Deck can be lifted level to container floor, writes Terry Hutson
WHEN TWO Durban companies, Freightliner Transport and coach builder MAK Bodies, put their heads together over a transport problem, they came up with a solution so simple they now wonder why nobody thought of it before.
The challenge facing Freightliner was that heavy 6 metre containers have to be centre mounted on trailers in order to comply with both the manufacturers' and the legal restrictions on pavement loading per axle. But this means complications when it comes to offloading, because the container door is well away from the trailer edge and at a different height, preventing forklift vehicles from entering the box.
This usually meant that the operator had to find a suitable site where the box could be repositioned at the trailer's rear, but it also meant the operator would have to complete the journey in an illegal and unsafe tail heavy condition. Additional costs were incurred for re-positioning the container and for extra kilometres travelled and for time lost.
Recognising that any solution needed to be kept simple Freightliner approached MAK Bodies, a trailer manufacturer whose core business is aimed at special request type trailers.
After tests showed that centre mounting was the only option available because existing skeletal 6 metre container trailers cannot legally carry the payload, MAK was given the go-ahead to design something to first-world standards but which could be operated to emerging market standards.
The result is the MAKZI, involving a deck that can be lifted level to the container floor once the doors have been opened, using what has always been freely available - air. No hydraulics, ramps, winches, manual winders, sliding bogies.
The deck is lifted on an air bag and an air controlled locking arm locks the deck into position, taking less than five seconds using two air control valves such as the parking air brake found on all trailers, an air bag and a brake booster.
In the event of failure the deck can be lifted manually either by hand or by forklift while the locking arm can also be engaged manually.
According to Ranesh Thulsi, chief executive of Freightliner Transport, the design is so simple and effective that Freightliner is convinced it will soon become standard on all trailers fitted with centre mount container locks.
We believe that legal restrictions are put in place in the transporter's best interests, in order to preserve our equipment and the roads in the interests of road safety. Road transporters will in future be able to run their complete trips legally, while 'makzimising' their profit, explained Thulsi.
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