MERKEL-WETZEL LOGISTIK RELIES ON VARIO LINER
Merkel-Wetzel Logistik GmbH has expanded its fleet with a new, efficient double-deck trailer. Today, Tuesday, the handover by the manufacturer Krone took place at the company’s headquarters in Kuppenheim, Baden.
The so-called Vario Liner was developed for the requirements of the partial load system of the ELVIS cargo cooperation. Merkel-Wetzel has been an ELVIS system partner for two years and in this capacity drives daily from Kuppenheim to the ELVIS transhipment base in Knüllwald-Remsfeld (northern Hesse). Around 1,000 tonnes of goods are handled and consolidated here every night.
60 instead of 34 parking spaces
In future, Merkel-Wetzel will use the new Vario Liner on this route to the ELVIS hub. The trailer is ideally equipped for this: With up to 60 pallet spaces, the Vario Liner offers almost twice as much loading capacity as a conventional semi-trailer, which has 34 spaces.
The better use of the loading space is made possible by three intermediate floors that can be individually adjusted in height. The 4.40 metre long floors are designed for a maximum payload of 12 tonnes each. “We achieve a very high degree of flexibility, because thanks to the additional loading levels we can also transport goods that are not stackable on top of each other,” says Managing Director André Manuguerra. “At the same time, we act in a very environmentally friendly way and improve the CO2 balance of the loaded goods through better utilisation.”
Safe loading and unloading even for long goods
Another advantage of the new trailer: the curtainsider can be opened on the entire side of the vehicle without the tarpaulin covering part of the opening. This allows forklifts to load and unload the consignments quickly and gently. This also applies to particularly bulky and heavy packages up to six metres long.
Merkel-Wetzel is already considering the use of a second Vario Liner: “Yesterday, ELVIS put a transhipment centre into operation in Herbrechtingen for the south of Germany as well as for international transports to and from southern Europe,” explains André Manuguerra. “If the new trailer proves itself in practice, we can imagine using a Vario Liner on this new route as well.”
