Industry gears up for longer semi-trailers

Now that the dust has settled on the Department for Transport’s longer semi-trailer (LST) trial announcement, Commercial Motor has  been gauging reaction from the successful applicants and the  trailer manufacturers.

SDC Trailers is confident of securing a high volume of the LST orders and says order levels have been busy for the past month.

“People want to get their LSTs out on the road,” says SDC MD Mark Cuskeran. ““Fortunately we’ve been ordering the special axles in advance so we will have our first 15 LSTs rolling out in January with a number of the larger operators, with more to follow in February.

“We can still guarantee Q1 delivery for any new orders placed,” he adds.

Steven Cartwright, director of Cartwright Group, says: “We have had an extremely positive response to the announcement with many of our customers being awarded vehicle special orders (VSOs).

“We have a number of trailers now on order and current lead times are 10 to 12 weeks for completed trailers.”

Richard Owens, marketing manager at Don Bur, says: “We have had a number of orders, but many operators are only now approaching us to work out the specifications, with some finding them unsuitable for operation!

“I suspect that firming up of specifications for the majority of operators will clarify over the next few months.  Certainly before Christmas, thinking through the finer details of longer trailers is not on the priority list for many.”

Despite the DfT being oversubscribed with bids for the 1,800 permitted trailers, most operators appear satisfied with their allocations. Stobart Group says it is happy with its allocations and, “overall, they seem to have been distributed fairly within the industry”.

“We've got 10 longer trailers already built and ready to go, and they will hit the road immediately we are granted the Vehicle Special Orders,” says chief operating officer William Stobart.

“Eddie Stobart runs the largest fleet of drawbar trailers in the UK so we've got a lot of experience in moving high volume goods. We intend to maximise the use of the new trailers across our network to achieve the best possible operational and environmental benefits,” he adds.

Wincanton says that although it had hoped for more than 68 licences, it is “pleased that so many in the industry recognise the benefits”.

“The trial LST licences have been hugely oversubscribed and this just shows what an important addition to the UK fleet portfolio this will be to reduce costs, reduce carbon and cut congestion,” says Dave Rowlands, Wincanton’s technical director.

However, the firm warns that introducing the LSTs into its fleet  is dependant upon the DfT issuing a  form which it  needs to complete in order to request the individual VSO. It is expecting to operate its pilot trailer in February with more to follow inside a 12-week lead time for trailer build.

Southampton-based Meachers Global Logistics says it  has received the nod to run seven 14.65m and three 15.6m longer semi trailers having put in for 10 of each just a day before the deadline.

MD Stuart Terris says: “We’ve done it to cover ourselves as we’re fairly certain some of our customers are going to say we want longer trailers once it gets out.

“It won’t necessarily work for us as we have such a mix of business. For us it will add weight and cost to the trailers, reducing our revenue per trailer. If we’re sending out a load of light stuff and bringing back a load of heavy stuff we’ll actually be able to bring back less than we’d be able to do on a short trailer,” says Terris.

“In an ideal world you’d take 30 pallets of light stuff out and 30 light pallets back. That doesn’t work unfortunately in the real world. We’ll manage the situation.”

Andy Marchant, fleet manager at Freshlinc Distribution, which is buying its trailers from Montracon, says, it will enable the firm to carry two extra pallets on each of the 14.6m trailers on its long distance Scottish operation. “This  means that we can reduce our carbon footprint by trimming the number of vehicle journeys, reducing the overall miles covered and fuel used.”