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All oils are classified 'Dangerous Goods' (DG) according to global Hazardous Materials codes and whether its cooking oil or gearbox oil being transported by truck, extra care has to be taken to ensure none of it spills onto the roadway or in any way jeopardizes environmental wellbeing. Unitrans is a leading haulier of oil drums by road with stringent operating standards. The company recently put out a tender for a specialized trailer that not only meets the safety requirements necessitated by DG regulations, but also enhances operational efficiency. Olifantsfontein-based trailer manufacturer, TFM won the contract. Here's why. 
 

Extensive use of aluminium lowers tare mass. This particular design has removable transverse slats to make access to the load bay easier. The slats are high enough to prevent the dreaded ‘drum roll’.

The ability to offer customized solutions for cargo-carrying challenges is what separates the wheat from the chaff in the trailer-building industry. A certain 'X-factor' exists in the workshops and design offices of South Africa's leading trailer fabricators. TFM is one such shop, proving its mettle designing and building specialised curtainsiders for Unitrans who will be using them to transport oil drums for a leading petroleum company. 

"When having to provide fit-for-purpose solutions, a special environment, both physical and mental, has to be created and this is what we have done with our Projects division," says TFM managing director, Johan van der Merwe. "The Projects facility is in excess of 4 000m2, is separated from the main factory and has a unique and distinctive development atmosphere, which enables either once-off, custom designed projects, or vehicles that are inherently complex in terms of finishing like these curtainsiders, ambulances, armoured vehicles, mobile libraries, game viewers and the like."

Says Unitrans's Greg Vaughan, "we gave the basic spec to several body-builders and TFM's response was easily the best. They came up with the ideas to have removable aluminium slats instead of drop-sides and a 'basket' version of a 'miller's deck', which collects the oil in case of spillage and these really impressed us." 
 

The curtainsider allows for easy loading and offloading on three sides while the tail lift enables smooth operations at cargo bays.

Hein Schulenburg, TFM director, Cargo Van & Projects division, says, "these are the most complex curtainsiders we've ever built and we are not only pleased that our innovative solutions won us the contract, but we also believe that their success is further testament to our ability to build 'non-production line' items efficiently." He adds that TFM took the project from concept through to design and 'mature data pack' ready for production-line manufacture, ensuring repeatability and interchangeability for future builds. 

There are several important advantages to this unique design, explains Schulberg: "The removable aluminium slats enable an effective containment of the load and a significant increase in payload, which is, of course, a major bonus to any transporter. Also, the uniquely designed 'miller's deck' enables the draining of spilt material, ensuring that the vehicle is environmentally friendly."