Heavy Duty Trucking, April 2018

HDT APRIL 2018 90 WWW TRUCKINGINFO COM ts likely that the first ever wagon invented by humans was a flatbed design Well never know for sure of course but it stands to reason A flatbed trailer is the very model of simplicity flexibility and efficiency And modern flatbeds today are stunning examples of modern design No frills functional and tough But the true wonder in flatbeds has to be the delta between how incredibly light modern designs are and the payloads they haul Youll find heavy duty flatbed trailers hauling everything from construction and mining machines that take up every inch of available deck space on the unit and then some down to steel coils that concentrate an enormous amount of weight into a very small area of the trailer The challenge to design trailers with absolute minimal tare weight with the ability to haul such a wide array of loads under grueling conditions is daunting But doing so is a must for weight focused flatbed haulers nationwide A look at the flatbed market And the demand for flatbeds is strong Dave de Poincy president of East Manufacturing says his company is looking for a flatbed market of around 28000 units this year Currently he says East has a record backlog and weve experienced five record months of sales orders in a row All the projections were hearing from our fleet customers are positive and theyre a good spring with regard to flatbed freight and high demand So we are looking for these trends to generate both higher profits for fleets and nice orders for flatbed trailer suppliers However on the day Craig Bennett senior vice president sales and marketing for Utility Trailers spoke to HDT for this story President Trump had just announced new import tariffs on steel and aluminum coming into the United States which he said could cool off the hot flatbed market This is just happening Bennett said so well have to see how everything plays out But this move could certainly drive the costs of the ingots of steel and aluminum coming into the country up And it could make those resources more scarce Obviously both of those responses to the tariffs could cause price adjustments How low can flatbeds go While the flatbed market looks strong early in 2018 recent moves by the Trump administration could drive prices up and affect supply later in the year As fleets demand ever lighter flatbeds trailer suppliers examine every aspect of designs to trim unwanted weight and availability issues with flatbed trailers the remainder of the year Its a situation that we manufacturers will have to monitor closely The race to save weight International economic intrigue aside dont look for flatbed fleets to stop running any time soon Watkins Trucking is a specialized flatbed fleet running all 48 states out of Birmingham Alabama Founder and President Wayne Watkins says the diverse nature of his payloads means trailer tare weight is a major By Jack Roberts Senior Editor jroberts@ truckinginfo com TRAILERS BODIES I PHOTO EAST MANUFACTURING