Vanguard Advances Fleet

South Africa's leading logistics provider and heavy lift specialist, Vanguard, has increased its capabilities with the addition of an imported Goldhofer modular trailer system to its fleet.

According to Vanguard Managing Director, Bryan Hodgkinson, the company is expecting a trio of four axle, three metre wide trailers and two six axle three metre wide trailers in July.

Hodgkinson says that the decision to purchase the trailer system underscores the company's innovative spirit.

'We are continually seeking new methods of approaching projects. At the moment there is nothing in the country that can match the capabilities offered by the Goldhofer trailer. Vanguard offers turnkey solutions from planning, decommissioning of equipment, transporting and commissioning. In the past we've subcontracted our trailer needs, but now we can offer the customer a full spectrum of transportation services to site and on site'

Vanguard General Manager, Andrew Nordengen, notes that the modular trailers, imported from Germany, have a total of 24 axle lines capable of handling 25 tons per axle line.

'This equates to a load capacity of 600 tons. The axle spacing is 1.5 metres which ensures even and economical load distribution. The high strength trailers can be configured into numerous combinations from the 9m long, 3m wide, 24m long, 4.9m wide options to the 18m long 6.3m wide option. These combinations are relatively simple to put together, taking approximately 4 to 5 hours.'

The trailer offers both Vanguard and its customers numerous benefits.

'There is a huge cost benefit to using the Goldhofer. There is a low cost for site establishment because the trailer can be broken up and loaded onto itself thus causing minimum disruption to traffic as it is not classified as an abnormal load. This modularity ensures that the trailer can be on site within 24 hours nationally, whereas normal trailers take up to 6 days to get to site.

'Although the trailer's legal road limit is 256t, the full load capacity of 600t can be used on site. The trailer is easy to manoeuvre in constricted spaces on site, with every axle line being self steering, hydraulically operated and able to rotate 360 degrees on its own axis. We have purchased a gooseneck that optimises lighter loads by transferring 20t onto the horse. We also have the option of operating the trailer without a horse with the addition of a self propelled modular trailer (SPMT). The SPMT is a self driven unit that can be operated manually or remotely, moves at 7km per hour and has a payload capacity of 600 tons.'

Nordengen notes that the 1.5 axle spacing, the most common worldwide, enables Vanguard to easily purchase or hire additional axle lines as and when needed thus providing the company with a myriad of options.

These revolutionary trailers also require appropriate horses. Vanguard has purchased two SLT Mercedes Titan horses with the engine capacity of 650hp each and gross combined mass of 250t each. These horses have been imported from Daimler Chrysler in Germany and will arrive with the trailers.

Nordengen concludes that the Goldhofer is ideal for use in transporting tanks or columns for the petrochemical industry, power transformers, large presses or press frames, ball mills for mining, and for moving ships in the harbours.