'Sliding body works great on 5-axles'

Safer loading and unloading thanks to shear trailers from Fliegl

More and more semi-trailers of the German brand Fliegl are also on the road in construction transport in the Netherlands. What is special about them? That they are shear trailers. These offer quite a few advantages over traditional tipping systems, according to Benelux dealer Ludo Pauwels. "It is safer, faster and cleaner."

Still, according to Pauwels, the Dutch market was not as quickly convinced of the usefulness of shear systems as the Belgian and German markets. Main reason? "That there are many more 5-axle trucks driving around in the Netherlands and, as a result, in the past the Fliegl sliding buckets did not fit well against the cab of the combination. As a result, the pressure on the axles was not distributed properly. On the front axles, the pressure was too low," Pauwels explains. "But that was solved with a modified cylinder package that optimizes the axle load. To be able to use the front axle, it was important that the bucket would lie as far as possible against the cab. By working with a special cylinder package, we were able to achieve that." 

According to Pauwels, Fliegl's shear trailers are suitable for "transporting all types of road construction materials, from asphalt or sand to mixed granulate." What sets Fliegl's trailers apart from other brands is more than 20 years of experience with shear systems, he states. "The Dutch market demands somewhat larger buckets. That's why we supply them in 25- and 27-cubic-foot versions. With or without aluminum cover valves. We now also have them with a bulkhead pressure of 15 tons."

In addition to shear trailers, Fliegl also has shear ground dumpers in its product line. According to Pauwels, no other manufacturer has mastered this field. "The advantage of a shear dumper over a tipping system is that the quality of the product to be dumped is much better. Take asphalt, there are increasingly higher requirements for that. By unloading them with a shear bucket, you get a much more homogeneous product, both in terms of temperature and structure." 

Moreover, according to Pauwels, driving with a shear trailer or dumper is much safer. "Especially under streetcar lines, in tunnels or under bridges, you have no chance of hitting something 'overhead.' After all, unlike with a tipper, the body never has to be raised. And because the sliding body is completely empty, in theory they can also take back cargo. Because they are completely clean inside. That not only saves considerably in CO2 emissions, but also in scrubbing with a broom."