Source: BPW AG
WIEHL, Germany — The new world champion in featherweight is called BPW. With a new type of trailing arm and further lightweight components, for the first time BPW pushes the module weight of the nine-ton Airlight II trailer running gear to under 370 kilograms. This brings not only unprecedented lightness to heavy goods traffic, but also allows transport companies to benefit from more usable load and digital services throughout the vehicle’s life.
Trailers equipped with lightweight components from BPW generate up to €900 increased revenue and reduce their CO2 emissions by 200 kilograms a year. To achieve this, BPW combines the tried-and-tested nine-ton “Airlight II” on-road running gear with an aluminum hub and the ECO Disc TS2 trailer disc brake.
Add to that the new ultra-light trailing arm, which represents a technological novelty thanks to an innovative manufacturing process: It is made of high-strength spring steel, forged as a hollow profile based on nature’s model – comparable to the structure of a bone. As such, BPW combines unshakable strength with unprecedented lightness: The trailing arm alone reduces weight by 42 kilos in the three-axle suspension. The aluminum hub brings the weight down by a further 54 kilos.
The following example shows just how much lightweight construction affects profitability: When transporting heating oil, transport companies can use lightweight components to carry 96 kilograms of extra load – this corresponds to 112 liters of heating oil that can be additionally transported. For a fleet of ten vehicles (average mileage 120,000 kilometers/year) and an average service life of four years, more than €38,000 in additional revenue is possible. CO2 emissions for these fleets are reduced by more than 8,000 kilos.
Andreas Poll, Head of Product Management, Trailer Solutions & Mobility Services at BPW, said: “It is now becoming easier, more profitable and more climate-friendly to transport, because the lightweight construction options for our Airlight II running gear enable noticeable savings to be achieved in many transport applications – not only for liquid goods.
“Thanks to the new trailing arm, we’ve made efficiency gains that would be hard to equal. Which is why there is already strong demand for our lightweight construction kit on the market. We’re happy to be able to start delivering straight away.”
About BPW Bergische Achsen Kommanditgesellschaft
BPW Bergische Achsen Kommanditgesellschaft is the parent company of the BPW Group. With over 1,600 employees, including around 120 trainees, the family-owned company has been developing and producing complete running gear systems for truck trailers and semi-trailers at its headquarters in Wiehl since 1898. BPW’s technologies include axle systems, brake technology, suspension and bearings. BPW’s trailer axles and running gear systems are in use in millions of vehicles around the world.
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