Family business Duis Transport from Zaandijk, which specialises in the transportation of cocoa and cocoa-related products, specifies Van Eck trailers for its extensive experience in implementing smart loading systems.
With a fleet of eight trucks, Duis maintains crucial lines between cocoa processing manufacturers and their customers.
Over five years ago, Duis used a trailer from Van Eck for this work for the first time.
“Initially, we worked with sliding tarpaulin trailers,” said Wim Duis who runs the company together with his brother Pieter Duis. “But to save time in this work, a trailer with fixed walls and with roller tracks turned out to be a better idea.
This is how the Van Eck customer came to own an Eckcellent trailer equipped with hydraulic roller conveyors, to load and unload pallets quickly.
Following the initial trailer purchase, Wim Duis preferred roller conveyors that are operated electrically.
“The electric version is significantly stronger,” he said. “The whole system responds better and the trailer is lighter, too.”
Duis had a second roller conveyor system installed, a slipchain system.
Van Eck has delivered on the best solution upon Duis’s request in working with select supplier of these systems ensuring the loaded pallets are tightly connected to each other in the longitudinal direction of the trailer.
“The result is an optimally loaded trailer that is also safer,” said Wim Duis.
In order to also make the best possible use of the axle loads, Duis opted for a TD steering system, in which the first and third trailer axles are steered. Those axles have an axle spacing of more than 1.81 metres between them, which allows them to carry more weight.
“As a result, we never run into problems with the axle loads and we also have a trailer that manoeuvres optimally and whose tyres last considerably longer,” said Wim Duis.
The family business also specified Van Eck for the aftersales support.
“Van Eck listens carefully to the customer,” said Wim Duis.
“Not only when they sell the trailer, but also afterwards. That is very important to us and was the decisive factor in our decision to continue working with this supplier.”
The new trailer from Van Eck will make five daily trips in North Holland.
“So five loading and unloading operations in one day,” said Wim Duis. “In this way, we transport 150 tonnes of cocoa product for our customer every day, which is 900 tonnes a week. Loading and unloading takes about two minutes each time. It shows that Van Eck gets full confidence to play a crucial role in our daily logistics operation.”