Australians are as ingenious as we are hardworking, with countless game-changing inventions under our belt, like the black box recorder, pacemaker and even Google Maps. The latest invention to come out of our great nation, like so many before it, was born over a few beers and it has once again put our transport industry on the map. Enter the ‘London’ trailer …
From road trains to B-doubles, and every other creative combination our operators have managed to piece together over the years, we don’t take half measures Down Under.
The latest Aussie transport innovation is a 47-metre long, seven-metre high Super B-triple combination, the culmination of a four-year project between Qube Logistics and O’Phee Trailers, which stacks empty containers two-up like a freight train – hooked up to a prime mover.
Before going any further, and to dispel any industry chatter about this towering triple, this new set-up is as safe as they come and only Qube’s top talent will be wheeling the double and triple London trailer configurations around the Port of Brisbane on a designated route.
The London, as it was codenamed during development due to its visual similarity to the UK’s double-decker buses, can be configured in single, double and triple configurations, transporting up to 12 20-foot containers or six 40-foot containers at a time – a 100 per cent increase on what has been possible up until now.
We had to come up with a name only management at Qube and O’Phee would recognise … we didn’t want everyone to know what we were doing.
ROADBOSS was invited to the official trials, run by the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR), at the Port of Brisbane where the new triple combination passed its on-road testing with flying colours, giving Qube the green light to run its shiny new London trailers around the clock.
This world-first design was first dreamt up at the Breakfast Creek Hotel – a watering hole frequented by port folk, but it likely wouldn’t have seen the light of day had it been lesser determined men at the bar.
The gentlemen behind the daring vision, O’Phee Trailers’ founder Mick O’Phee, and Qube Logistics’ General Manager of Operations Darren Fuller, both have a track record of pushing the boundaries. Subsequent meetings were moved from bar to boardroom and, just like that, the journey began.
Behind the build
First came the codename because, as O’Phee explains, when it came time to begin developing a double stack trailer it was important competitors didn’t catch wind of the idea.
“During that period we had to come up with a name that only high-level management at Qube and O’Phee would recognise, as well as for use across the NHVR and even the Police, because we didn’t want everyone to know what we were doing – it was just so innovative,” he says.
The London is a 47-metre long, seven-metre high Super B-triple combination
After drawings were mocked up, first on paper and then using 3D modelling, O’Phee had to ensure the NHVR was onboard with the radical concept. At this point, though, he was acutely aware of how large the task ahead would be.
“We came up with ‘London’ because of the double-decker buses, and it stuck. It’s not real Australian, but it’s iconic!”
“You’re never fully prepared for what you say you’re going to do, but you just take a big bite and then you chew hard,” he laughs.
“We went to the regulator and made sure they would back it because a lot of the Performance Based Standards (PBS) criteria didn’t apply – this wouldn’t be overtaking, for example, but once they agreed, we moved forward.
“It was a big mission initially with the regulatory stakeholders, but then we had to design it!”
During the testing this combination met every load restraint threshold that the Australian Design Standards and the NHVR could throw at us.
The primary design hurdle was how the containers would be restrained, with a few ideas floating around amongst the team but no concrete solution.
“At that point we had no idea how we were going to do the load restraint, but we had some ‘far out’ ideas,” O’Phee says.
“We thought, let’s just put some containers on a triple Skel to show what it will actually look like, and then when we get to stage two we’ll work out how we’re going to do this!”
O’Phee is no stranger to conceptualising and building all-new trailer designs, explaining the various ‘firsts’ at O’Phee have all been undertaken with a similar trial-and-error approach.
“All inventions happen this way, because it’s never been done before,” he says.
The trailer has been designed for ease of operation, removing the risk of human error
“We were the first to even put a quad-axle Skel into Australia and then we progressed into Super B’s … but I won’t tell you how we developed the first Super B – that’s quite a funny story.
“Then we had customers that wanted extra containers so we progressed to do a trial of mini road trains from Brisbane to Toowoomba – which led to the A-double that you know today.”
Applying his proven formula for putting new combinations on the road, O’Phee and the team at parent company The Drake Group got to work taking the initial designs and testing them for real-world use.
“We changed designs numerous times, it was a real journey because we continued moving things, making it wider, changing the design of the front and back towers and the clamping system,” he says.
A mix of 3D modelling, computer simulations and an independent review of the London trailers against existing Super B-double combinations proved the design would work. The team could finally “cut steel” as O’Phee puts it.
It was a real journey because we continued moving things, making it wider, changing the design of the front and back towers and the clamping system.
The trailer was then built, using the best-of-the-best components from across The Drake Group, leaving nothing to chance.
A wider track was adopted to improve stability, the chassis was reinforced, a hydraulic clamping system was fitted, and a heavy-duty hydraulic equalising spring suspension was borrowed from Drake’s tough-as-nails low loaders to handle the forces that would be placed on the trailer.
