Look like Chinese copies of Australian designs.. if you like rear loaders checkout the gallery pages

http://draketrailers.com/

They don't get much publicity but they do a lot of smaller gear also









Their facebook page https://m.facebook.com/DrakeTrailers/ is a must follow

Quinella,

You need to get out of the house more ! All the national rental establishments utilize sliding/tilt deck trailers here in the good old US.

Randy

Me too Ken. And Randy, you nailed me!! I do need to get out and see what's going on in the world. I'll take your advice, as it's always good. CAW

Huh, must be a state by state thing. As I can recall, Ive only seen the 2 axle ones here where the axles slide forward and drop the deck down. Mostly from connex boxes and wrecked trucks or dead machines. Never something as cool as the one in that photo. And good luck seeing a cabover here doing anything more than pulling a Vons trailer.

Joe E,

Please note that Quinella commented on the "operating concept", not the axle configuration.

Randy is right, I have never seen that "concept". And rare ss boy would I love to have a model of that trailer. It would have height restrictions in the US but how about paving equipment? CAW

It is interesting to see the different concepts around the world.

I too was intrigued by the sliding deck as opposed to sliding axles that we so often see in the United States. The US towing industry uses this style design for truck bodies, but I've never seen it used on a trailer. The US sliding design favors utilizing the load space over the tractor axles.

Trailers are developed for their application and the laws under which they operate so they differ from region to region. The US bridge formula discourages anything over three axles in line and favors groupings of two axles and a spread but prohibits much over groupings of three axles. Murray, Cozad and Rackley design some interesting trailers but try to use them outside of the west coast of the US and you are out of luck. The older strong Rogers and Talbert designs are now illegal in most areas. Both these manufacturers built trailers with eight tire axle lines years ago. The 60 ton Talbert designs at Conexpo were a two plus two 60 ton capacity and most 80 to 100 ton US designs are now three plus three. Most US equipment hauling trailers are now limited to 100 tons on road maximum as the bridge formula has eliminated the other shorte but heavier designs of the past. Only some of Trail King's super load trailers of a three plus three plus three design remain. The height of the mechanics to equalize the load makes these designs impractical for construction equipment such as scrapers, excavators or crawler cranes if the heel is not pulled. Even some of the newer designs for the Us from Goldhoffer are showing the impact of the two or three axle groupings though they reflect the line loading of the older Rogers and Talberts without the side scruffing due to the addition of steering within each four tire grouping laterally.

With the modern addition of hydraulic ramps and no bridge formula, I can appreciate the concentrated capacities and maneuverability of the Drake or European designs. This is particularly true when you can adjust the width to match your equipment load such as with the Drakes.

Just happened to have this pic pop up on my news feed the other day..



The deck height of these are still quite low, while we do have some low bridges around the place which do catch out some people, 4.3m is the maximum standard height we can go without an oversize permit and length is 19m which is the reason for the compact design of some of the combinations you see

Once you need to go over 4.3m tall (or 19m in length) there is oversize permits and powerline permits you need to comply with which sets out routes and advises if powerline escorts/line lifting is required, part of these permits are further accreditations for drivers and companies

CAW,

He already did! Maybe you can see why from this photo even though it's only a three-axle version?



The concept is not the same as the "traveling axles" as Don Landoll called them back in the late '60s and what RMS referred to. The Drake uses the roll-off idea most people see regularly on a straight truck upsized into a semi-trailer.

Putting it as simply possible for you and RMS, one design uses moving axles and the other doesn't. Therefore they are not the same!