Road, rail, sea: intermodality is the future of transport and the market of semi-trailers and containers is realizing it

Container transport is the only sector that has not been affected by the decline recorded at the end of 2018; also for this year the forecasts are good. Behind this optimism there is an increase in interzone traffic also by rail, despite the delays and limitations that afflict the infrastructure, and a rather old fleet of semi-trailers that physiologically requires renewal. Flexibility is also the most important demand here: full length fixed trailers cannot meet every need, so extensible and tilting trailers are carving out interesting market shares. A very important news is the return of the floors suitable also for indivisible loads, almost disappeared because penalized by the tare of the structure and the wooden floor; the possibility of using them also outside the interzonal transport is reopening their interesting market niches. Always alive also the market of the semi-trailers that can be driven on trains and ships, that are by now an important slice of the general cargo vehicles; it is essential in this sector, the regulation of the height of the trailer: many railway tunnels are in fact not yet suitable for the transit of taller vehicles.

Ten years of experimentation with 18-metre articulated lorries have yielded positive results. Now the supply chain is calling for them to be regularised and for the 25-metre EMS to be tested

So far, so good, but that’s not enough. This is the message that the road haulage industry is sending out, taking stock of the experimentation of long semi-trailers for 18-metre articulated lorries. The monitoring of the 330 vehicles (30 in circulation since 2009 and 300 from 2015) has not shown any criticality: a single accident, within a logistics platform and not related to size. The most affected sector is food: one third of the fleet has insulated or refrigerated fittings. The average load saturation rate rose from 70% in the first phase to 80% in the second; only 6% of hauliers had to review the use of tractors to provide adequate towing for the eighteen.

The next step

The long semi-trailer convinced everyone, including the drivers: the only complaints concerned the limited space of some logistics platforms and a greater criticality with empty vehicles and strong side winds. If the last general states on the subject asked the trade associations for an increase in the contingent of Eighteen, today the supply chain asks for complete liberalization. But to press there is also the request for the testing of EMS 25.25 meters. While aware that these can never be a universal solution, due to the complex orography of Italy, operators and manufacturers will ask that extra long trucks can be used on a dedicated network of roads, as is already the case in Germany. The increase in size is not matched by the increase in total weight, which will remain at 44 tonnes. Positive news also from the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport: it announced that it will not be opposed to the testing of EMS and will cooperate with manufacturers to find a way to the approval of the eighteen.

During Transpotec Logitec, the tuttoTrasporti stand was an important reference point for the thousands of enthusiasts who crowded the event.

Not just trucks and vans, equipment and services for businesses. Among the great protagonists of Transpotec Logitec 2019 must also be counted tuttoTrasporti, present with a large stand in a central position, which has recorded many appreciations among the thousands of fans who crowded the exhibition scaligero. One of the strong points of our station was also the presence of the partners who wanted to be present at the Verona event in our company: Fraikin, European leader in short-term rental services; Würth, with its complete range of systems for fixing and anchoring loads; ZF, with the latest news in terms of transmission and suspension systems; TomTom Telemarics instead exhibited its advanced services for companies and finally Mecaprom Motors proposed the electric vehicles for the distribution of goods.

Tests and trophies

At the stand of tuttoTrasporti it was also possible to register to access the tests of the trucks that were taking place in the adjacent external area. More than 700 drivers were able to drive the latest models such as the Scania R410 LNG and R500 and the Volvo FH diesel and FH 460 LNG, as well as making contact with the new Mercedes-Benz Actros. One of the highlights at our booth was undoubtedly the crowded “Transport Stars” award ceremony that our magazine assigns in each edition of Transpotec. This year the awards went to VDO-Continental, ThermoKing, Cardi, Smet Logistics, Riboni-Rbn Africa, Pris-Mag, Infogestweb. During the same ceremony, Raffaele Bonmezzadri from TuttoTrasporti (the only Italian member of the international jury that awards the prize) presented Giulio Marc D’Alberton, Head of Communication at Peugeot Italia, with the “International Van of the Year 2019” prize awarded to the PSA group.

Source: tuttoTrasporti