When did you start introducing this configuration and why did you think to do it?
“The SMET Group embraced the 18-metre convoy experience in 2009, so that is now twelve years ago. The motivation for the positive approach to this experience, which was entirely pioneering, was geared towards the fact that we perceived the benefits that this technology could bring in terms of sustainability. We must not forget that the vehicles contain a number of pallets inside them: it is obvious that if we want to reduce the number of vehicles on the roads, we must make the vehicles themselves contain more pallets. It was very easy to arrive at the consideration that this type of product would meet the sustainability target. So we approached the first experimental phase, which lasted five years, and we strongly relaunched in the second phase where the derogation licences were increased by the Ministry. Our Group strongly increased the number of licences and vehicles purchased with a very significant investment of several million euros, at a time when there was no sign of normalisation, which has happened recently.
How many vehicles in particular did you use?
“The first phase saw thirty authorised vehicles, the second phase three hundred authorised vehicles. All Italian semi-trailer manufacturers were able to participate.
In economic terms, what environmental benefits did it bring?
“The numbers are easy to give. As far as our 18-metre vehicles are concerned, we brought a contribution of about 15 per cent lower emissions, due to the different missions they performed. Equally beneficial was the reduction in the number of vehicles required to transport the amount of goods that were transported. So we have certainly lightened the motorways by a factor of 12 to 15 per cent vehicles. I think you can see the goodness of this type of product.
In the Italian infrastructure network, are there any points where there are difficulties for this type of vehicle?
“The vehicles are designed to cope with roundabouts: the wheelbase is the same as a traditional semi-trailer. Then they have the self-steering third axle, which makes manoeuvring around roundabouts even easier”.
Based on this experience of more than ten years, is there a market segment for which the use of these vehicles is particularly congenial?
“Certainly the sector that best coincides with the maximum efficiency of this product is the automotive sector. This sector travels, for the most part, back and forth. Of course, all sectors where the weight/volume ratio is very high are not recommended, because the overall mass has not changed. But remember that most of the saturations in Italy come from light loads. It is clear that even between the interports these vehicles are easily exploitable and the benefit is very high in terms of sustainability’.
What is happening in other countries and what experience are you looking at with interest to apply in Italy as well?
“We, in Italy, arrive at a standard that was already achieved years ago in other parts of Europe. The new standard we should be inspired by is the 25-metre standard, because Spain is already adopting it and has results that are positive. Italy has homologated and narrowed the gap with the other countries of Europe. The same concept is on the 25 metre, so our Group will be a stimulus to start experimental phases, then the whole objection phase will start, because 25 metres in Italy may be a lot, but there will be courses where they can be used. We start in an experimental measure and progress is not blocked and slowed down. This is the mission on which we have been working since yesterday.
So progress, optimisation, but also a factor of competitiveness.
‘Too many times I hear that in Italy we are behind, we don’t have the infrastructure and the possibilities. In an area where there is nothing, we have to do everything and we already start with European best practices. There will be problems, we will try to understand what they are, but we cannot abdicate with respect to an infrastructural condition of the country that is lacking. However, this is not an alibi for not following the lines of progress, because if the country is behind many times it is because there is no drive towards innovation. On our part, there will certainly be a willingness to invest and experiment and, if necessary, even go backwards.
Now that the 18-metre has become usable outside of experimentation, do you plan to increase your fleet?
“We have a growing demand for this type of vehicle. So given the particular moment we are experiencing and the lack of availability of equipment from the suppliers of these and other vehicles, we will certainly move towards a fleet implementation in this sense. Customers are increasingly willing to transport their goods in a sustainable manner. So much so that we sell the 18-metre vehicle combined with an LNG-powered vehicle, because we get the vehicle that is the best in terms of CO2 reduction and environmental efficiency.
Is it more of an advantage for the customer who ships the goods or for the carrier who can exploit this space?
“We set our action on a value discourse first and then an economic one. We have approached this line towards sustainability, which we then decline with intermodality by sea, rail and alternative traction and with the 18-metre because we believe it is ethically correct. After that it is in the commercial skill of the company and the entrepreneur to know how to value what is sold to the market. We believe that these observations should be declined in other respects: is it right to use environmentally efficient vehicles? Is it something that benefits the haulier, the customer and the consumer? I believe it benefits everyone.
Has the fact that there is a driver shortage created a favourable environment for the introduction of these new vehicles?
“The shortage of drivers, as well as the priority on sustainability, facilitates and is an accelerator. It is clear that the rest of the European countries are dictating the pace: if other countries are already ahead, we have to race to catch up”.

