Most of the Floor Trailers built in Holland carry the slogan “Solid as a Rock” spelled out in English on the rear splash guard. Motorists following behind a Floor Trailer can identify with that slogan. The rear of the semitrailer looming ahead of them appears as a solid wall. No wheels are visible at the rear — only from the side or when in a turn.
The 17-30 Floor Trailer exhibited at the Amsterdam RAI in October was, in fact, designed for hauling rock, such as brick, stone, and cast concrete beams. The 17-30 refers to a 17-tonne (37,500 lb) kingpin load and 30-tonne (66,000 lb) load on the rear axles.
Each of the three axles is rated at 10 tonnes (22,000 lb) versus nine tonnes (20,000 lb) for most semitrailer axles. The BPW square tube axles have a wall thickness of 15 mm (.59"). Floor builds its own air suspension on a spring base of 1.47 meter (58") versus the standard spring base of 1.3 m (51"). The rear two axles are steered hydraulically, sensed from the fifthwheel.
The length of the trailer frame is the standard 13.6 meter (45 ft), and it telescopes 7.5 meters (24½ ft). Besides the center frame containing the pin locking mechanism, the trailer has an I-beam outer rail on which the Hiab 3-ton crane travels, plus a structural channel rubrail. Moving the wheels of the crane carriage outboard to this outer rail I-beam gives the crane more stability when lifting from the side.
Besides pallets of brick and stone, this extendable trailer is designed to haul precast concrete beams 20 m (65 ft) long for housing. Tare weight of the three-axle semitrailer is 11 tonnes (24,250 lb). Maximum GCW in Holland is 50 tonnes (110,000 lb) and 44 tonnes (97,000 lb) in Belgium and Luxembourg, while still at 40 tonnes (88,000) in France and Germany. Floor Trailers, Havenweg 4, NL-6603 AS, Wijchen, the Netherlands.