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Fred Prinsen BV from Wijk bij Duurstede have recently put their new, very sturdy four-axle Pacton drawbar trailer to work. Sustainability and quality are top priorities in the Prinsen fleet, because rail infrastructure work places heavy demands on the equipment. Co-director Tijmen Prinsen: ‘A railway crane alone weighs 25 tonnes. That’s one of the reasons we at Prinsen always choose the solid, heavy-duty Swedish Laxo stanchions. A standard stanchion would buckle after a week with us.’
The fleet at Fred Prinsen BV isn’t particularly large, but it is an important part of the foundation for the company’s daily operations. The new Pacton trailer joins several other trailers, four trucks and a container truck.
The trailer is already being extensively used in daily track work, for things like transporting railroad cranes, loaders and even entire carriages. For the latter purpose, the trailer comes with special wheel channels to enhance the safety of carriage transport. There are often also rail-related materials loaded back onto the trailer.
Recycling for sustainability
Fred Prinsen BV is a major player in the railroad materials market. Based in Wijk bij Duurstede, the company has been serving rail infrastructure customers for years. After starting out in Austerlitz, where they still have a warehouse, they moved to larger premises in Wijk bij Duurstede in 2012. ‘Track work is our core business. This also includes purchasing rail materials and recycling them sustainably,’ says managing director Tijmen Prinsen, who runs the company together with brother Freddy. There are several other Prinsens in the family business, which employs a total of 20 staff. ProRail contracts much of the track work the company does, but Fred Prinsen BV generally works for the major Railway Contractors.
Ruggedly built
The new four-axle Pacton drawbar trailer chassis (floor type AXD.437.L) was developed entirely to Prinsen’s customer specifications. The rear crossmember of the eight-metre-long chassis is located 20 cm from the rear, as reinforcement for forklift loading. The vehicle is 9.6 metres long in total, with a neck height of 10 cm and a chassis height of 93 cm. The trailer has a 10-ton front axle, and the tridem axle has a load-bearing capacity of up to 27 tonnes. The front two axles of the tridem are equipped with a central axle lift.
The dual-air trailer chassis comes with 16 Alcoa Durabright rims (17.5 x 6.75) with Goodyear tyres. There are LED work lights and fog lights in the light box, and LED work lights behind the front axle. In addition, the trailer is equipped with a rotating beacon light, two sets of five yellow LED side lights (built into the side beam), two LED stalk lights and two LED broadside lights. An extra safety detail is the autonomous parking light system that illuminates the trailer when necessary, for example if it is standing unhitched alongside the road. The system runs on a pair of 12-volt batteries, and has its own recharging system.
Top-quality customisation
The floor above the front axle and the entire head section are crafted from steel. We chose to use a 28mm shiplapped hardwood floor behind the head, between the main beams and in the exterior compartments. Behind the head section and outside of the main beams, we have
welded a U-profile (rail) onto the sleepers. Rail carriage wheels can be lowered into this as an additional locking device.
There are plenty of Laxo stanchions and lashing eyes, as well as a wagon-wide, galvanised wheel chock bin and a stainless steel toolbox with two drawers on each side for the tridem axle system. The trailer also comes with four wide load signs.
This was not the first time that Prinsen has dealt with Pacton in Ommen. ‘We had previously purchased a flat trailer from Pacton. Our work doesn’t allow for standard trailers; we always need the best custom-made option available, simply because it is necessary for heavy work. This kind of heavy-duty equipment enables us to work efficiently, and most importantly, safely. The previous Pacton trailer was great, so we had no hesitation in opting for this Pacton trailer too.’