Choosing the correct trailer to carry Tarmac at 44 tonnes on UK roads is tricky. The UK uses a mixture of tarmac walking floor trailers, tarmac pushout trailers, tarmac insulated tipping trailers and then rigid tippers. There are multiple reasons why one type of trailer is preferred to another and particulary 'who' you ask in the supply chain for an opinion. In terms of trailers there is little difference between Asphalt and Tarmac. Principally Tarmac uses tar and Asphalt uses bitumen. Asphalt is used on major roads and highways, tarmac is slightly softer and used more on highway repairs and domestic driveways. This is where a scientifically understood engineering product of exact standards -Tarmac' interacts with the transport industry and who controls the power politics. The unloved part of the discussion is TEMPERATURE. Who owns and controls the TEMPERATURE problem? Logically the heating of the Tarmac using very expensive sources such as gas or electricity should lead the conversation. The 'transport phase' should ensure that very expensive heat loss from the trailer does not occur. The additional new conversation around eC02 and planet protection - Tarmac is a massively polluting alongside the related cement industry is now also in play. So the choice of trailer should be weighted massively to an insulation standard and only then move to an efficiency conversation of both payload and safety and profit. Approximately 25,000,000 tonnes of Tarmac is produced annually in the UK out of 300 sites. The product itself is a technically complicated mixture of materials that must be kept in conformity to the point of use.
Newton Trailers current first choice trailer for the transport of Tarmac is:
Recommended First Choice Trailer Fliegl Insulated Tarmac Push Out Trailer
Recommended Second Choice Trailer STAS Insulated Aggregate Tipping Trailer
Recommended Sales Options: Full Hard Insulation of Body; Hydraulic Rear Door; Automatic Sheet System; Weigher System with Live Temperature Reporting to Site
Seasonal: Yes or weather dependent.
Tascc Product: NO
Product Density: 2300 kgs/m3
Trailer Volume: 40 cuyd
Region: UK & EIRE
25 millon tonnes of Asphalt/Tarmac Transported; 300 production centers
A trend apparent in Tarmac Transport in Europe is that growing numbers of transport companies are switching from tipping trailers to highly insulated pushout trailers. Eurovia and others use the Fliegl Tarmac pushout trailer extensively already in Europe. In the UK the tradition is to use 8 wheel rigids despite this having no logic. In Europe a rigid would be a non logical purchase due to massive payload and efficiency losses - in the UK these vast losses are buried in the confused politics of the 8 meter Bridge Formula and the broken links between engineering and transport companies - I am surprised they still dont use horse cart and a wooden wheel barrow - it would make as much sense. In the 2014 era Tarmac Trailers that use HORIZONTAL discharge became available - Walking Floor Trailers. Many had dubious insulation and ridiculous running costs and largely have dropped out of favour - they sort of work but with vast capital input; huge depreciation; poor insulation; eyewatering running costs. Then Tarmac Belt loaders appeared on the scene in 2018. These cure some of the problems of the floor but then have limited scope for use on a wider range of aggregates essential for the Holy Grail of 'backload' and what the owner must do when Tarmac is not running.
Now an existing product from Europe but new to the UK is available and is taking the market by storm. The Fliegl Tarmac Pushout or Ejector Trailer. It has all of the benefits of huge insulation to please the Engineer; massively improved payload over an 8 wheeler; horizontal discharge to satisfy health and safety; simplicity of design to decimate running costs and unlimited product restriction - so versatility of product from Tarmac to Muck away - de risking the purchase decision.