L'articolo 18-metre trucks: how manoeuvrable are they and what advantages do they bring? proviene da SMET.

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

L'articolo tuttoTrasporti at Transpotec Logitec 2019, passing through Smet proviene da SMET.

Project 18: Anfia and Smet together

Project 18 was launched by Anfia in June 2009, with the delivery of the first batch of experimental semi-trailers. Thanks to special authorizations granted by the Ministry of Transport, some companies were authorized to use vehicles of extraordinary length. Unlike standard vehicles, which have a length of 16.50 metres, the experimental articulated lorries have a length of more than 1.5 metres. This means that, while using standard tractors and keeping the overall mass unchanged, it is possible to increase transportability.
Compared to a standard articulated truck, which is able to transport 33 europallets, the articulated trucks of Project 18 are able to transport 37 euro pallets. A number that is close to that possible with a truckload, equal to 38 euro pallets, which however has a length of 18.75 meters. A load for Iveco with a standard trailer allows the loading of 22 loading units arranged on two levels, while an experimental trailer allows the loading of 4 more units, ie 26 loading units always arranged on two levels.

The objectives of Project 18

Through the testing program, Anfia has intended to evaluate the performance of new media. The objective of Project 18, first of all, is to compare the convenience in economic terms with the 16.5-meter vehicles. However, the economic one is only one of the terms of comparison. In addition to this, the focus was also on the organisation of transport logistics, road performance and manoeuvrability of vehicles, according to the drivers. Last but not least, the safety of longer vehicles.

71 companies took part in the project, including Smet by De Rosa, for a total of 162 vehicles. For the survey, questionnaires were also administered to the heads of the Traffic Office, as regards the economic and organizational aspects, and to drivers, as regards the aspects of maneuverability and safety of vehicles. «Smet was the first Italian company to join Project 18 and today we have the majority of licenses issued by MIT for centered vehicles – adds De Rosa – We are currently testing a vehicle of 18 meters, with a much greater load capacity than standard vehicles of 16.50 meters. As proof of the daily commitment to sustainable transport – concludes De Rosa – at the end of 2016 the Smet group was awarded the prestigious Sustainability Award by Cnh Industrial for the introduction of ecological, economical and efficient road transport systems. We are in fact the only Italian company to use Iveco Stralis LNG, powered by liquid natural gas, combined with semi-trailers with an extraordinary length of 18 metres».

The results of the experimentation in the second phase

In February 2017, it was already possible to draw up an initial assessment of the experiment. After approximately 10 million actual kilometres, in particular on medium-long stretches (200 – 600 kilometres), no particular problems were reported. On the contrary, the results obtained appeared to be significant: for example, according to the heads of the traffic office interviewed, it was possible to find an average saving of 12% in terms of number of trips. According to 74% of the drivers, however, there are no differences between 18-metre trailers and traditional trailers. The same percentage of drivers, in fact, found no problems of manoeuvrability. On the safety front, the results were encouraging: 83% perceived the same safety and 7% even better, compared to 16.50-metre trailers. Finally, the most important question: has there been a deterioration in performance and, in particular, with regard to transport times? According to 92% of drivers, no. The umpteenth proof of the goodness of Project 18.

L'articolo Project 18, second phase of the experimental programme completed proviene da SMET.