I soon plan on buying my first truck. I am not a truck driver and I intend hiring a driver.
My query is as follows:
I will require to carry 50 pallets once weekly. I would like to use a curtain side trailer in order for the transportation and fit them all in one load.
I’ve been researching this, but I am not totally sure… I believe I can only fit up to 26 pallets one level high on the truck (based on normal European pallet sizes). I was thinking of having the trailer modified with a second story within the inside of the trailer so I can stack another floor of pallets to prevent me from sitting the pallets one on top of the other to fit in all 50. Is this Legal■■? Similar to like what Cocal Cola use. I’ve seen this in smaller trucks where they modify the trailer to fit each crate one on top of another to take advantage of the full trailer space available.
I’d obviously have some good system of strapping them all in place seeing as one level will be stacked higher on the second floor.
I’m new to the truck world… sorry if the question may seem a little obvious.
50 pallets on a 44 tonner would mean that they’ll be zb lightly loaded pallets. But if you mean carrying stacks of empty pallets it’s really a job for a flat trailer not a curtainsider.
Used to do DD work for a Dutch company, it was fairly light stuff. We had bars that fitted acrosss the trl so the heights were not fixed, so it did not matter if your pallets were all of a different height. Then if you did not need a DD load the bars just pushed up to the roof out of the way.
Not really explained this very well, but hopefully you get my drift
Plenty of double deck trailers about but 50 pallets is pushing it. 40 or 42 would normally be the limit.
I would suggest that you hire before you buy anyway - or get a contractor in to see what can be done before you spend £50k on a trailer.
Thinking about it - it’s simply not economical to buy a trailer and a truck for a once a week load, unless it’s acroos Europe. Also - “European” pallets are smaller than UK pallets and you can fit 33 on the bed of a standard trailer.
2 hopes of getting 50 loaded pallets on legally.
As someone said above, if its just 50 emptys just a normall flatbed will do.
Also if your only going to be running once a week will it really benefit you spending 30-50K on a truck and trailer, not to mention running costs and hassle that running your own truck comes with,
Operators license
tax
Diesel
service
drivers wage
tachos
For a once a week load i would just pay a local transport company to do it. Madness buying a unit and a trailer that runs once a week.
We noticed this forum when checking our website stats.
In answer to your question, a total of 52 pallets UK (GKN 1200x1000) can be obtained on our Double Decks (http://www.donbur.co.uk). This applies to both curtainsided and box vans.
The height of the load is more critical. Assuming a 4880 (16’) maximum overall height, the best layout is with a Step-Frame on 215/75 R17.5 Wheels, which provides a rear deck height of 870mm. If you then do the calculations, taking 2nd deck thickness and roof thickness into account, a height aperture of 1961mm can be achieved on both decks - more than enough headroom.
This layout does, however limit the load you can fit on the “Swan-neck” - the area sitting in front of the step over the Kingpin. You can double deck this area, but the lower deck area would be severly limited in height due to the fifth wheel height (usually 1250mm) and neck thickness. Many operators choose not to double deck the area over the swan-neck and opt for an aerodynamic front roof section. This option however does reduce your overall capacity by 8 pallets (to 44).
The UK is ideal for Double Decks as there are no legal limits on height (the only limit is bridge height), whereas in Europe, you are legally bound to the 4m overall height rule. In this case, you would need to opt for a “Mega” double deck with European tractor (1080mm fifth wheel height) - a term used for a thin neck drop-step-frame chassis with independent suspension.
If you need further information, feel free to contact us.
Richard Owens on behalf of Don-Bur (Bodies & Trailers) Ltd
Don-Bur:
We noticed this forum when checking our website stats.
In answer to your question, a total of 52 pallets UK (GKN 1200x1000) can be obtained on our Double Decks (http://www.donbur.co.uk). This applies to both curtainsided and box vans.
The height of the load is more critical. Assuming a 4880 (16’) maximum overall height, the best layout is with a Step-Frame on 215/75 R17.5 Wheels, which provides a rear deck height of 870mm. If you then do the calculations, taking 2nd deck thickness and roof thickness into account, a height aperture of 1961mm can be achieved on both decks - more than enough headroom.
This layout does, however limit the load you can fit on the “Swan-neck” - the area sitting in front of the step over the Kingpin. You can double deck this area, but the lower deck area would be severly limited in height due to the fifth wheel height (usually 1250mm) and neck thickness. Many operators choose not to double deck the area over the swan-neck and opt for an aerodynamic front roof section. This option however does reduce your overall capacity by 8 pallets (to 44).