Tarmac is an aggregate base with bitumen and other addititives plus TEMPERATURE. Cooking 27 tonnes of stone to 180 degrees and then pouring bitumen on it requires a simply staggering amount of costly energy. The product will drop out of conformity depending on the specification below 120 degrees. Wasting 60 degrees in the transport phase is simply no longer acceptable to industry. The Fliegl Tarmac trailer is super insulated with high quality polyisocyanurate insulation and careful attention to thermal bridging makes the Fliegl simply amazing. In Germany they even use the trailers as over flow stores when batch manufacturing Tarmac. The Fliegl has the added benefit of mixing the heat creating homogeniety at time of discharge. This is proven in numerous engineering papers in Germany and Austria to improve the road construction. In the UK using insulated tipping trailers and insulated rigid tippers creates systematic cool spots in the road at the time of lay which swiftly become rumble strips and premature road failures. If deployed correctly the Fliegl can allow the use of Warm Tarmac and also allows road laying into the colder months.
The joy of the Fliegl is that when not laying Tarmac the 5 mm Hardox steel box can be used on plannings and other aggregates up to Muck Away and Skip Wastes. This de risks the utilisation dilemna for the sub - contractor. When the black top is not running the owner can utilise the trailer on any other work - lime into fields or skip wastes. Always a back load. This is not possible in alloy body tipping trailers, walking floors or belt loaders. Versatility generating profits.
Newton have worked in partnership with VWS and can provide digital information of the Tarmac temperature in the box - or a good enough range to make sensible utilisation information. We take the temperature inside the box in 2 (or more) places and send it to a signal on the trailer - red amber green. When red the asphalt is out of conformity and should not be used. Green is go. The temperature is logged and accessible on free remote monitoring software and on the drivers handheld. A company can monitor location +/- 10 meters, what mass of payload is on the trailer, view pictures of the load inside; and get REAL TIME temperatures +/- 10 degrees to make operational decisions. This means if there are 4 trailers on site the operator would logically use the coolest trailer first. This will prevent poor performance of asphalt surface and maintain that costly element is still present in the product when it is laid. No other trailer combination can do this in the UK. Clever team here at Newton!! In time and with learning a fleet of these trailers may allow the cook temperature of a large batching plant to be turned down say 10 degrees and still achieve safe product conformity at the point of lay.
Tarmac Song: insert MP3 here.
Tarmac Trailer Option: VWS Newton Weigher with Live Temperature Reporting
Tarmac Trailer Option: Powered rear under run bar. Lifts up out of the way of the Tarmac Road Laying Paver.
Tarmac Trailer Option: Powered rear door on an insulated tipping trailer. Powered doors are simpler and get out of the way of the operation without getting a driver or banksman's hands dirty.
Tarmac Trailer Option: Quicksilver 12 mm liner on a tipping trailer. For hot product only the 12mm is strong enough. Prevents sticking of the product and tip overs. It does also provide some extra insulation for temperature purposes. Downside ££££ and KGS.
Newton Trailers are the largest supplier of Tipping Trailers, Ejectors and Moving Floors in the UK. Although for Tarmac transport we would say that the Fliegl Pushout has no comparable trailer or rigid product there are customers who prefer to use insulated tipping trailers. We would recommend either the insulated STAS aluminium aggregate trailer or the more interesting STAS U Rockstar insulated Tarmac Trailer.
If you really are weird and bored you could try listening to our asphalt trailer song:
If you really enjoy your work and love our trailers then you could indulge yourself or perhaps that special person in your life with Tarmac grater. Follow the link: CLICK HERE
Now this was a bit of debate here at Newton Headquarters what recipe to go with Lava Cake? Rocky Road? or Baked Alaska, or Tarmac Road Cake- in the end we went with: CLICK HERE
| Best Match | Options | Volume | Payload | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New | Fliegl Asphalt Ejector Trailer | Sales Information: Automatic Sheet System - But Where's The Bar? Double Push Off Sales Information: "Some like it hot" Sales Information - Hot Stuff - really? It's time to talk about 'Ejectile Function?' Ejectile Function From Behind Sales Information: Top View |
36 CuYds (27.5m3) | 27060kg |
| Used | 2008 Titan Aggregate Walking Floor® Trailer | 42 CuYds (32.1m3) | 28200kg | |
