There certainly is plenty of scrap metal transport in the UK - 15 million tonnes is recycled annually of Ferrous and Non Ferrous metal. This may be moved more than once in loose bulk form before it finds it's next form in the recycling loop. A number of different trailer formats might be considered, primarily steel bulk tipping trailers, walking floor trailers, curtainsided trailers and skeletal trailers with steel containers. The choice of which trailer to use during the road transport phase depends partially on type of scrap metal transported. Large demolition steels will require greater reinforcement of the container than say aluminium cans or bottle tops. This page is for lighter scrap steels.
Newton Trailers current first choice trailer for the transport of Scrap Metal is:
Recommended First Choice Trailer Luck Steel Body Tipping Trailer either 75 or 90 cuyd
Recommended Second Choice Trailer Knapen 120 cuyd Walking Floor
Recommended Sales Options: Air Release Rear Safety Door, 50:50 Net System, TPRS,
Seasonal Hire: No - scrap metal is a year round product
Tascc Product: No - scrap metals are not compatible with food safety
Product Density: 600 kgs/m3 to 3000 kgs/m3
Trailer Volume: 75 to 120 cuyd
Region:Nationwide - with scrap metal exported in containers and sea transport
12 million tonnes of ferrous scrap metal is transported annually
3 million tonnes of non-ferrous scrap metal is transported in the UK annually
Scrap Metal in the UK is an interesting market. It is gathered in almost every population center to a local scrap metal yard/buyer by skip, car boot or wheel barrow. Your local scrap metal company is typically at the edge of town on an old may be an historically old family company or part of a multi-national corporation. The local yard will perform minor levels of sorting or processing to form larger bulk quantities of metals sorted into a number of accepted recycling types. Thereafter these bulk streams of scrap metal are transported in the most economic method - normally in 28 tonne payloads to a further conglomerator/exporter for storage This allows the consolidator to wait for price per tonne of metal to be optimal - this may take minutes or sometimes years to achieve a profitable time to sell. The scrap metal is then shipped again in 28 tonne loads to a final recycling center or processor or exported by ship. This final leg may be done in baled format on a curtainsided trailer or loaded into sea containers for sea freight or onto trains to processor or port.
Historically scrap metal in the UK is transported by sub-contracted transport using steel body tipping trailers. Many transport contracts are for capped loads. Within reason this means the payload is less important as the haulier will achieve a contract for a 'load' from A to B. New products such as the LUCK steel body trailer have been challenging this narrative by generating 2 tonne more payload than the heavy steel trailers preferred on capped loads. Why would anyone prefer a 'heavier' trailer? To give longer trailer life for the haulier. is a good answer. Contratual variability is another - one load is heavy one is then light. If indifferent to payload traditional products such as KBF Trailers or Draycott are liked - heavy and old school. However the market is requiring efficiency and payload and if paid by payload a haulier could achieve significant extra earnings - say £8 t to £15 per tonne - say 3 times per day. This rapidly pays for the trailer.
If the material is sufficently low density - aluminum scrap metal etc then a mid to heavy weight walking floor trailer may be more optimal. It can carry an extra row of cars as the bed length is longer, it can carry baled metals out and scrap metals in to the site. However the damage that heavier scrap metals can do to an aluminium body walking floor may cause premature failure of the scrap metal walking floor trailer. Therefore these are used but only on certain contracts.
Newer products in the market are steel body, steel walking floor trailers. These reduce the hazard of aggressive heavy scrap on the body but obviously reduce the potental payload as the trailers themselves become 12 tonnes and the payload may only be 23 tonnes. On the right scrap metal mix this product makes good sense.
EMR are one of the largest scrap metal transport and use Luck Steel body tipping trailers. To visit click: https://uk.emrgroup.com/
Sims Metal - a scale scrap metal transport organisation. To visit click:
Scrap Metal Song: insert MP3 here.
Scrap Metal Trailer Option: Hardox. And then Thicker Hardox. 450 Hardness Brinnel steel is really the steel of choice for the floors and side walls of your trailer. Normally for lighter scrap metals a 5 mm thick Hardox Floor and 4 mm thick Hardox doors will give you 7 years or so of body life.
Scrap Metal Trailer Option: Impact Angles in the Floor. Dropping larger items onto a flat door will cause damage. Some of this damage can be reduced by placing 5 Impact angles the full length of the trailer. Adds a good amount of strength for a small amount of weight.
Scrap Metal Trailer Option: Extra volume: 75 cuyd is an industry norm but if the metal is lower density extra volume means less packing down. The action of packing down in the trailer causes so much damage to the trailer. It spreads the body. So choose a 90 cuyd Luck Tipping Trailer and reduce this problem. A Luck 90 cuyd is only £2000.00 more than a 75 and 600 kgs extra mass.
If you really are weird and bored you could try listening to our Scrap Metal trailer song: Click Here
If you really enjoy your work and love our trailers then you could indulge yourself or perhaps that special person in your life with a Scrap Metal T shirt. Follow the link: CLICK HERE
| Best Match | Options | Volume | Payload | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New | Lück Steel Body Tipping Trailer | 76 CuYds (58.1m3) | 27800kg | |
| Used | 2015 Rothdean Steel Body Tipping Trailer | 71 CuYds (54.3m3) | 27250kg | |
| Also See | New Lück Steel Body Tipping Trailer | 76 CuYds (58.1m3) | 27800kg | |
| Also See | New Lück Steel Body Tipping Trailer | 90 CuYds (68.8m3) | 27400kg | |
| Also See | 2017 Rothdean Steel Body Tipping Trailer | 71 CuYds (54.3m3) | 27250kg | |
| Also See | New SDC/KBF Trailers Steel Body Tipping Trailer | 80 CuYds (61.2m3) | 26050kg | |
| Also See | 2022 SDC/KBF Trailers Steel Body Tipping Trailer | 80 CuYds (61.2m3) | 26050kg | |
| Also See | New SDC/KBF Trailers Steel Body Tipping Trailer | 80 CuYds (61.2m3) | 25750kg | |
