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Transfer trailers add capacity and versatility

Source: Heavy Equipment Guide | By Lee Toop, Staff Writer, Heavy Equipment Guide |

City construction work regularly contends with traffic, close quarters and tight spaces. Hauling material to job sites can prove to be a challenge, especially when it requires many truckloads to get the job done.

While truck and trailer combinations are one way to get more material moved more quickly, pup trailers aren't an ideal solution - they allow a single truck to deliver twice as much product, but are also too big to maneuver in tight spaces. That's where transfer trailers come in.

A transfer trailer is essentially a second box that rides on a trailer behind the truck, just as a pup trailer would. The difference is that the transfer trailer can be dropped at a point near the job site, adding maneuverability for the truck, while still carrying the same amount of material.

Steve Reeves, sales manager with K-Line Trailers, explained that these trailers have become popular with a variety of operations, most notably in paving and aggregates delivery. The ability to deliver that additional weight with one truck is ideal for those sectors.

"They are very unique - you can take 38 to 40 tons and pave a highway, and leave your trailer on the side of the road," Reeves described. "You can haul as much legal weight as you're allowed, put it in a tight space and not worry about it."

The concept is pretty simple: a truck is fitted with a dump box that pairs with the box riding on the trailer and is equipped with a high-lift tailgate. The box on the truck and the one on the trailer are both filled to local weight limits and can then be hauled near to the site where material is to be delivered. Then the driver can unhook the hydraulic and electric connections to the trailer and leave it behind while they drive to the site nearby and dump the first load. Once completed, the driver can then return to the trailer, transfer the entire box from the trailer into the truck box, and return to the site to dump a second load. Then the driver returns, places the transfer box back onto the trailer, hooks up and heads off for another load.

An operator who is good at swapping boxes can do so in a few minutes, Reeves said. There is some precision needed to get it right, but the trailers are designed to make it easy.

"When you come back to the trailer, your truck box is obviously empty. Then you back the truck up to a set of horns that stick out the front of the trailer, which go into a set of pockets on the back of the truck box tailgate," Reeves said. "Once you're mated to the trailer, you hook up hydraulics to the back of the truck box, which then allows you to have hydraulics to the transfer trailer. The trailer is on a hydraulic motor and chain, which moves the trailer box into the truck box."

The transfer box is pushed onto the truck using a hydraulically driven chain on the trailer, with wheels that ride on tracks within the truck box. Once in position, it's locked in place, the trailer can be left behind and the transfer box carried to the job site. When dumped, it returns to the trailer and the process is done again, this time in reverse.

This type of system is an excellent option for certain sectors of material hauling, paving especially, Reeves noted. In a fast-paced situation where asphalt is needed quickly and efficiently, the ability to haul up to 40 tons and maintain the truck's maneuverability is a big benefit.

"When you're paving a road, you're not dumping in one spot, you're backing in to a paver, putting your box on a 25- or 30-degree angle, and you're being pushed down the highway running material into the paver - and then you do the same thing with your trailer box in there," Reeves described.

These units are less useful for short hauls from point to point, and the overall height can be a challenge for construction or demolition use - the overall height of the box makes loading the trailer box for hauling material out of a job site more difficult, Reeves noted.

Transfer trailers do have plenty of moving parts, so it's important to keep maintenance in mind when purchasing one. "If you don't look after it, it's not going to last. Wheel torques, wheel seals, hydraulic chain, greasing - general monthly or weekly maintenance and greasing is a must," Reeves said.

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All Decked Out

Source: Supply Post | By Linda Horn |

Photo Caption: Marsolais’ specialty trailer is a combination of a custom single axle BC/AB jeep, a 55T double drop hydraulic gooseneck with a 10’ deck section, a SA articulating pin-style booster, and a one-of-a-kind deck/rail extension.

Stephane Marsolais began as an owner operator in St-Esprit, Quebec — a little farming town about a half hour from Montreal. He began driving for Mullen Trucking around 2001, finally making the move to Alberta in 2008.

“The West was booming at the time,” Marsolais explained.

