Tiger Trailers is a design-led business, comprising a team that genuinely thrives on engineering challenges. The company ethos is to combine extensive design and engineering knowledge with the latest manufacturing techniques, all set within the most modern trailer and truck body factory in the UK.
Clients are invited to view the technical drawings at Tiger’s Winsford site prior to manufacture – ensuring that all aspects of the build meet their individual requirements before manufacturing begins. Whilst many designs are generally variations on what could be considered a standard Tiger product, a ‘blank sheet of paper’ approach is adopted to deliver a completely unique design if required, including the addition of any number of options from Tiger’s ‘personalisation’ range.
Following a six-month development programme in conjunction with Tata Steel, Tiger's Lightweight Clearspan Curtainsider is 500kg lighter than a conventional clearspan curtainsider, allowing some of Tiger Trailers’ customers including British Gypsum/XPO Logistics to carry a greater payload of up to 29.5 tonnes and therefore operate more sustainably.
With the initial design concept originating from Tiger Trailers, a partnership was formed with Tata Steel early in the development of the trailer. Tata Steel’s Advanced Engineering team, based at the University of Warwick, have worked with Tiger Trailers using finite element analysis (FEA) to assess design revisions across three design evolutions from the initial concept.
This closely collaborative development process has yielded a highly resolved finished product. Using steel components that are twice the strength of the structural steel typically used in trailer chassis construction without any additional weight (Tata Steel Ympress® S700MC and Metallic Coated S450 GD), has allowed Tiger Trailers the ability to develop one of the lightest tri-axle clearspan curtainsider currently available in the UK.
Tiger Trailers’ engineers created an innovative load securing system called ‘captive rave’ (patent applied for). Replacing a traditional ‘hook’ strap approach, this roof-mounted system features ratchets stored individually inside the rear doors, with the straps ‘captive’ throughout the process, greatly reducing potential injury.
With ratchet devices reduced by 50% to just 13, British Gypsum has benefitted from commensurate operational efficiency gains through the incorporation of Tiger Trailers' Captive Rave solution in its curtainsider fleet of several hundred units.
