Loading bays are often fraught with drama – drivers want to get in and out as quickly as possible and the business on the receiving end of the goods needs to keep track of what is being delivered and where. Logistically, it is demanding and there is often so much movement in and around the delivery and collection areas, it can be difficult to keep track of the vehicle and the people.
Central to the delivery process is the componentry that links trailer to truck, which has not fundamentally changed over the years. The mechanical structure and design of the fifth wheel has essentially remained the same, only now it is supported by advanced technologies that make the whole process easier for all parties.
One of the companies at the forefront of fifth wheel technologies and developments is Jost, which has been involved in the commercial vehicle sector for more than 60 years. One of the biggest forward steps it has made recently is embracing camera and sensor technology in order to improve the coupling and uncoupling process.
One such innovation is the King Pin Finder (pictured in the circle above). “We have put a camera in the jaw of the fifth wheel, so it acts like a reversing camera in the truck. The output can be on a separate monitor inside the cab or, if you have got the capability, it will display on the dash like it does on a car,” explains Danny Broomfield, managing director, Jost.
“The idea is that the driver who is backing towards the trailer can see the pin right up to the point of contact, so they never miss the target. They also do not ride over it and risk damaging components or encountering any other problems. When the connection is made, the camera automatically switches off, so the driver knows a safe connection has been made.”
The feedback on the new approach has been mixed, depending on what type of driver gives it, says Broomfield. “One of our customers for the King Pin Finder, which is a major logistics company, surveyed its drivers about what we had provided it with,” he recalls.
“While the experienced ones claimed that their mirrors were fine and they did not need any help from our products, the newer drivers said the system was absolutely brilliant and had made a massive difference!”
RANGE FINDERS
The King Pin Finder is actually part of a wider product portfolio from Jost called KKS (the initials standing for the German abbreviation for comfort coupling system). Designed to be an autonomous coupling system, KKS is built around Jost’s KKS 42 fifth wheel, which features sensors, a KKS connector and a pneumatic release valve. Fitted to the underside are two connectors: KKS-U and KKS-I.
With the KKS-U, all of the cable and hose handling takes place under the trailer during cornering, whereas the handling in the KKS-I happens on the trailer floor. Essentially, the former is designed to be offered as a retrofit option, so will appeal to fleets looking to make incremental upgrades to their fleet.
“The KKS essentially showcases all of our specialised advanced services and operators can specify all of them, or have them as individual items,” confirms Broomfield.
Sensor technology – as in pretty much every modern vehicle – is key to the operation of the KSS. “The sensor fifth wheel has three sensors within it, to tell you that the skid plate of the trailer has come into contact with the top plate of the fifth wheel when you raise your air suspension,” Broomfield explains.
“That means you are at the right height for the kingpin to be locked into the jaw properly. The next sensor lets the driver know the jaw is locked, and the third sensor tells you that the handle has moved and locked, and the truck and trailer are ready to go. The three points of contact are indicated by three green lights – and drivers can’t pull away until those three green lights are showing.”
NEW SKIDS ON THE BLOCK
At Saf-Holland, the latest fifth wheel technology enables drivers to unlock vertical loads of up to 20 tonnes with one hand, according to the company.
The SK-S 36.20 series fifth wheel is designed for silo, tanker and volume transport and works with two- and three-axle tractor units for long-distance haulage operations. “The SK-S 36.20 is the best in its class: the coupling variants really stand out thanks to their power, level of safety and low weight of just 116kg, at a mounting height of 150mm,” claims Claudio Bertini, engineering director of couplings and fifth wheels at Saf-Holland.
The safety aspect is clearly one of the main reasons for Saf-Holland introducing the SK-S 36.20 – and the ability to minimise the risk of personal injury or damage to vehicle or trailer – but that emphasis hasn’t come at the cost of quality or attention to detail. Built from graphite cast iron, it ensures strength for holding those vertical loads, while a lube-free variant is available.
“The tops of the special NoLube wear plates and components in the locking mechanism and in the bearing inserts between coupling and mounting brackets no longer require lubrication,” says the company. “The use of grease-free fifth wheels are environmentally friendly and economically viable because grease does not have to be purchased, stored, topped up or monitored.”
Elsewhere, in other environmental-based lubrication developments, Saf-Holland’s Recolube lubricant pump (pictured, p18) can automatically supply fifth wheels with the optimum amount of grease to ensure the best possible connection with the saddle plate. The company also claims that maintenance can be reduced – or even eliminated – in this area. Another sustainability benefit is using a biodegradable lubricant, which features 80% renewable raw materials and has minimal impact on the environment.
ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY
At last year’s IAA Transportation in Hannover, Germany, Fontaine debuted its latest range of fifth wheel couplings and technologies, including TechLock which, like Jost’s system, is designed to minimise any mis-coupling and improve safety in the loading bay.
Essentially, the system uses a jaw-height sensor to prevent the fifth wheel from closing if the kingpin enters at the wrong height or position.
One of the latest products to use TechLock know-how was Fontaine’s 170CI fifth wheel, for on- and off-road use. Designed using advanced FEA, the 170CI weighs in at just 140kg, but is rated at 170kN and supports loads of up to 25 tonnes.
Fontaine also demonstrated its dual-height fifth wheel technology in Germany, with the 3000 FFH. This product allows both mega-trailers and conventional ones to be towed using one truck, with a straightforward height adjustment. The 3000 FFH is available in three models, with height adjustments from 167mm to 367mm.
Despite the world of coupling and uncoupling being quite a conventional and conservative area of transport, Broomfield believes that more developments will be on the way to further help drivers and fleets.
“There is obviously a big, big push towards autonomous driving – and while we are not necessarily going to see that in our market for decades, in projects such as Neom in Saudi Arabia they are building transport solutions to suit a particular environment for people to live in. There, they will want autonomous vehicles running up and down the highway that runs alongside that hub operation – and these ideas are being adapted quickly inside our own yard environments,” he reasons.
Broomfield recognises the push from operators with yard operations to have automated shuttles, which is essentially where KKS started from. “Operators wanted a concept where the driver drives up to the gatehouse and they do not enter the yard at all. They come out of the vehicle and everything else is then remote controlled, either by a shunter picking up the trailer, or an autonomous truck driving it around in the yard. I think that‘s where we‘ll see autonomy first before it then rolls out into more traditional haulage operations.”