A Better Way

In 2012, Marsolais came to the realization that he needed a better way to move equipment and rigs across Canada. At the time, he was hauling for Alberta-based Mullen. Marsolais is a highly knowledgeable owner operator, who understands how to make the most out of every aspect of his trailer

“Doing permits in the office at Mullen gave me the knowledge to spec the perfect trailer for the work I had to do,” Marsolais explained. “With the help of Tony Nathan, P. Eng (K-Line’s Engineering Manager), we built a trailer capable of moving many types of equipment and rigs,” he said.

A Better Combination

Marsolais’ specialty trailer is a combination of a custom single axle BC/AB jeep, a 55T double drop hydraulic gooseneck with a 10’ deck section, and a SA articulating pin-style booster. He later purchased a 23’ pin-on rail/cantilevered deck extension for the lowbed, and a boom stand for the booster.

Marsolais went to K-Line seeking a versatile product that would allow him access to the most number of hauling markets. With the trailer he specified, he was well positioned to take advantage of regulatory idiosyncrasies through multiple hauling jurisdictions. K-Line worked with him to identify those markets, and the dimensions and weights that could fit the most universally. Marsolais thought through literally every aspect of his trailer design with the K-Line design team — he had a look in mind, as well as a way of operation.

K-Line’s modular design easily allows customization. After implementing the 23’ rail deck and extension, Marsolais said, “I haven’t stopped hauling since I got it!” He uses all of his pieces on a regular basis.

“I’m very happy about my trailer and I believe that I have the perfect trailer to work from Western Canada running all over North America,” Marsolais explained. “The K-Line pin joint system can fit all Western Canada 55 ton trailer makes,” he continued. “It helps me to be very versatile as many carriers use these trailer makes,” he said.

On one particular load at Mullen on a rig move to Sarnia, Ontario, Marsolais used the rail plus 2 section, as well as two Mullen sections, and was able to stay under 4.2 meters.

“It was road banned in Ontario,” Marsolais said. “We were not able to use the county road to get around the low bridge of the 402, 401 and 400,” he continued. The K-Line combination has allowed his rig to stay under pilot car rules in BC and Eastern US. “This trailer is pretty light,” he said.

A Better Operator

Marsolais takes care of his equipment on a daily basis, and in the long term proving his pride of ownership. He recently took his combination back to K-Line for a factory refurbish, including paint refresh and a few extra additions to help make day to day rigging even easier.

Marsolais operates with only one truck, and one pilot truck. The pilot is driven by his girlfriend, who also has her Class One. In 2015, Marsolais bought a Kenworth T800 — “the perfect match for my trailer,” he said.

Last year, Marsolais switched carriers to Chilliwack, BC-based Triton Transport. “I’m very happy,” Marsolais said of Triton. “We are busy and have once again started making money,” he said.

About K-Line

Langley, BC based K-Line Trailers Ltd. is an innovative company with many years of custom transport equipment design and manufacturing experience. K-Line’s products include dump bodies, lowbeds and multi-axle heavy haul trailers, side and end dump trailers, specialty transport trailers, dual powered road trains, wind blade trailers, and mining equipment for use throughout the world.

K-Line’s sales, design, and production staff are transportation sector and fabrication specialists have helped make K-Line an industry leader in design, manufacturing and service excellence. For more information about K-Line, visit www.klinetrailers.com.

A Safety Culture Transformation: K-Line focuses on teamwork and incremental change

Source: Manufacturing Safety Alliance of BC |

When K-Line Trailers Ltd. receives a Topaz award for completing the OSSE Certification at the Safety Pinnacle Awards Gala in April 2018, it will also mark five years of the team working with the Manufacturing Safety Alliance of BC.

K-Line has been designing and manufacturing custom transport equipment in its Langley facility for 24 years. The company has been successful and its workforce has grown to 170 workers. However, as the business expanded, both injuries and WorkSafeBC orders started to increase. Time-loss days per year as a result were usually in the hundreds. In 2013, the company took its first steps to creating a safer workplace by commissioning a safety GAP analysis.

