Antares Equipment’s new 48 foot flatbed trailer comes with a fixed wide-spread air suspension and is designed to be lightweight for better efficiency.  The trailer is aimed at specialty vocations like steel and chicken hauling.

“Our goal is to supply to North American customers a lightweight trailer with the lowest possible total cost of ownership and outfitted with smart and long-life design elements and dependable components,” said Derrick Dilts, partner-operations at Antares.

With steel wheels, the trailer weighs 9,400 pounds, has a 54,000 pound coil package and comes with a gross vehicle weight rating of 80,000 pounds. Equipped with optional aluminum wheels, the trailer sees a 300 pound drop in weight.

The complete beams, front and rear skirts, bumper assemblies, corner assemblies, suspension cross-members and suspension hangers are all made from hot-dip galvanized steel. Other components like the floor sills, flooring and side rails are made of tensile strength aluminum for better corrosion protection.

The new trailer is also designed to be easy to maintain and comes with simple to replace parts and the Antares trailer does not require welding or painting if a part needs to be replaced. The entire kingpin nest assembly can be taken out in the field by removing 16 bolts.  The front and rear skirts, corner assemblies and bumpers are also easier to remove.

“The dry-bulk and liquids markets have been doing this and it’s a design transfer from that market,” said Bobby Horton, engineering parter at Antares. "We can quickly ship a fully galvanized, ready to install, genuine OE quality part without the need for torching, welding or painting."

The company says that with the Antares flatbed it was focused on supplying fleets with economically priced equipment that boasts long life and high uptime rates.