The additional advantage a hydraulic steering system can offer is a manual override. The axles can be steered by a hydraulic power pack without any steering motion from the tractor unit. Besides steering systems, the product range also includes special suspensions. These systems consist of both hydraulic and air suspensions. Heavy-duty systems have been developed specially for heavy transport. Tridec also makes a hydraulic axle suspension, for off-road applications.
There are several reasons to choose a steered trailer. Roads are becoming more and more congested. The number of round-abouts increases, and traffic in villages, cities and towns is growing too. All of which makes it more difficult or even impossible for a truck-trailer combination to access sites for loading and unloading.
With a Tridec steering system the trailer becomes more manoeuvrable and requires less road space, and therefore it becomes easier to make turns or to avoid obstacles. This results in considerable time saving and an improvement in fleet efficiency.
In many cases a rigid vehicle can be replaced by a trailer offering more load space and volume. Also a truck trailer combination offers more flexibility of the fleet.
Reduced tyre wear
Besides better manoeuvrability, a Tridec steering system offers several other advantages. Since there is less tyre scrub, the chassis is subjected to less forces, thus saving on vehicle maintenance and reducing wear of the road surface too. Trailers that are used for 20 per cent of the time on motorways and 80 per cent on local roads and city distribution, can reduce tyre wear by up to one-third. In addition, the carcass can be re-used since the risk of sidewall damage is minimal compared with non-steered trailers.
For example, at 80 per cent local roads and 20 per cent motorways, the life time of the tyre is not more then 40,000 km. This means a non-steered 3-axle trailer covering 80,000 km a year will need 12 replacement tyres.
Using the same example of 80 per cent local roads and 20 per cent motorways, the lifetime of its tyres is 120,000 km, therefore, in one year’s average distance of 80,000 km, only four tyres will need replacing. Taking the time saving into account because of the better accessibility and manoeuvrability, one can calculate the yield of a steered trailer per year.
Making this calculation on the basis of 80 per cent motorway and 20 per cent local roads, one will see that the efficiency of a steered trailer will decrease. Note then that for manoeuvrability and accessibility to sites, and reduced road surface damage, Tridec’s steering system offers considerable advantages.
