Flexible bonds that spread the load and give far greater strength
Transdek, an award-winning designer and manufacturer of double deck trailers and associated loading bay solutions, has extended its relationship with Kommerling by using a selection of the company’s products on ten refrigerated Wedge trailers.The 4.95 metre high trailers offer a 90 roll cage (850mm x 753mm) capacity, and are based on a 5th wheel height of 1160mm, which provides sufficient internal height clearance to fully load each deck over the neck.
Tony Sturgess, Director (Trailer Design), Transdek UK Ltd, said; “Transport efficiency is key and achieving the highest performance for each and every vehicle starts with the design and construction. We’ve worked with Kommerling to produce a fully bonded body construction on these latest trailers in our range of innovative, high volume double deckers. The trailers don’t require any mechanical fasteners to hold the body together. Even the second deck support angles are bonded to the side panels. High performance structural bonding products ensure a robust structure for the trailer with bonds that are flexible but also resistant to water ingress.”
Bonding is more common on the Continent, but is being used increasingly in the UK to replace traditional mechanical fasteners. Bonding load restraint tracks to side panels, for example, gives far greater strength, as the adhesives spread the load along the track length.
Sturgess continued, “We chose Kommerling because they’re the leading specialist in trailer bonding adhesives, and we’re very happy with the resulting build quality. Cost,ease of use and performance also played a role in selecting Kommerling as an ongoing partner in this work.”
Ian Little, Key Account Manager, Engineering Adhesives EIMEA at Kommerling said, “We have worked with Transdek over several years and are delighted that they continue to use our products on both dry and refrigerated multi-temperature trailers. It is not just about supplying bonding solutions; our technicians have collaborated with Tony and his team on the design and development of this fully bonded trailer body.”
The three bonding products used were:
Korapur 666 – a two-component polyurethane used for sealing and bonding in the manufacture of vehicle body work, providing good adhesion to a wide variety of substrates including primed and varnished metals, GRP, aluminium and duroplastics.
Korapur 140 – Single component elastic, moisture curing polyurethane adhesive for bonding and sealing of primered and varnished metals, aluminium, wooden materials and duroplastics.
Korapop 235 – use as a seam sealant and light duty bonding application where a key requirement is excellent dynamic stress tolerance and UV stability.
Background Transdek
Transdek UK is a Yorkshire-based development manufacturer in the logistics sector. A member of the Sustainable Road Freight group, we are focused on generating cost savings and improving sustainability in the retail supply chain through the development of innovative, solutions-oriented products, including:
- Double deck trailers, which have increased payload capacity by between 40% and 100% compared to conventional HGVs
- Urban double deck trailers that have cut 800 deliveries a year to one retailer’s Oxford Street store alone
- Modular loading bay equipment that reduced unit install times for the UK’s largest retailer from two months to three days
- One of the UK’s leading brands of mezzanine lifts
We estimate that our products have saved our customers a cumulative 1.2 billion road miles since the company was founded in 1997. In recognition of our groundbreaking development work, we have won several industry accolades, including: the Queen’s Award for Enterprise: Innovation three times (2018, 2012 and 2003); the TCS&D Innovation Award 2015; and the Motor Transport Best Use of Technology Award 2009. For more information, visit www.transdek.com.
Company Profile
Headquartered in Pirmasens, some 170 km south west of Frankfurt, and founded in 1897, Kömmerling is a leading international manufacturer of high-quality adhesives and sealants. In this capacity, it has been supplying the RV industry in Europe and beyond for more than 20 years. It became a member of H.B. Fuller’s global network through the company’s acquisition of Royal Adhesives & Sealants in October 2017.