A UK and Ireland-based haulage company has taken its first delivery of 40 double-deck trailers that feature an innovative flat lower-deck design.
Maxi Haulage will be using a new 13.6-metre tri-axle, step frame fixed double-deck trailers from Tiger Trailers in Winsford, Cheshire, and they will be used to transport retail cages between the UK and Ireland.
Tiger Trailers was tasked by Maxi Haulage to develop a solution that would offer a completely flat lower deck while also meeting the 4.65-metre Irish height restrictions.
Andy McGuire, General Manager at Maxi Haulage, said, “In the past, the 4.65-metre trailers we’ve taken to Ireland have had to include wheel boxes within the load space on the lower deck. We wanted this to be completely flat so that we could carry more cages per load. Tiger stepped up to the challenge and the result has been an increase of seven cages, or 10%. This will significantly improve efficiency and productivity for our customers, which is fantastic.”
Tiger’s innovative design also saw it move away from independent suspension, the only way such trailers were previously able to run low enough. This made them significantly more likely to sustain damage, which in turn increased running costs.
The new Tiger Trailers design offers Maxi Haulages customers an extra 10% load space when transporting retail cages between the UK and the Republic of Ireland.
These low-running trailers also made ferry loading and unloading much more difficult, so Tiger and Maxi Haulage consulted the ferry companies during the development stage to ensure the new design would simplify the process.
In addition to the flat deck, other bespoke design elements include: gates on the neck of the trailers to help secure all available load space and a sloping rear floor to make loading and unloading as easy and efficient as possible.
