News

Over the past two years, it seems the UK division of trailer manufacturer Schmitz Cargobull has been building itself up for a charge to become the country's leading trailer builder. MT attended its Harelaw, County Durham site last week as part of a customer day giving the firm the opportunity to showcase its products.

The Harelaw plant has developed minimal, Nissan-style automotive manufacturing techniques to improve and speed  up the trailer-building process. Paul Avery, operations general manager, is charged with delivering quicker build times and believes there are major cost savings in reducing production time for each unit and increasing capacity.

Unfortunately, he says, any savings from quicker production have been swallowed up by rising raw material costs, therefore end-users are unlikely to see dramatic falls in price. However, being able to build 12 curtainsiders and 10 reefer trailers a day makes Schmitz more competitive against its rivals, he adds.

Schmitz Cargobull can, in theory, deliver enough trailers to swamp the market, and in his introductory speech on the customer day, MD Tom Macallan reiterated the aim for Schmitz Cargobull "to be number one in the UK".

The company certainly has the financial clout – its latest figures show that for the 2007-2008 financial year, the group turned over E2.1bn (£1.75bn) selling more than 66,500 trailers, with the UK business generating  revenue of £74.9m.

Schmitz already claims to be the UK leader in reefer sales, with 41% of the approximate 3,500-unit-per-year market, but now sees the curtainsider sector as the next area for growth. The firm, by its own admission, currently sits out of the medals with 17% of the market.

As well as revamping its Euroliner to boost curtainsider sales, Schmitz has launched two initiatives: the first is the five-day-build curtainsider, or reefer trailer from order. David Pressley, product manager (UK), says it is designed to meet the "growing demand for short lead times".

The second is a concept trailer called Freepost. It has no pillars for easy side loading, wrap-around curtains at the front, external pin hinges for the rear doors and a steel roof. Pressley wants to deliver more payload – by reducing the 6.8t design kerbweight by 100kg – provide more versatility for the concept and reduce down time for the operator through improved reliability.

Feedback from operators is positive. Phil Norris, from HLL Davies, says there is an increased demand for pillarless trailers. However, he offered some minor criticism: "You need to reduce the size of the cant rail as much as possible. And move the [front] curtain pole to the side. There is no benefit having it on the bulkhead, the truck is there – it's in the way."