J W Cantrell Haulage Contractors has invested in five new S.KI tipper trailers from Schmitz Cargobull, having been impressed with the performance and reduced maintenance costs of a demonstrator vehicle.
Derrick Cantrell, Managing Director of J W Cantrell Haulage Contractors, originally purchased the demonstrator at an exhibition and has now invested in five new S.KI 24 3AT 9.6m trailers.
Each vehicle features a rounded steel body and has been specially fitted with an adaptive chassis to fit three-axle tractor units and meet the UK’s 44-tonne truck compliance rules.
The tough, ultra-reliable trailers have joined a 17-strong mixed commercial vehicle fleet and are now helping the Stoke-based haulage firm cut downtime and maintenance costs while transporting incinerator bottom ash (IBA) across the Midlands.
Cantrell says: “Once tried and tested, I had to go back to Schmitz Cargobull again. The payoff between a good payload and a strong trailer is a very fine line, but I think Schmitz Cargobull get it spot on.”
He adds: “I’ve been hugely impressed with how the vehicles are managing our heavy-duty loads. We were using aluminium trailers before and spending far too long doing costly repairs on them because the materials we carry are very abrasive and wear the bodies out.
“The steel bodies of the S.KI tippers are proving to be very durable and have helped massively in reducing maintenance time and costs. I’ll be looking to get many years of use out of them.”
Designed to maximise payload with the greatest reliability, the S.KI tippers have a 36m3 capacity and are specified with a 6mm steel floor, 5mm steel sidewalls, full LED lighting system, Alcoa alloy wheels and manual PVC roller top sheet.
Each vehicle is expected to clock up around 60,000km per year for the business.
