differences between US and EU trailer

I cant understand why US operators do not use tint ore curtainside, tarpaulin....
My friend had US flatbed. It is hell difficult work!!!! Like slave on galera!
Later this flatbed was converted to container chassis (two 20' ore one 40').

BDF is a good thing too and BDF shares couplings with sea containers.

Here we use all this stuff with US trucks!

BTW, BDF subframe fits US trucktors if we shorter cabs (converting cab to daycab ore small sleeper). We have 20m lenth limit here and one truck hauls one 20' container + dolly axe and 40' container chassis. Fortunatly we have other weight limits for container haulers.

The only European thing I see in US trailers is curtainside, but roof is hard and no crane load is possible

 

scania man yes they were just left hand .In the proper job it was great.

 

Average aluminum 48 ft spread axle flat weighs 8 to 10 thousand pounds. Steel and wood weigh upwards of 12 to 15 thousand. The steel and wood extendable step deck that I pull weighs 18500 and it is 53 ft triaxle and is 60 ton capable.

 

Man that thing is Alot of work! I used run pezzaoili an Italian brand, floors were hydraulic lift, each floor divided into 4 pens, simply load the top floor sectioning off usually 10 or 11 cattle at a time then lift that floor using a remote control then load the floor beneath it, trailers either had 2,3 or 4 decks depending on which animals u wanna load, then when you need to load freight all the gates fold flat to the decks then all are lifted to the ceiling leaving a pretty normal dry box underneath, they are kept waterproof by tarpaulins that are stored in boxes in the front of the bodywork and are on rails so are easily pulled out and back along the trailer,

By law when you unload your animals here the trailer must be washed out absolutely perfectly and disinfected so the trailer is like new always inside

You can load these trailers in 10-15 minutes single handed and with little work, if Ure really lazy the pen gates can be hydraulic too so u can open and close them on Ure remote, sounds complicated but they are simple enough, 8 - 10 hydraulic cylinders to lift the decks, 6 smaller ones to adjust roof height , the whole rear also swings open on hydraulics so it can be reversed on loading docks, very easy to operate

Thanks for the video, I'm on my phone and can't post one back for you, I'll try stick one on later for you

 

http://www.pezzaioli.it/en/content/view/54/112/

This page should give u some idea how they work Eventhough I can't find 1 picture or video of the interior workings on pezzaioli's own website,

 

You're right, most loads I done back from Italy or Spain were ceramics but a combi trailer can also load better paying loads like groupage, tyres and plants, other loads I did have included shoes , fish trays even onions and potatoes, motorcycles, vintage agricultural tractors, quads , a mercedes sl, a vw camper, and even a load of beer. Our trailers are washed perfectly clean ( it's the law ) and disinfected , there are washing stations all over , it's expensive to get done ( 2-300 euro) it takes 5 spaniards 2 hours to do properly.

 

Just a note: if you arrive into Ireland with a cattle trailer ' not clean enough' ( and I know a guy that got caught with an unclean section the size of an a4 sheet of paper just missed on washing) you will be put back on the ferry to France to get it washed on the continent, that ferry is almost 1000 euro each way, they have to be spotless , it's because of disease control in Ireland and our biggest export is beef! So reputation is everything here and regulations are the tightest in the world here

 

Those are an interesting looking trailer.

I farm and don't haul cattle, but do have interaction with truckers that do. The trailers over here aren't cleaned out after every load, and most of the time when they are cleaned out it is just with a shovel. When switching from Cattle to hogs, and hogs to cattle the trailer has to be washed.

There is more skill to handling livestock than most people think. The video that I posted maybe makes the trailers that are used look more complicated, but at our place we can unload in less than 10 minutes and if when loading out we can load in about 15, Fats don't move as quick as feeders. That is unless we are loading multiple trucks and the drivers are standing around talking at the back of the truck. You gotta be quiet when handling cattle, and things go so smooth. If your one of those guys who likes to yell and holler, your going to have issues. I have been working with cattle since I was 6 so I know all about moving cattle efficiently.

There is a bit of an art to loading a trailer to get the weights right, so not every moron can do the job. I have come across some guys who, I'm surprised they could find there ### with a chair, let alone drive a truck, so its not for everyone. Its a bit more difficult than pulling a van. Most of my buddies who do haul critters wouldn't do well hauling vans anyhow, they kind of love the 'action' involved with the critters. The thing with trying to get a back haul of general freight in this area is that most packing plants that we deal with aren't in a major centre and the product coming out of the packing plants needs to be in a reefer. Most of the guys around here haul multiple loads daily to the plants anyhow. Or they pick up a load of feeders to go to auction on there way to a feedlot to pick up fats for slaughter. I don't know how it works in other parts of the country, but around here in Alberta Canada, the critter movers stay pretty busy. The idea of cleaning out and washing after every load, to haul freight, wouldn't go over well with most of the guys I know.

 

I agree with everything you said ! It's not a job for morons, the cattle need to be handled carefully a quietly, getting them excited or spooked leads to accidents where you or an animal gets hurt. Getting powerful animals like cattle excited in a confined space is dangerous and injuries can be severe ! Hauling cattle here is the best paying work with drivers making in excess of 1700 us dollars pw on international journeys, however it's a hard job to break into as you will only get work if you have good experience and a good reputation for handling livestock ,

Trucks drawing into plants here wouldn't be hauling dry freight either, they would just be flushed out after every load, cleanliness isn't as important if the cattle are coming to the same plant for immediate slaughter, those combi freight trailers are used on international journeys to generate extra revenue on the long trip back from
Italy, Spain or Greece etc.