Wabash trailer could eliminate flatbeds for steel transportation

Jan 31, 2012 | 07:00 PM | Corinna Petry

Tags  Wabash National, DuraPlate XD-35, Brent Nussbaum, steel transportation, Corinna Petry

A truck trailer manufacturer has developed a new model that will hold metal coils weighing up to 17 tons, keep the product completely dry and allow it to be unloaded inside a facility without the driver having to do much more than open the rear door.

Wabash National Corp., a Lafayette, Ind.-based truck trailer manufacturer, has introduced the DuraPlate XD-35 trailer to the broader market after Nussbaum Transportation of Normal, Ill., spent a year testing it and found it to be a cost-effective solution for customers with special handling needs.

The XD-35, which has the capacity to carry a 35,000-pound coil or multiple smaller coils strapped down to D-rings recessed in its floor, evolved from a previous model that could handle 28,000-pound loads, according to Wabash National’s new-business development director, Robert Lane.

Although the new model is still produced from the same high-strength steel, aluminum and composites as the previous model, the construction of the new model was altered to allow for heavier loads. “It’s the way we construct the floor and the cross-members attached to the trailer that allow us to offer a 35,000-pound rating,” Lane said.....