PR Cootes Holdings turns to PBS to increase payload by 20 percent
March 30, 2010
Victorian operator PR Cootes Holdings has turned to performance based standards (PBS) to significantly increase a vehicle’s payload.
The new quad axle dog trailer was approved by the PBS Review Panel and joins three other trailers in the Coote fleet carting quarry products in eastern Victoria.
Cootes Managing Director Paul Cootes says the new trailer has increased productivity by around 20 percent.
“This combination can be delivering to a rural roadside delivery in the morning and a metropolitan concrete plant in the afternoon if need be with the same level of productivity that is expected from a B-double,” he says.
“It’s basically hauling B-double weights but has greater flexibility in terms of where it can travel and a far lighter tare weight for the same gross mass.”
Although permits are required for B-double routes, Cootes says the company is working with local councils to get access to concrete plants and less prominent roads on the network.
The trailer has also been fitted with an alarm system that gives the bdriver audible and visual warnings if the tipper body is close to overhead hazards such as powerlines.
The alarm works through the truck hydraulics and registers any pressure on the hoist, which triggers the audible tone and LED display in the cabin of the truck.
A mirror has also been fitted at the front of the truck to eliminate blind spots.
Under PBS, trucking operators can use larger vehicles to carry more freight if they meet stringent safety standards.
The National Transport Commission (NTC) recently called for changes to PBS to cut red tape and improve the running of the scheme.