A roll trailer is a
trailer platform that requires towing by a
powered vehicle. It is commonly used for the transport of heavy static goods and materials in the maritime shipping industry. Roll trailers are similar to shipping
flat racks containers, however, they have a set of rear wheels.
Overview
Roll trailers are a common equipment used in
ports and on board of
roll-on/roll-off ships, to facilitate the shipping of unmovable commodities and
oversize load from one port to another.
Standard lengths of roll trailers are , in line with
twenty-foot equivalent unit
The twenty-foot equivalent unit (abbreviated TEU or teu) is an inexact unit of cargo capacity, often used for container ships and container ports.Rowlett, 2004. It is based on the volume of a intermodal container, a standard-sized metal box whic ...
shipping containers, but can also be found in lengths of . The standard payloads of roll trailers are 80 or 100 tons, and the tare of the trailer varies from 7 to 10 tons.
The
trailer has a
steel
Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...
structure and a
hardwood
Hardwood is wood from dicot trees. These are usually found in broad-leaved temperate and tropical forests. In temperate and boreal latitudes they are mostly deciduous, but in tropics and subtropics mostly evergreen. Hardwood (which comes from ...
surface, plus a front pocket for towing by
tugmaster gooseneck, and side handles for applying lashing hooks.
Operations
Goods are usually placed on roll trailers by
forklift
A forklift (also called lift truck, jitney, hi-lo, fork truck, fork hoist, and forklift truck) is a powered industrial truck used to lift and move materials over short distances. The forklift was developed in the early 20th century by various c ...
or shore
crane
Crane or cranes may refer to:
Common meanings
* Crane (bird), a large, long-necked bird
* Crane (machine), industrial machinery for lifting
** Crane (rail), a crane suited for use on railroads
People and fictional characters
* Crane (surname) ...
, secured with lashing or chains, and then towed on/off board via tugmaster
tractor. When empty, they can be stacked like
shipping containers.
Every trailer has a unique identification number stamped on sides, composed of four letters and seven digits, directly related to the manufacturer company abbreviation name, the payload capacity and its length size.
All the main
shipping lines have an owned fleet of roll trailers available to be offered to shippers for moving heavy static cargo.
Additionally, all main roll trailers manufacturers tend to lease extra equipment during peak times, by charging a daily hire fee to the shipping lines.
Once in the
port, after a short "free time" period, roll trailers are subject to
demurrage charges, to cover storage and detention fees
and to ensure consignees swiftly unload their cargo, temporary positioned on the shipping line's trailers during the sea passage.
As per standard practice, and opposite to shipping containers, roll trailers are not permitted to exit the ports, with receivers requested to collect their goods inside the terminals.
Gallery
File:Mafi carrying cable reels.JPG, Cable reels transport
File:Mafi carrying crate.JPG, Crate
A crate is a large shipping container, often made of wood, typically used to transport or store large, heavy items. Steel and aluminium crates are also used. Specialized crates were designed for specific products, and were often made to be reusa ...
carriage
File:Tandem mafi.JPG, Tandem operation
See also
*
Terminal tractor
References
{{Reflist
Trailers
Articulated vehicles
Freight transport