trailer world issue Three 2009

Vehicle logistics is a niche for specialists and all-rounders. Cartrans and Gefco are just two examples.

Vehicle lo The fascination of prototypes and test vehicles comes above all from their novelty value. For- warder Cartrans brings these valuable cars safely over snowy roads right up to the Arctic Circle. Reliable, experienced, circumspect – and slim! This profile ap- plies to all drivers who transport prototypes and test vehicles for forwarder Cartrans on behalf of the car industry. The com- pany based in Freudenberg uses closed trailers for these special transports to protect the development vehicles from curious eyes and exposure to the weather. This means that there is very little space inside these costly trailers. Once a car has been loaded on board, there‘s scarcely any room left to open the doors. „This is why these tasks can only be given to slim drivers without a belly and who are not too tall“, explains Oliver Hirth, one of the three associates of the company that was founded around 25 years ago. Cartrans has six of these huge trailers that can take six vehicles each. Most of the hand-made prototypes are worth huge amounts of money. Which is why the Cartrans drivers have to be extremely responsible as well as wiry. And in winter the journeys frequent- ly head for the Arctic Circle as this is where car manufacturers tradi- tionally carry out their endurance tests for new products once the au- tumn has set in. Before a new car is launched, it must have proven its winter handling characteristics in Arvidsjaur which is guaranteed to have snow. For Cartrans, this means a round trip lasting altogether seven days, including at least three to four days over slippery roads covered with ice and snow. The route goes right across Germany to Kiel and then by ferry to Gothenburg. „The crossing to Sweden offers an ideal oppor- tunity for making optimum use of driving and rest times“, says Hirth. In contrast to other possibilities of spending the night at motorway services, here the drivers look forward to good food and a cabin with en-suite shower. From Gothenburg they then still have another 1,400 km or two days driving ahead of them until they reach their destination in North Sweden. Roads start to get slippery once they leave Stockholm, or even as soon Specialist 16 Issue Three 2009 »Cartrans truckers have to be wiry.« Eur

trailer world issue Three 2009

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