Martin Marietta Composites announced its entry into the commercial truck trailer market at a press conference at the Mid-America Trucking Show.
The first product is to be a live-floor transfer trailer. This trailer is virtually 100% glass-fiber reinforced polymer with the exception of the kingpin, running gear, and landing gear. The advantages of the design include lower tare weight, higher payload, increased durability, and non-corrosiveness.
The 50-ft live-floor transfer trailer will weigh 12,800 pounds. It will have a capacity of more than 132 cu yd and a GVWR of 68,000 pounds. Trailer production is expected to begin in the third quarter of 2003 in a manufacturing plant in Sparta NC.
Martin Marietta, specialists in the engineering of advanced materials, licensed the trailer technology from Composittrailer n v of Belgium and has modified the trailer to meet U S DOT regulations as well as market preferences. Composittrailer n v is an affiliate of Stevens Carrosserie n v, which claims to be the oldest continuously operated producer of commercial truck trailers in the world. Composittrailer spent a decade developing GFRP technology for truck trailers and has marketed GFRP trailers throughout Europe.
Martin Marietta Composites Inc, 2710 Wycliff Road, Raleigh NC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Martin Marietta Materials Inc. Both are headquartered in Raleigh.