SUFFOLK’S LOWLOADER HEAVY HAULAGE SPECIALIST AUTOPLANT HAS NOT STOOD STILL SINCE WE LAST INTERVIEWED THE COMPANY AT THE TURN OF THE DECADE. AND NOT EVEN THE CORONAVIRUS COULD STOP THE BUSINESS IN ITS TRACKS. HEAVYTORQUE TAKES A TRIP TO RENDLESHAM TO FIND OUT WHAT’S NEW.
Before her untimely death, the only qualified female pilot of the Spitfire, Carolyn Grace, would wheel out her warplane at Bentwaters Park where Autoplant is based and take it up for a spin. Autoplant’s MD Mike Green says each time she did this, his employees would stop what they were doing, transfixed by the guttural roar of the powerful Rolls‐ Royce engine searing a path through the skies. And then they’d all go outside and watch as the British classic looped and spun above their heads – which Green was more than happy for them to do. After all, it was a Spitfire; an endlessly thrilling sight for spectators old and new. There are no warplanes in the skies above the former airfield in Rendlesham, Suffolk when HeavyTorque pays a visit to find out how the plant and heavy haulage firm is getting on, five years after we last popped in. The only skilled aviator is our photographer, who’s commandeering a radio‐controlled drone to take aerial shots of Autoplant’s new 170‐tonne Volvo FH16 750.
HEAVYTORQUE TRACES THE FOUR‐ WEEK‐LONG MOVE THAT SAW 50‐YEAR‐ OLD GERMAN SUBMARINE U17 MOVED TO ITS NEW HOME AT THE SINSHEIM TECHNOLOGY MUSEUM.
The movement this summer of submarine U17 from the Speyer Technology Museum in Germany to its sister museum in Sinsheim might just have been the highlight of the year for fans of heavy haulage.
Heavy haulage specialist Spedition Kübler transported the spectacular load overland on 30 Scheuerle InterCombi axle lines, negotiating numerous obstacles on the way and carrying out what is believed to be the world’s first rotation of a submarine on a modular transporter, watched in person and online by tens of thousands as the 350‐tonne submarine was transported to its new home over a period of four weeks. It was certainly a delicate undertaking, the 90 metre‐long and 10 metre‐high load having to pass under a number of low bridges and high‐voltage power lines on the way, as well as along the narrow roads and streets of the hilly Kraichgau region. In order to pass safely under some of the obstacles, the sub had to be rotated by 70 degrees or more around its longitudinal axis using special equipment to position it to one side, reducing the overall height to achieve the required clearance.
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BATTERS HEAVY HAULAGE FOUNDER DAVID BATTERS TELLS HEAVYTORQUE HOW HE TOOK THE PLUNGE AND STARTED OUT IN BUSINESS, HOW HE ENDED UP WITH HIS CURRENT THREE V8 SCANIA TRACTORS, AND WHY HE’S HAPPY TO STICK WITH A TRIAXLE STEPFRAME RATHER THAN ANYTHING HEAVIER.
While many specialist haulage operators have bigger, more complex and higher capacity trailers in their fleets, almost everyone has at least one 3‐axle stepframe trailer in their line‐up. And quite a few owner‐drivers and small hauliers stick with them, rather than moving up the weight range, as the extra cost and complication of running heavier outfits are not always reflected in the rates customers will pay.
Many started out with a 6×2 tractor unit and triaxle stepframe, as the ability to work within construction and use regulations at up to 44 tonnes and then at heavier weights under STGO regulations provides a high degree of flexibility. Although the 44‐tonne limit was introduced way back in 2001, it had a profound long‐term impact on the light to medium‐weight lowloader market. Trailer manufacturers quickly realised many operators would see that a relatively light but durable 3‐axle stepframe trailer pulled by a suitable 3‐axle tractor unit would be able to handle loads in the 14‐24 tonnes range within the revised regulations.
NOOTEBOOM TRADING FOUNDER AND MD IGMAR NOOTEBOOM TELLS HEAVYTORQUE HOW HE GOT STARTED IN THE BUSINESS OF BUYING, SELLING, HIRING OUT AND REFURBISHING TRAILERS, AND WHAT MADE THE FIRM BRANCH OUT INTO HEAVY‐DUTY TRAILER MANUFACTURING WITH ITS RINO BRAND.
