Australian freight carrier, Simon National Carriers, has taken delivery of nine new trailers from Freighter Group.
The order consisted of six flat tops and three drop decks.
The flat tops were spec’d with 3-way container pins, BPW Transpec disc brake axles, D36 airbag suspension and rear mount shock absorbers, Knorr-Bremse Electronic Braking Systems and HELLA Australia lighting.
The drop decks feature bi-fold ramps and a beaver tail design as well as 3-way container pins, BPW Transpec disc brake axles, D30 airbag suspension and shock absorbers, Knorr-Bremse EBS and a HELLA Australia rotating light on the rear for oversize loads.
These units join a fleet of 45 Freighter flat tops, drop decks, skels and Tautliner B-doubles at the organisation.
Simons National Carriers National Transport and Distribution Manager, Mick West, told Trailer the latest trailers have made the fleet extremely adaptable.
“We do deliveries into remote areas and often find that someone has a container that needs to be picked up while we’re there,” he said.
“The pins give us the flexibility to do that without having to go back and get another trailer.
“They are very robust trailers and they serve our purpose well.”
The drop decks were specified to cater directly to the business’ General Freight and Project Logistics divisions.
Simons National Carriers National Fleet Manager, Scott Horwood, told Trailer they have provided significant cost savings as a result.
“The ramps themselves are next level,” he explained.
“We get a lot of cost savings by being able to pick up and deliver direct without having to rely on third parties for tilt trays and cross-dock freight.
“All of these factors are big advantages to us.”
Simon National Carriers decided on slightly wider bi-fold ramps with a smaller gap in the middle to cater to the needs of one of its largest customers, Kubota Australia.
Horwood said this allows the fleet to service Kubota to its full potential.
“We carry a wide variety of machinery for Kubota,” he said.
“We have to make sure that we can fit all of their machinery up and down the ramps without dropping them on the inside.”
The 13.5m flat tops each boast a Gross Combination Mass (GCM) of 42 tonnes and a payload of 27.5 tonnes.
Meanwhile, the 13.7m drop decks have 42-tonne GCMs with 25.5-tonne payloads.
All units were built for Performance-Based Standards (PBS) regulations and are being used in B-double and B-triple road train configurations.
West said they’ve already proven their dominance in these applications.
“They travel anywhere Australia carrying general freight and plant machinery,” he told Trailer.
“They’re all spec’d with BPW Transpec axle and suspension systems, and those components, going hand-in-hand with the trailer manufacturer, live up to any task.
“From a performance point of view, the uptime on these units should be high.”
Productivity and efficiency benefits have also been apparent in B-double and road train configurations.
“We get significant efficiency gains by having one truck that can pull a triple,” West said.
“They’re extremely versatile. We can have two flat tops and one drop deck or two drop decks and one flat top in the same combination.”
In addition to carting general freight and plant machinery, a mixture of the flat top and drop deck trailers are also being used by the Australian Defence Force.
“We’re doing big defence moves with the Australian Defence Force now,” West told Trailer.
“We do a lot of defence work especially around this time of year and these new trailers are getting used on those projects.”
West revealed that the Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) has also been using one of the flat tops for testing.
“We’ve been doing a lot of work with TMR,” he told Trailer.
“One of our trailers has been dedicated to their education programs.
“It was just recently loaded with concrete blocks to look at downhill performance and cornering with drivers in Queensland.
“We’ve been doing some filming for them as well, so it’s pretty exciting.”
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