Specialised heavy transport is as dependent as any other service industry on economic factors. Major infrastructure projects need large, sometimes very large, loads to be moved; industrial plant construction, refineries and their ilk, required the same. Sustainable energy, especially in the form of windfarms, poses transport challenges of its very own – some of which we covered last month.
How, then, has the specialised transport sector been faring recently? Troy Geisler, vice president marketing and sales, for Talbert Manufacturing offers his insight into the North American market.
Talbert, headquartered in Rensselaer, Indiana, has been building heavy-haul and specialised trailers since 1938, while Geisler has more than 20 years’ experience in the industry and is the current Vice Chair of trade association SC&RA’s Allied Industries Group.
“The North American specialised transport industry is on track to end strongly in 2024,” he says. “Election years often indicate a downturn in inquiries and sales across all industries. This year, however, we’ve seen the demand for heavy-haul trailers mirror previous years rather than the expected downturn. We have been blessed with consistent opportunities in the construction, infrastructure and heavy-haul industries through the end of the year and into 2025.
“Since the passing of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, [which was signed into law by President Biden in November 2021] there has been a boom in construction and infrastructure projects. While large and midsized trailer fleets have pulled back recently, primarily due to increased equipment costs and interest rates remaining high on new purchases, it is common to see cranes on jobsites across the United States and globally, something we take as a positive sign for our customers in the specialised transport industry.”
DEALER EXPANSION
And his company is planning to expand: “Talbert is always looking to better serve our customers. One way we plan to do that in 2025 is by strategically adding partners to our dealer network. This includes identifying dealers that fill geographic gaps and are ready to stock trailers while serving as an extension of the Talbert team – offering excellent service and support to our customers.
“We know that the dealer relationship is a two-way street, and whenever possible, we stand by our dealers in the field by attending their events, making visits and offering assistance when needed. This year, Talbert joined Hale Trailer at its open house in Little Rock, Arkansas, and attended Pinnacle Trailer’s 25th anniversary celebrations which were held at all of its locations.
“Considering we are in an election year and facing unprecedented economic conditions, we’re focused on working closely with our dealers and partners to provide the men and women that continue to build our great nation high-quality and effective hauling solutions.”
EUROPE FOCUS
North American heavy haulage, then, is booming. Is the European industry in a similar happy state?
It would seem so; the evidence is in major contracts secured, new products, customer showcase events, and plant expansions.
In May this year Dutch special transport company Broshuis, for example, signed a purchase contract for 40,000m2 of land near Kampen, in Overijssel in The Netherlands.
Pieter-Bas Broshuis, current CEO, signed the deed of sale on the 30th anniversary of his taking over the company from his father. The expansion is necessary, he says, because of the “enormous expansion of our company”.
“Due to the current grid congestion, we cannot yet build on this site in the short term,” he elaborates. “Therefore, for the time being, we will use the site for storage of finished trailers. The existing storage sites on our nearby location on the Industrieweg can then be used to expand the manufacturing halls at our main site.
“Our sales are growing, especially with the increasing number of multi-axle trailers. In the future, with this expansion and our 100,000 m2 existing Industrieweg site we can serve our customers even better.”
The company certainly seems to have orders to fulfil. At the end of 2023 it signed a large order for 557 low-loaders for the US Department of Defence; this was for $341 million worth of 2+4 PL2 pendulum axle dolly low loader combinations for transporting military equipment to be delivered between 2026 and 2031. The total value of the contract is $341 million.
Around the same time it received an order from the Dutch Ministry of Defence to completely refurbish 100 trucktrailer combinations that Broshuis originally supplied in 2005/2006.
The trailers are used to transport the army’s Leopard main battle tanks as well as armoured tracked and wheeled vehicles and equipment such as excavators, cranes and bridge parts. They have been used for missions and exercises in Europe, Africa and the Middle East for nearly 20 years.
The trailers for refurbishment are being brought to Broshuis where they are stripped and dismantled. The chassis is blasted and metallised and given a twocomponent epoxy primer and a 2K topcoat. The axles and brakes are refurbished and upgraded to the latest EBS braking system and the trailers rebuilt with all new parts. “With this refurbishment Broshuis guarantees an additional 20 years of service life for these trailers,” says Pieter-Bas Broshuis.
