Truck trailer manufacturers in Europe are very competitive in both sales and design work. The two largest trailer manufacturers in Germany presented competing designs of a new round-body dump trailer at the IAA in Hanover. Both designs combine a round floor structure of Hardox 450 steel with rounded sides of aluminum. Both designs are bolted.
A third German manufacturer announced that its alu-steel round body dump is being developed as a welded structure using bi-metal strips to combine the aluminum sides with the steel floor.
The reason behind all this development work by various trailer manufacturers is the growing popularity for the half-cylindrical shape — what Europeans call a half-pipe. However, the all-steel half-round bodies are heavy and the all-aluminum ones are very expensive.
The compromise puts a Hardox 450 floor where most of the abrasion takes place, as well as the denting, while making the sidewalls and endwalls of aluminum to gain the weight saving.
New trailers at world's largest truck show
The 59th International Motor Show (IAA) for Commercial Vehicles was held Sept 12 to 19 in Hanover, Germany, the fifth time in that location.
The IAA is the world's largest truck show, attracting several hundred thousand visitors, 85% of them trade visitors. Some 1,200 exhibitors from 42 countries (28 from the USA) were spread out over two million square feet of display space, most of it inside modern halls. About 175 manufacturers of truck trailers and truck bodies exhibited their newest innovations.
A new agreement with the Amsterdam RAI truck show was announced whereby the two competing exhibitions will be held on alternate years. The IAA will continue to be held in even number years, and the RAI will be held in odd number years. Under this arrangement, the next IAA will be held in Hanover in September 2004. The next RAI European Road Transport Show will be held in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Oct 16-25, 2003.