O’Phee also wanted the trailer to be as easy as possible to operate, removing the risk of human error and simplifying the function of loading and unloading, which led to a high-tech system that allows complete control of the trailer from the comfort of the driver’s seat.
“We wanted to go one step further because what we do normally is have drivers stand beside the trailer as they operate it, but we wanted to develop a system that meant the driver never leaves the cab,” he says.
“We wanted a system that allowed the driver to operate everything from a screen in the truck and we wanted to keep it as simple as possible, so a driver can have one touch for unloading two trailers, one touch for unloading three trailers, or whatever configuration – but it’s one touch.
The London uses the best componentry from The Drake Group, leaving nothing to chance
“Together with our technology partner we developed something that is really good, right down to being able to identify any faults with the system.”
Testament to the design and prototyping undertaken, O’Phee explains the finished product performed out-of-the-box without any of the usual teething issues found with all-new designs.
“We had no trouble with this design. Normally you get teething problems with a new design, but since day one this has been working day and night with no issues,” he says.
The golden trio
According to Qube, the project hit the three major focus areas for the Port of Brisbane and NHVR, with the London trailer achieving a perfect mix of safety, sustainability and, of course, productivity benefits.
“The NHVR and the Port of Brisbane were great, they bent over backwards, because that’s what we’re all about now – sustainability, productivity and safety,” Qube Logistics’ Darren Fuller says.
It isn’t about getting rid of drivers, it’s about attracting good drivers currently in the workforce.
Top of the list for the development of the London trailer was safety, though, which meant rigorous testing and operating protocols, including speed limits and onboard monitoring systems.
“We place wind monitors around the Port of Brisbane, so if the wind speed reaches 60km/h we shut it down, and we also have speed limits of 50km/h on straights and 15km/h around corners,” Fuller says.
“During the testing this combination met every load restraint threshold that the Australian Design Standards and the NHVR could throw at us, and Mick and I wouldn’t have entertained it if we ever believed it wasn’t as safe or safer than existing combinations.
“The trailer was actually chained to a flat rack during testing, then we lifted it with the crane to see at what point it tipped over – it got to 18 per cent before the wheels ever left the ground. We had to ensure we had every single aspect of safety covered throughout.”
Fuller reiterates that not just anyone is given the keys to this combination, with only the cream of the crop behind the wheel of the double and triple London combinations.
Only the cream of the crop behind the wheel of the double and triple London combinations
“The drivers undergo a rigorous 40 hours of training before they’re even considered, and they’ve been promoted from our Super B ranks – they’re our best drivers and they get paid the highest amount too,” he says.
An added benefit, Fuller points out, is that amidst an industry-wide driver shortage the new combination not only attracts top talent but encourages Qube’s best operators to level-up into what is the hottest operator job going at the Port of Brisbane.
“The biggest challenge we’ve got in our industry at the moment is finding drivers, so when this is running in its triple combination that’s the equivalent of two Super B’s,” he says.
“It’s a decrease in emissions and truck movements, but we can also relocate good drivers into these combinations. It isn’t about getting rid of drivers, it’s about attracting good drivers currently in the workforce. We want to say ‘look, we have this combination and you’ll only be driving around the island (Port of Brisbane)’.”
In response to industry trepidation, Fuller is quick to point out that every new trailer combination is subject to the rumour mill – but the London is as safe as any other combination.
Size does matter, and it brings a whole new meaning to higher productivity vehicles – at seven metres high!
“Naysayers will always be naysayers but, look, they said similar things with the Super B’s down in the Port of Brisbane when they came in more than 20 years ago,” he says.
“Then when we started running Type 1 road trains, or A-doubles, between Toowoomba and Brisbane, once again there were naysayers – yet look at the volume of A-doubles around now.
“Due to the restraints that we have at the Port of Brisbane, and within our network, this was the only way to improve our productivity and it’s as safe as they come.”
Making waves
While this project was a collaboration between Qube and O’Phee, both companies are vocal about the likely adoption of the new trailer type at other ports around the world, with overseas interest already flooding in.
“We’ve already been approached by other operators around the world, in places like India and South Africa, and we’ve passed them onto O’Phee,” Fuller says. “But it will be operators like us looking at them, not necessarily the ports.”
At a recent official trial run by the NHVR the London trailer passed on-road tests with flying colours
Shortly after making its on-road debut the trailer won the coveted Product Innovation category at the HVIA National Awards, with O’Phee commended for building the world-first trailer that’s now being put to work on the road.
“Seeing it on the road for the first time was absolutely fantastic,” O’Phee says.
“We knew it would work, we’d done all of the testing, but it’s always different when you see it behind a prime mover on the road.
“It was just a fantastic feeling and I can’t explain it – it was just a momentous occasion.”
O’Phee also points out that the old adage ‘size doesn’t matter’ is perhaps not true of truck and trailer combinations, especially the ones being produced by O’Phee Trailers.
“Size does matter, and it brings a whole new meaning to higher productivity vehicles – at seven metres high!” he laughs.