Wijchen, Netherlands‐based specialist trailer maker Nooteboom Trailers has customers throughout the world. Its name comes from its founding family, another part of which runs a second but completely separate, and financially independent operation called Nooteboom Trading, based at Zeewolde, which also specialises in trailers. Igmar Nooteboom, the founder and MD of Nooteboom Trading, has been surrounded by specialist heavy transport trailers all his life, growing up in the industry.
Many in the sector will also know his father, Dick Nooteboom, who was head of sales at Nooteboom Trailers for decades. Dick is one of the second generation that transformed the company from a relatively small Dutch manufacturer mainly serving its domestic market to a leading producer of specialist trailers with customers across the globe. Although Igmar has had close contact with Nooteboom Trailers, spending a lot of time at the factory and visiting customers with his father, he has never worked for the company himself.
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HC WILSON IS DOUBLING THE NUMBER OF VOLVOS IT HAS ON ITS FLEET WITH THE ADDITION OF TWO FH16 750 8x4 TRACTOR UNITS WHICH ARE BEING PUT TO USE MOVING HEAVY‐DUTY MACHINERY TO AND FROM MAINLAND EUROPE. HEAVYTORQUE FINDS OUT MORE.
In the early 1960s, a modest but ambitious venture was launched from a farm in Haughley, Suffolk, by Hugh Wilson and his wife Marion. Initially a small‐scale operation focused on agricultural contracting, HC Wilson Transport has shifted its emphasis more than a few times across the last 60 years. It soon became active in hay and straw dealing, delivering to customers mainly in Wales. That led to the acquisition of the firm’s first truck, a second‐hand Bedford O type, for a mere £60. This vehicle was used not only to transport hay and straw but also carried quarry stone on return trips, whetting an appetite for hauling heavier loads.
The company’s first brand new truck followed soon after – another Bedford, this time a KM model, in 1967 – before a difficult season for hay and straw forced HC Wilson into a new discipline: transporting agricultural machinery.
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RETIRED BERTLING LOGISTICS TECHNICAL DIRECTOR MIKE HETHERINGTON REMEMBERS A PARTICULARLY CHALLENGING AND CONVOLUTED JOB HE TOOK PART IN AT THE PROJECT FORWARDER BACK IN 2004 INVOLVING A 200‐TONNE‐PLUS CONDENSATE RECEIVER.
At the time of this project, Bertling had been awarded a massive contract to transport equipment and materials to the Caspian Sea for a big energy client. The project had put purchase contracts in place with suppliers all over the world on an FCA or ex-works basis so the responsibility to safely transport the cargo from point of origin lay with the client – and thus with its appointed project forwarder.
Many of items being moved were similar or identical to those of previous projects and the pre-carriage delivery to a port of export was a well-trodden path. There were, however, some items that were unique in terms of their size and weight, in particular a large condensate receiver. The first task was to identify possible export ports and potential routes to them. Being 23.2 metres long, 4.04 metres wide and 4.74 metres high and weighing 201 tonnes, transporting the condensate receiver from Parkgate in Rotherham to any port was obviously going to be an issue.
IT'S GOOD TO FIND SOMEONE AS PROUD OF WHAT THEY DO AS HARVEY KING OF HEAVY HAULAGE AND SPECIALIST INSTALLATION FIRM CHRIS WRIGHT (BAILDON). HEAVYTORQUE FINDS OUT WHAT LIES BEHIND THE GLINT IN HIS EYES.
There’s something almost starry‐eyed about Harvey King, the relatively new CEO of specialist heavy haulage and installation firm Chris Wright (Baildon). It’s refreshing, especially in these tough times, to come across someone so obviously and genuinely impressed by what the company he’s leading actually does – so much so that Harvey launches straight into a slide‐show of recent work at the start of our encounter, by the end of which we’re pretty darn impressed as well.
Chris Wright founded the West Yorkshire‐based operator in the late 1960s along typical one‐man, one‐truck lines with a single V‐registration DAF 18‐tonner on general haulage. A DAF enthusiast from that vehicle forwards, his company now runs a fleet of 32, the vast majority of which bear the Dutch manufacturer’s badge.
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