CONTAINER TRAILER CHASSIS

The client for this project had no previous experience with hot-dip galvanizing, but had noticed at trade shows that certain trailer components were now being galvanized. At the beginning, they were looking to galvanize a specific part on their chassis, but the goal was later expanded to include the possibility of hot-dip galvanizing the complete trailer chassis.

"Corrosion performance in an industrial / urban environment. The trucking industry is becoming a major user of HDG, primarily because corrosion problems are the most common cause of trailers becoming unserviceable. This combined with galvanizers installing bigger and bigger kettles allow our industry to serve these original equipment manufacturers."

Trucking companies are more and more sensitive about their public image and this project presented both a challenge and an opportunity. It was galvanized free of charge and exposed at a trucking show, where it attracted great attention and many inquiries. The terrible appearance of a rusty trailer chassis was the opportunity and the limitations of controlling the appearance of the galvanized coating was the challenge. This led to almost two years of consulting with an engineering department to make the necessary changes to the product design to complement the galvanizing process.

Turnaround time was one of the major obstacles in this project, because the client had their own in-house painting line which was part of their inline process. The client had to arrange our production scheduling system to fit their needs so they were able to keep producing their chassis without creating downtime in their production because of outsourcing to the galvanizer. The trucking industry is becoming a major user of HDG, primarily because corrosion problems are the most common cause of trailers becoming unserviceable. This combined with galvanizers installing bigger and bigger kettles allow our industry to serve these original equipment manufacturers.

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