An unloaded container chassis is up to ten metres long and weighs up to 5,500 kilos. And yet despite their size, these chassis still frequently disappear without a trace. The Hamburg-based chassis leasing company UES is now using the ‘Internet of Transport’ to track them down and to assist hirers and drivers more effectively in the event of a breakdown.
There are not only employees with German passports behind the global success of German medium-sized companies. Over 1,600 employees from 26 countries work at BPW – a hidden champion of the commercial vehicle industry; the BPW Group is represented by around 7,200 employees in over 50 countries. On this basis, BPW has been committed to cosmopolitanism for years.
Managers of municipal commercial vehicle fleets are some of the regular visitors to bauma, the world’s leading trade fair for construction vehicles and machinery (8–14 April). BPW is bringing a very special vehicle to Munich on their behalf: a Mercedes-Benz Vario of Cologne’s municipal waste management company AWB, which has been converted from diesel to an electric drive.
What exactly is ‘good design’? To many people, this primarily means an aesthetically pleasing product design. The iF DESIGN AWARD 2019, on the other hand, illustrates that good design is above all a matter of purpose and concept – and recognised the international mobility and system partner BPW for a product that consumers will probably never see
Soft, loose and wet ground and slopes quickly push even hauled construction vehicles to their limits. With a hydraulic drive axle from BPW, drawbar trailers are now digging their own way out of the sludge: originally developed for agricultural use, the award-winning "AGRO Drive" system is also taking construction sites by storm.
BPW now makes it possible to determine the weight of the load using a new type of sensor that via a hub wirelessly transmits its data from the drawbar trailer axle directly to end devices and via an ISO bus interface also to the driver's cab. This allows drivers and transport companies to gain full transparency over mileage and transported quantities – and can also bill by weight.
When vehicles drive with too little air pressure in the tyres, it not only requires more fuel but it also affects safety: in the most critical cases, the material may get so hot that it catches fire. This was a deciding factor for Obermann Speditions-GmbH, a haulier based in Lower Saxony, in opting for telematics solutions from the BPW subsidiary, idem telematics.
Transporting and delivering asphalt is a delicate business: the mix, which is at a temperature of around 180 degrees, is susceptible to wind; too much oxygen and temperature losses can ruin its quality while on the road. At the Bauma trade fair, BPW will present an intelligent sensor system for dumper trucks that replaces the current method of measuring temperature which is prone to errors.
The next generation of Europe’s top-selling trailer disc brake is in the starting blocks – but it doesn't come alone: BPW is also supplying a completely redeveloped sensor which is the first to continuously measure brake lining wear and thus enable visits to the garage to be timed perfectly. The system requires no maintenance and can be retrofitted for all BPW trailer disc brakes.
Whether it's ready-mix concrete, sand or asphalt at 180 degrees Celsius, in the construction industry, trailers usually transport extreme payloads – the demands on braking performance are correspondingly high. BPW, Europe's largest trailer brake manufacturer, introduces the "ECO Disc TS2" – based on a successful concept that has been tried and tested more than two million times.
With a platform for running gears that has been thoroughly redesigned, BPW now covers both on-road and off-road applications. This means that running gear can be configured for trailers that can be used just as easily and efficiently on the road as on the construction site. The highlight is a "digital DNA" that accompanies the vehicle throughout its life with intelligent services.
Large manoeuvring areas for deliveries are a luxury that construction site logistics specialists can only dream of. On inner-city construction sites, things are especially tight – and not only with regard to space, but also in terms of timing. Drawbar trailers can now manoeuvre faster and more safely with an innovative auxiliary steering system from BPW.
