Some people! No sooner do I suggest the benefits of trucks that can load through a lift-up nose like a 747-Cargo Freighter, than blow me down I learn that Andover trailers have taken it one stage further and loaded a truck and low loader in an Antonov 124, the world's largest cargo plane! Hey, that was my idea! Anyway it appears that those cheery folk at Andover have supplied a specialist plant trailer to the US-based Development Resource Corporation, for transporting containers and construction machinery in Kabul, Afghanistan. The three-axle, centre-spine extending plant trailer with beavertail was recently delivered to a NATO base in Germany, before being loaded onto the aforementioned Antonov 124 bound for Kabul.
The SFCLEX56 trailer can transport a payload of up to 44 tonnes and (and you can see from the picture above) was flown to Kabul with a brand new Hamm roller and Case excavator, which it will transport locally as part of a larger collection of construction equipment at Kabul International Airport. It will also operate with a mixture of single 40ft ISO containers, or a combination of two 20ft containers, with twistlocks built into the deck to enable the containers to be firmly secured. Meanwhile, the 13.2m long trailer benefits from a low profile neck and can be extended by 4.35m when transporting containers, with slide-out extensions to the deck, bridge and beavertail. It also features a BPW bogie with two fixed and one self-steering axle, together with air-suspension with a raise & lower control, hydraulic power toe ramps with hydraulic sideways. An air/hydraulic power pack was also fitted to afford full flexibility with NATO tractor units, eliminating the need for PTO’s or power cables and ensuring the hydraulics will work with any tractor unit. So now you know.