Incidentally, Pieter-Bas Broshuis will step down as CEO on 1 January 2025 and hand his position as CEO over to Harold Vorsteveld (the current CCO).
Another company expanding its premises is Faymonville, which also owns the Cometto and Max Trailer brands. It has production plants in Belgium, where it originated, in Poland, in Italy, and in Luxembourg, where it is now headquartered.
Last year, coincidentally marking the 20th anniversary of its presence in that country, it completed a new administration block; this year it is building an extension for deliveries, a steel warehouse, plus it has brand-new welding robots.
PORTFOLIO EXPANSION
As well as new premises, Faymonville is expanding its product portfolio. Under its Cometto banner, the latest addition to the line-up is a compact self-propelled modular vehicle: the Eco500.
With a capacity of up to 500 tonnes payload the Eco500 is particularly well-suited to intralogistics applications, the company says.
The system uses Cometto‘s pendulum suspension with integrated safety valve. “It is based on the design of Cometto‘s MSPE series, which can look back on decades of experience and thousands of jobs, says Adrian Zingan, product manager at Cometto. “It also provides greater ground clearance.”
The compact design has been further facilitated by integrating the powerpack under the loading platform, and the SPMT has a basic width of 2,350mm.
“The Eco500 guarantees full functionality even at a low driving height of 670mm,” says Zingan. “The electronic multi-mode steering makes the self-propelled vehicle extremely agile, even in the tightest of spaces. And the robust and particularly strong chassis enables flexible load distribution.”
The module is available with two or four axle lines, both variants being extendable by up to two joker axles while maintaining the same wheelbase. Several Eco500s can also be combined together in a side-by-side, back-to-back or open combination.
The Eco500 is available in electric, hybrid or diesel-powered versions. For flexibility and futureproofing the software used in the powerpacks is fully compatible with all vehicle generations, says Cometto.
The SPMT also includes an integrated Telemakhos remote diagnosis system, plus MAXProtect+ surface treatment for corrosion protection.
SALES AND SERVICE
Also with looking to expand is Heilbronn, Germanyheadquartered specialised transport equipment manufacturer TII Group which, since the start of this year, appointed South American crane sales specialist Trex as its dedicated distributor and servicing agent for its TII Scheuerle brand in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Chile.
TII Scheuerle says the collaboration opens up the heavy and oversized transportation market for Trex whilst it benefits from the growing demand for specialised vehicles in Latin America. “The collaboration with TII Scheuerle offers us the opportunity to open up the market for modular transport solutions especially when it comes to dealing with oversized loads,” says Gonzalo Salazar Arenas, central business manager Trex LATAM. “The quality of TII Scheuerle’s products gives us the certainty that our product range meets market requirements and furthermore create added value in the market.”
“Trex has the special know-how in the area of hydraulic systems which is essential for carrying out service and maintenance on Tii Scheuerle’s transport solutions,” adds Maximilian Seer, the TII Group area sales manager responsible for the region.
TII Group has also reported demand for its EuroCompact lowbed semi-trailers. Among recent orders was one for two models by Dortmund, Germany-based heavy-load logistics provider August Alborn. The order was for a two- and three-axle vehicle with payloads of up to 36 and 48 tonnes respectively. TII Scheuerle says it will also deliver multiple Scheuerle K25 L axle lines to August Alborn later this year.
MULTIPLE APPLICATIONS
Memmingen, Germanyheadquartered heavy-duty transport and special cargo haulage equipment manufacturer Goldhofer has been enjoying a slew of orders for one of its most recent products: the pivot-mounted FT Series of heavy-duty modules.
The FT Series is a transport solution that, according to Goldhofer, unites semitrailers of the heavy payload class and heavy-duty module combinations for road transportation. It was first presented at Bauma 2022.
16 axles lines of the FT Series have just been bought by a new customer: Netherlands based heavy-duty and special transport solutions firm Zwatra Transport.
Zwatra specified the FT Series with 285 tyres in a width of 2,750 mm for enhanced stability and safety. Other elements ordered include goosenecks and loading decks with various components to increase Zwatra’s options for transporting a wide range of loads safely and efficiently.
Modifications can easily be made to the system at any time, Goldhofer claims, for further flexibility and it can be combined with almost all other Goldhofer modules regardless of basic width or choice of tyres. Existing trailer accessories such as load decks and goosenecks can be used with it without any issues.
