Forty more walking-floor trailers for Tarmac
Company now has the largest fleet of walking-floor trailers in the UK highways industry
TARMAC have taken delivery of 40 brand new walking-floor trailers as part of their commitment to continuously improving the safety of their HGV fleet.
The new vehicles, which will operate nationwide, have bolstered Tarmac’s total number of walking-floor vehicles to almost 100, making it the largest fleet of its type in the UK’s highways industry.
Walking-floor trailers differ from traditional articulated tipper trucks by using an in-built moving floor to ‘walk’ the product out of the trailer to discharge their payloads.
The trailers reduce risk with their increased stability and ability to operate without tipping, providing a number of health and safety benefits for their operators and those working on site.
They are also able to discharge materials in locations that would otherwise pose a risk, including underneath overhead power lines or in tunnels.
Sean McGrae, Tarmac’s senior manager of national transport, said: ‘Operating the UK’s largest fleet of these new, safer walking-floor vehicles allows us to build on our capability to supply construction projects throughout the UK.
‘Safety is our first priority and we are consistently working to improve standards, so the advantages of these vehicles are clear.
‘Being able to offload material safely under overhead obstructions and in restricted environments reduces risk for our drivers and site teams, and allows work to be completed more flexibly and efficiently.
‘Other major benefits are that walking-floor trailers can operate in tight areas and allow continuous laying, which increases site productivity.’
In addition to their enhanced practicality and safety credentials, the walking-floor vehicles’ increased carrying capacity, compared with rigid trucks, means they also offer improved environmental performance.
The ability to deliver a higher payload per trailer means fewer vehicle movements on a project, thereby reducing transport CO2 emissions and improving Tarmac’s carbon footprint.