The UK is ideal for Double Decks as there are no legal limits on height (the only limit is bridge height), whereas in Europe, you are legally bound to the 4m overall height rule. In this case, you would need to opt for a “Mega” double deck with European tractor (1080mm fifth wheel height) - a term used for a thin neck drop-step-frame chassis with independent suspension.
If you need further information, feel free to contact us.
Richard Owens on behalf of Don-Bur (Bodies & Trailers) Ltd
Hi,
I’m the reason you’ve received the traffic from this forum
The only problem is, I sent an email a few days ago to your receptionist/sales department and haven’t received a reply. I sent the original email the same date this thread was initially posted.
Let me know if you received my email?
Please send me a PM and I will get back to you.
Bearing in mind that you’re not in the transport business, weight has become an important consideration here.
A normal truck and curtainsider trailer on 6 axles, built for 44t, weighs in at around 15 - 15.5 tonnes ready to roll.
That leaves you with a maximum load weight of 28.5 - 29 t, including all the packaging not just the weight of your goods. You can fit 26 UK pallets, or 34 Euro pallets, on a 13.7m trailers floor.
A double deck trailer will be heavier, although I don’t know the tare of one off hand. That leaves you with less than 0.5t per pallet for 50 UK pallets. Your stuff needs to be pretty lightweight.
Simon:
Bearing in mind that you’re not in the transport business, weight has become an important consideration here.
A normal truck and curtainsider trailer on 6 axles, built for 44t, weighs in at around 15 - 15.5 tonnes ready to roll.
That leaves you with a maximum load weight of 28.5 - 29 t, including all the packaging not just the weight of your goods. You can fit 26 UK pallets, or 34 Euro pallets, on a 13.7m trailers floor.
A double deck trailer will be heavier, although I don’t know the tare of one off hand. That leaves you with less than 0.5t per pallet for 50 UK pallets. Your stuff needs to be pretty lightweight.
Indeed. The other thing that needs to considered is that if the run is only once per week then you’re gonna need to put it on other work for the other 4-6 days and you’re limiting your choice of work if you have a double decker (pallet size, delivery access, extra fuel consumption from having another 2ft of trailer height etc.).
Simon:
Bearing in mind that you’re not in the transport business, weight has become an important consideration here.
A normal truck and curtainsider trailer on 6 axles, built for 44t, weighs in at around 15 - 15.5 tonnes ready to roll.
That leaves you with a maximum load weight of 28.5 - 29 t, including all the packaging not just the weight of your goods. You can fit 26 UK pallets, or 34 Euro pallets, on a 13.7m trailers floor.
A double deck trailer will be heavier, although I don’t know the tare of one off hand. That leaves you with less than 0.5t per pallet for 50 UK pallets. Your stuff needs to be pretty lightweight.
Indeed. The other thing that needs to considered is that if the run is only once per week then you’re gonna need to put it on other work for the other 4-6 days and you’re limiting your choice of work if you have a double decker (pallet size, delivery access, extra fuel consumption from having another 2ft of trailer height etc.).
if it’s only one load a week surely it would be cheaper to get someone else to do the job !
I’m the reason you’ve received the traffic from this forum
The only problem is, I sent an email a few days ago to your receptionist/sales department and haven’t received a reply. I sent the original email the same date this thread was initially posted.
Let me know if you received my email?
Please send me a PM and I will get back to you.
Regards
Martin
Could you let me know which e-mail address you sent it to?
For future reference, if you use my name directly, you will get a response. (richard.owens@donbur.co.uk)
Weight-wise, if you assume an 8.5T tractor, you can add another 6.5 tonne on (you can get down to circa 6T) for a standard trailer giving gross unladen of 15 tonnes and a payload of 29 tonnes (As Simon points out above). For a curtainsider double deck, the tare weight is more like 8.5 tonnes, leaving a payload of 27 tonnes.
Rob K is also correct about fuel consumption. Assuming a standard consumption of, say, 9mpg, you can estimate that being reduced to somewhere in the region of 7mpg for a double deck @ 16’ high. However, you can go for a sloping roof front which will improve this slightly.
Thanks for all your input.
I´ve calculated despite the costs and stress involved owning, running and maintaining a truck, I stand to save approx 8,000 euro per month owning my own vehicle compared to all the quotes I have received. It is better for me to own the vehicle and have more control of my own logisitcs. I have taken everything you have told me into consideration. Thanks for the tips.
But if you mean carrying stacks of empty pallets it’s really a job for a flat trailer not a curtainsider.