FIVE YEARS OF REGULAR IMPROVEMENTS
Fast forward five years and K-Line passed their first Occupational Safety Standard of Excellence (OSSE) audit. Richard Cramond, K-Line’s OHS Coordinator says, “The audit was a lot of work for a lot of people, and just about everybody at all levels of the organization worked on this project. By working together, we’ve not only achieved OSSE, we’ve achieved measurable improvements
in safety. Since we started to focus on safety as part of the production process, accidents and injuries have gone way down. In 2017, our time-loss injuries were less than 10% of what they were five years ago. ”

The GAP analysis also connected the Alliance to K-Line. Richard says, “The Alliance advisors met with us monthly to discuss our OSSE progress, answer questions and provide practical advice. Their advisors were terrific. They understood our business and worked with us to create implementable solutions.”

SAFETY BECOMES A CORE VALUE
K-Line consciously chose an incremental approach to improving safety to ensure worker buy-in for the changes. “We focused on gradually improving our safety systems in all departments across the whole company. The joint internal health and safety committee was tremendously valuable during this process. The committee includes representation from management, supervisors and workers — everyone has input. Committee recommendations are almost always implemented by management,” says Richard.

The focus on safety led to shop floor improvements that resulted in faster, safer material movement from one part of the floor to another. With the Safety Committee, K-Line also reconsidered its PPE policy which now gives workers the freedom to choose which PPE options work best for them. Safety isn’t simply about including updates in all weekly department meetings, it is now a core value for the company.

“The recognition of getting the Alliance’s Topaz Award is nice,” said Richard. “The award belongs to all the K-Line workers who have helped create the successful safety program we have.”

K-Line Trailers Begins Production of Next Set of Dual Powered Road Trains Following Product Launch in 2015

Langley, BC | By K-Line Trailers |

K-Line’s Dual Powered Road Trains —K-Line Trailers today announced production has begun on their third and fourth Dual Powered Road Trains (DPRT) for an international mining corporation’s Canadian operation. The mine’s current fleet of Dual Powered Road Trains are hauling some of the highest long-distance payloads of material in the North American mining industry.

“Our goal was to bring a truly game-changing product to the North American mining industry. With our customer’s confidence in expanding to a K-Line DPRT Fleet earlier this year and their recent order for more DPRT’s in 2017 (with a projection for more through to 2023), it confirms we have been successful with that.” said Les Knight, CEO at K-Line Trailers.

In 2014, K-Line Trailers upgraded its previous powered trailer design for triple trailer weights and manufactured what is believed to be the only Dual-Powered Road Train operating in North America. K-Line’s DPRT transports an amazing 216 metric tonnes (476,000 lbs.) on grades up to 10% and handles more material at higher speeds than conventional haul trucks.

The 190’ Dual Powered Road Train partners a formidable tier 3 540HP CAT engine and planetary drive axles with the proven reliability of Western Star’s powerhouse 600 HP Detroit DD16, 6900XD Off-Road Tractor. The CAT engine and Western Star tractor work as one unit to make this a remarkably seamless experience for the drivers on the mine’s long haul road. According to John Tomlinson, Western Star’s North American XD & Vocational Sales Manager, “Driver training and safety orientation are much simpler than one might initially think for a unit of this size. If a person has driven an A or B-Train configuration before, then they have the advantage of driving in a familiar environment behind the wheel of a Western Star Tractor. It’s an easy step from there to operating the road train”.
Following the implementation of the first DPRT at the mine in 2015, K-Line’s design and fabrication team continued to work closely with the mining company to fully integrate the DPRT to the mine’s operations, safety, and maintenance programs.

According to K-Line’s Sales Engineer for the project, Tony Nathan P. Eng., “The customer feedback has been very positive. The second DPRT was commissioned within 10 days of arrival at site and the customer has already noted significant operational gains, cycle time and productivity.”

K-Line Trailers commitment as a leader of innovative transport design and manufacturing is built on their ability to respond to challenges and work with customers to find new ways to deliver the right product for their environment. Photos and footage of K-Line’s Dual Powered Road Trains are available for download at www.klinetrailers.com.

Founded in 1994, K-Line Trailers is a top trailer designer and manufacturer for Mining, Heavy Haul, Aggregate, Wind Energy, and multiple other transport sectors.

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For more information, press only:
David Knight, President
Tony Nathan, P. Eng. Sales Engineer
604-856-7899
info@klinetrailers.com

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