This order was facilitated by Matrax, Goldhofer’s exclusive Dutch sales agent.
Since its launch the FT Series has been used extensively across Europe by multiple companies.
These include heavy-haul specialist Prangl which, in April last year, used an FT Series in a 2+4 combination with a rail vehicle deck, to move a 47 m long track geometry inspection car of the Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) weighing almost 50 tonnes through the centre on Linz, Austria.
And German transport specialist Hackl Spezial-Transporte has been using the FT Series in a crawler deck combination since mid-2023. The ten-axle combination can be adapted as required for the load, with the single-axle chassis providing additional flexibility for optimising the centre of gravity.
“What we particularly like is that we can always assemble the exact combination required for the payload, just like with a Lego construction kit,” says Florian Hackl, managing director of Hackl Spezial-Transporte.
The original order was configured for a transport weight of approx. 90 tonnes. Due to the adaptablity of the modules, this has subsequently been increased to a maximum payload of 110 tonnes.
In November 2023 Hackl used its FT Series to transport a Sennebogen 870e Hybrid material handler from Straubing in Bavaria to Bremerhaven via public roads. With a total weight of more than 100 t, a length of almost 16 m, a width of 3.8 m and a height of 4 m, Hackl used a ten-axle combination (4+6) with a five-axle excavator boom recess module at the rear.
A video explaining why Hackl bought the FT Series and of it transporting the Sennebogen material handler can be seen here
So, with new premises and orders to fill them, special transport equipment manufacturers are on a good course as the sector experiences robust growth fuelled by a range of factors including significant infrastructure investments, military spend, increased demand, and continued innovation within the industry.
ESTA SEEKS DATA ON ADBLUE PROBLEMS
Growing concerns are being reported about crane breakdowns connected with the use of AdBlue. ESTA, the European association for abnormal load movers and mobile crane operators, is seeking information from its members in order to address the matter.
AdBlue is an engine additive that is designed to reduce noxious emissions by converting nitrogen oxide in the exhaust gas of diesel engines into nitrogen and water. It seems, however, to be far from problem-free. Crane rental companies around Europe are reporting growing issues with the system, with some saying that almost one third of all on-road breakdowns seem to be AdBlue related. Contamination of the system leading to engine stoppage, and crystallization of the additive under cold conditions, seem to be just two of the issues involved.
A key concern, says ESTA, is that if the AdBlue system malfunctions – perhaps because the engine is too cold – then the crane’s engine can lose power or even shut down, with potentially dangerous consequences. Reports suggest that similar problems can face SPMT operators, a particular concern during load outs.
“As a first step, we decided to gather information,” says ESTA. “We will then consult with the members of the European Regulations Workgroup and decide on the next steps.”
In order to allow members to send in information about problems with the use of AdBlue in mobile cranes and SPMTs, ESTA have produced an enquiry form that crane operators and member companies are urgently requested to respond to. It is available online at
“The enquiry will only take a few minutes to complete”, says ESTA, “and your responses will help us in making our case with the engine manufacturers.
MOVING PLANES: SARENS EQUIPMENT TRANSPORTS AIRBUS A321 IN UZBEKISTAN
Sarens rented out a Shacman truck and a Faymonville four-axle trailer to a client in Uzbekistan to move an A321 Airbus aircraft.
The equipment was used over a period of four days. Sarens determined the best transportation and the loading was then carried out by the client.
Calculations for axle loads were also conducted.
The plane’s fuselage weighed 15.7 tonnes. The final height of the transport vehicle was 5.85 metres and the diameter 4.6 metres, while the total length of the convoy measured 42 metres.
MOVING TRAMS: MAMMOET PUBLIC TRANSPORT WORK IN AUSTRALIA
Mammoet Australia was commissioned by Deugro Projects, an international project and specialised freight forwarder, with the delivery and unloading of five new trams for a light rail network in Brisbane.
To load and unload the 43.5m long trams, Mammoet devised a methodology utilising in-house engineered ramps and heavy-duty winching equipment. The ramps were designed and fabricated using procured rail sections to enable the trams to be pulled onto conventional hydraulic platform trailers.
Subsequently, a winch truck carefully manoeuvred the trams onto and off the trailers using the rail ramps, ensuring a secure and precisely controlled process.
