Double-decker reefers: key trend at TCS&D14 September 2017

Multiple-deck refrigerated trailers were a highlight of the TCS&D (temperature controlled storage and distribution) show at the Ricoh Arena in September.

Exhibitors were spread around the show floor.

New from TransDek, and in Eddie Stobart livery, is the Tall Boy temperature-controlled double-deck tri-axle trailer offers a capacity of 38 pallets, or 72 roll cages. The 4.95m-high trailer offers internal heights of 2,200 mm for high pallets of for example fruit and vegetables.

Gray & Adams exhibited an 8.1m-long urban double decker semi-trailer with capacity of 26 pallets, specified at the show in a triple-temperature version. The twin-axle unit was shown in the livery of customer Blakemore, which has ordered a number of units.

Cartwright presented a double-deck fridge that features a redesigned cradle with direct-drive hydraulic rams to raise and lower the three-quarter-length deck, rather than its previous rope and pulley-actuated system design. The upper decks offer 1,850 mm clearance; lower 1,900. Its overall height is 4,950 mm.

A partial-double deck trailer that holds 34 pallets was exhibited by startup Somi Trailers (‘Same outside, more inside’). In between the gooseneck and tri-axle, the 4m high trailer’s floor is extended nearly to the ground, enabling a total of 16 pallets (up to 1,650 mm high) double-stacked in that section. To enable loading with conventional forklift trucks, the trailer uses air bladders to raise and lower two platforms and an internal shifting system built into the walls and floor of the trailer to shift the upper load. Payload capacity is 24 tonne for frozen and chilled food. Metalwork is provided by Tinsley Bridge, and the body was built by Paneltex. It also features a multifunction side light system that illuminate for reversing, for turning, and automatically at low speeds.

In other news, Montracon showed an aerodynamic rigid box body featuring a recessed bulkhead to hide the nose-mount fridge unit. The body design, which also features a curving roof, is said to offer better aerodynamics than a standard design, whilst avoiding the extra expense of a chassis-mount fridge. Shown on an 18-tonne DAF CF body, it is the first of 10 units ordered by customer Asset Alliance for use by DHL for the supermarket Nisa. Trials are due to start in October.

Author
Will Dalrymple

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