Strick Trailers has released a fiberglass reinforced composite dry van trailer, offering a combination of light weight, durability, longevity and low-cost maintenance.
A ‘plastic’ flatbed in the 1980s and FRP plywood vans even earlier featured non-metallic substances for trailers, recalls Senior Contributing Editor Tom Berg.
Navistar has signed an agreement with TPI Composites to design and develop Class 8 trucks with lighter-weight frame rails and body panels crafted from composite materials.
Plastics -- specifically, molded structural composites -- might constitute the future of trailers. Some are used in Europe, and Wabash National is ready to build them here. Werner Enterprises, K&B Transportation, Combined Transport, and Leonard’s Express will acquire some MSC trailers for testing, and three dealers will help bring the trailers to market.
The trailer uses molded structural composites, or MSCs, developed by Wabash engineers over the last three years. It uses few bolts and no metal crossmembers.