WA’s largest transport and logistics company Centurion has launched a new innovative tyre trailer that improves safety, efficiency and productivity during the transportation of large heavy mobile equipment tyres for the mining industry.
The new trailer design means, for the first time, tyre trailers loaded with some of the largest heavy equipment tyres, can be used in a triple road train configuration reducing the number of drivers, pilots and trailers required for each trip.
Traditionally, the largest dump or haul truck tyres have had to be transported horizontally or lay flat on a flat top trailer. This makes the load oversize and requires it to have an oversize permit and pilot for transportation. It also means that, in the past, these tyres have only been transported in a truck and single trailer configuration.
The new trailer design allows for the tyres to be ‘stood up’ and transported vertically reducing the excessive width and removing the need for the oversize permit and the pilot. As a result, one truck can haul twice as many tyres in a single trip significantly reducing the transport costs per tyre.
The tyre trailer complies with Performance Based Standards (PBS) – a National Heavy Vehicle Regulator scheme that tests the asset against 16 stringent safety standards and four infrastructure standards ensuring it fits the existing road network and is safe.
Each trailer is fitted with electronic stability control to further improve the safety performance.
According to Centurion CEO Justin Cardaci the development of the trailer is a result of the business listening and responding to its customers’ needs as Centurion aims to continually improve its business services offering as well as its safety performance.
“We transported more than 2,600 heavy equipment tyres last year to various mine sites across WA so the development of the new trailer is an important innovation for our business,” Mr Cardaci said.
“The trailer allows us to transport some of the largest heavy mobile equipment tyres as part of a triple road train configuration which significantly improves our efficiency and boosts our productivity in this area.”
Mr Cardaci said the new trailer design would also improve safety – something that Centurion was continually looking to do.
“The automation of tyre loading and unloading and the reduction in manual restraining minimises the risk of injury and makes the whole process of transferring tyres to mine sites safer,” he said.
“The tyres are locked into place remotely which means the operator is always a safe distance from the trailer during a critical part of the loading.”
The tyre trailer, which has been 12 months in design, development and manufacture, provides a more reliable, cheaper and safer solution for transporting tyres to what is currently used in the transport industry.
“The climate at the moment is very much about how and where we can add value and support our clients by finding efficiencies in the supply chain and this trailer is a great example of how we are doing that,” Mr Cardaci said.
A combination of industry specialists were involved in the project to rethink how tyres could be transported and the trailer meets all Department of Transport requirements. The design and manufacture was conducted by a small Western Australian business.