Thompsons to enter tipping trailer business with European partner

Rigid tipper bodybuilder Thompsons Group is going into the tipping trailer business with an as-yet-unnamed European partner not represented in the UK.

Joint MD Scott Burton said: “We’ve been talking to one or two people and it is 100% certain that we’ll be selling trailers in the UK by 2025.”

The initiative forms part of a plan to expand its product range. “We started representing the Italian concrete mixer manufacturer CIFA in the UK in January and we’ve sold nine units,” he said.

Next year will also see the company open a new factory in Fife. “It’ll be our single biggest plant and will be capable of producing 10 bodies a week,” Burton said.

Demand for tippers is down, he added, following a downturn in the construction industry, but Thompsons’ order book is strong. The company has more than enough work to keep it busy until September. One of its biggest challenges is the increasing weight of 32-tonne chassis; consequently, almost all of the muckaway bodies it builds are single-skinned using Hardox high-strength steel.

Depending on the chassis specifications, 8-wheelers bodied in this way can achieve a 19.5-tonne payload. However, maintaining that figure without compromising
the body’s strength could be a struggle in the future, he said.