they create a full-length, full-width floor. The wedge-shape is a result of making the rear aperture height more than the floor-to-roof height measurement. The trailer has a fixed second deck and long-travel air suspension, which eliminates the need for a load-dock scissor lift. The suspension is lowered for loading the upper deck and raised when loading the bottom deck,
Left: New Christian Salvesen ratchet lifting deck trailer with air-operated deck locks and swing out pillars.
Above: Curtatnsider Ming decks like this one by Kel-Berg maximise returnload opportunities,