Flatbed trailer: types, characteristics, purpose

2024 Author: Erin Ralphs | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-19 11:41

If you need to transport heavy, bulky cargo (furniture, building materials, military equipment, etc.), then the power of conventional vehicles is unlikely to be enough. That is why there is a special flatbed trailer for a car, with which you can reduce the load and successfully transport luggage to your destination.

Trailer - what is it?

A flatbed trailer is a vehicle that has a platform and tailgates for loading luggage, but is not equipped with an engine and is designed to travel with a car. Such devices are used to transport various goods and products with a total weight of up to several tons. Sometimes the load capacity of trailers reaches a record 500 tons! Some models of Caterpillar and Terex dump trucks can boast of such results.

Such special equipment has a fairly simple design and mainly consists of a platform and a side with a folding mechanism. And also there is a traction-saddle device, with which the trailer can be connected to the machine. There are also some models equipped with special supports for safe separation from the vehicle.

Since most airbornetrailers have rather large platform sizes, which makes cornering much more difficult, companies are constantly trying to improve the design of equipment in order to maximize its maneuverability. For example, a steering system is often used, multi-axle chassis are installed, drawbars are lengthened, etc. But you need to fork out to buy such a trailer. The price of advanced models is quite high.

Types of flatbed trailers

The classification of flatbed trailers is a broad topic, as these vehicles for the transport of goods have become very popular among both truckers and ordinary car drivers.

But conventionally such special equipment can be divided into two groups:

• Cars.
• Truck trailers and semi-trailers.

Cars include:

• Standard trailer with sides. This is the most common addition to a passenger car, which is used by almost all drivers to transport any small cargo (food, building materials, furniture, etc.).
• "Boat" trailer. Almost no different from the previous version, except for a specially provided lodgement for water equipment and a winch for more efficient loading of luggage.

Freight includes:

• Semi-trailer. Often, many consider such a device a kind of trailer, but this is not so. This special equipment does not have a conventional drawbar, but instead uses a support-tractiona mechanism by which maneuverability is increased. Such devices are intended for the transportation of heavy and bulky baggage.
• Cargo trailer. Unlike the previous version, it has a drawbar and a hitch. Such a trailer is intended for the transport of heavy, but small-sized luggage.

There are a lot of special cargo vehicles. There are trailers and semi-trailers for special purposes, which are used in various areas of life. For example, a two-axle trailer is used as an additional vehicle for a timber carrier and is designed to transport wood. In addition, there are:

• Tilt trailers.
• Refrigerators.
• Isotherms.
• Tankers.
• Container ships.
• Other (open flatbeds and platforms for the transport of small cargoes).

You can find out more detailed information about all this special equipment below.

Trailers and semi-trailers for special purposes

These include:

• Car carrier trailers. Designed for transportation of motorcycles, cars and other types of cars. Depending on the size of the load, such specialized vehicles can carry five or more class B wheeled vehicles, ranging in length from 4 to 4.5 m.
• Tipper trailer used to transport, load and unload bulk cargo.
• Grain trucks that are designed to transport feed and various crops. As in the case of a dump truck,such a machine has an automatic tailgate, which allows you to quickly unload the existing luggage. Some new models of foreign-made vehicles are also equipped with special devices for self-loading crops.
• Semi-trailers for transporting wood, lumber and pipe metal, which are most often used by timber trucks. A feature of such a specialized vehicle is the bunk - equipment that allows you to more efficiently stack the load and fix it around the entire perimeter.

Main specifications of special purpose trailers

Car carriers
Capacity	20 to 25 tons
Capacity	up to 10 pieces
Maximum length of cars	up to twenty meters
Dump trucks
Capacity	up to 40 tons
Grain trucks
Capacity	up to 22 tons
Volume	up to 45 m3
Timber trucks
Capacity	up to 30 tons

Tents

Tilt semi-trailers are designed for almost any transportation. They are used for both internalcities, between regions and regions of the country), and for international transportation of industrial and commercial goods.

Tilt type flatbed trailer is used in various conditions, low and high temperature. In addition, such a vehicle does not need additional weather protection, so you don’t have to worry about the integrity of your luggage. And the simultaneous loading of goods from all sides allows workers to complete their work much faster than using other types of trailers.

A popular representative of awning semi-trailers is Jumbo, which has a "broken" frame. The main feature of such special equipment is its increased capacity (up to 33 European-style pallets), which is possible due to the stepped L-shaped platform of the cargo compartment and the small diameter of the rims.

Tilt trailer (flatbed) Specifications

Standard capacity	up to 25 tons
Capacity	holds more than 20 standard or 30 euro pallets
Volume	60 to 125 m3

Refrigerators

These are called trailers with special refrigerators and a system to maintain the required temperature. Due to their peculiarity, they are often used in the trade sector for the transportation of perishable products and other cargo that must be stored inspecific climatic conditions.

There are even such modifications of special equipment, the temperature range of refrigerating chambers of which can reach a maximum mark of -25 ° C. But it is a very expensive pleasure to purchase such a trailer. The price of them has recently jumped following the growth in demand.

Specifications of refrigerators

Standard capacity	20 to 25 tons
Capacity	holds from 22 standard to 34 European-style pallets
Volume	60 to 90 m3

Isotherms

These trailers are similar in design to refrigerated trailers, but do not have cold storage. Such special equipment is intended for the transportation of perishable products and goods that must be protected from atmospheric influences. Each flatbed trailer can hold up to 30 European-style pallets and has a standard payload of 20-25 tons.

Tankers

If you need to transport any chemical or gas substances without harming the environment for short and long distances, then truckers use this trailer.

Truck with a tanker can have a different design, as well as several sections for transportation.

Technical characteristics of tank trucks

Standard capacity	10 to 20 tons
Volume	no more than 40 m3

Container ships

A container carrier is a flatbed trailer that is designed to transport various containers. In total there are several types of this special equipment:

• Universal (or sliding container carriers). They are used to transport luggage up to 14 m high and with a carrying capacity of up to 30 tons.
• Low-bed specially designed for loading tanks.
• Tipper container ships.

Open airborne platforms

Most often, an open platform is a two-axle trailer without an awning. But there are also various modifications of such special equipment equipped with sides.

Mainly open platforms are intended for the transportation of commercial construction and industrial goods that are large, heavy and do not need special storage conditions or additional protection from the weather.

Standard lifting capacity of some models is only 20-25 tons. Although there are various modifications of open airborne platforms that can carry baggage weighing up to 40 tons.

Platforms for small cargoes

Similar platform trailers are intended for transportation over short distances of various goods up to several tens of meters long. For example, they are used to transport polymer pipes on construction sites orduring renovation works.

Platforms for small cargo have a standard capacity of up to eighty tons.