Tipping sideways: Graham Lusty Trailers

With waste transport costs on the rise, Waste Management Review explores the efficiency features of high capacity side tipping trailers.

The sheer volume and ubiquity of waste makes waste management one of the largest freight tasks in the country.

With congestion, fuel costs and growing distances between waste generation and disposal points challenging the sector’s viability, waste operators are increasingly seeking more efficient transport options.   

Chris Lusty, Graham Lusty Trailer (GLT) Senior Engineer, says the issue is further heightened outside city centres, with transportation costs posing a challenge to waste diversion and resource recovery.

According to Chris, it was this environment that inspired the Graham Lusty team’s recent design and engineering project – the High Volume Side Tipper.

“Fuel costs are rising, and so too is waste generation. Additionally, resource recovery facilities and landfills are being pushed further and further from population centres,” Chris says.

“With all of that mind, we decided to develop and engineer a high-capacity side tipping trailer capable of carting large amounts of waste in one trip, with the added time benefit of high-speed unloading cycles.”

Debuting at this year’s Brisbane Truck Show, the 70-cubic-metre capacity side tipper, which has a 10.2-tonne tare weight, is suitable for any bulk hauling application where high volumes are required.

“The side tipper can carry forestry waste, organics, construction and demolition waste – ultimately it can handle anything solid,” Chris says.

“That said, the initial design and concept was inspired by municipal waste.”

Chris says the lack of high-capacity options for municipal waste transportation highlighted an opportunity to diversify and capture a new market.

“Many in the trailer industry stay away from maximum height side tippers because they believe the engineering is too difficult to navigate.”

“But, with rising waste rates and potential municipal infrastructure growth in the works, we felt it was as good a time as ever to face the challenge.”

A common problem with other high-capacity side tippers on the market, Chris says, is trouble keeping waste centred in the trailer.

He adds that when operators unload, the material has a tendency to shift to the side and cause the trailer to fall.

“Graham has been designing and building trailers since 1971,” Chris says.

“Drawing from that experience, our team of engineers was able to conceptualise, and later materialise, a side tipper that functions without any of the issues affecting previous iterations.”

Chris says the engineering team achieved this by adding a second pivot and installing the wide wall on the opposite body side to the door to maintain centre of mass.

“Having a wall tilt also allows the trailer to discharge the load more efficiently because of the superior centre of gravity,” Chris says.

He adds that the side tipper average unloading time is 30 seconds, which can be sped up depending on the material stream.

“That kind of speed is an industry stand out that cuts unloading times and on-site management to facilitate greater pay loads,” he says.

Additionally, Chris says the new high-volume side tipper design is highly versatile, with all trailer pieces and parts manufactured in either aluminium or Hardox, specific to customer requirements.

“All of our trailers can be fully customised based on application needs, with laser wheel alignments and tandem, tri or quad axle configurations available,” he says.

“Plus, each chassis is 3D modelled and laser cut, with steel work hand-welded using Miller digital pulse machines, which means our trailers meet and often exceeds all relevant industry standards.”

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