Changing the game

The ever-industrious CIMC Vehicles is supporting local industry with its tried-and-true portfolio of trailing equipment. In particular, the Chinese manufacturer’s low bed trailers are in active service, facilitating the safe and timely movement of heavy machines such as diggers to and from infrastructure development sites.

CIMC Vehicles said low bed trailers are very efficient in terms of transporting non-detachable machinery or ultra-large parts such as wind turbine barrels. Providing transport operators and supply chain partners with quality trailers that enable incredible gains in efficiency and utility is absolutely crucial for China’s ambitious infrastructure plans.

CIMC Vehicles is the main manufacturer of low bed trailers in the Chinese market.
“Our products competitive advantages are known for high-tensile stainless steel, KTL and powder coating technologies to benefit our customers with better life cycle management and lower Total Cost of Ownership,” the OEM told Global Trailer.

Although, there is another market segment that CIMC Vehicles is innovating in which has given rise to a new trailer design concept.

China’s e-commerce retail space continues to boom as shown in the financial figures that Alibaba Group – the parent company of logistics company, Cainiao Network, released in March. Revenue grew 23 per cent year-over-year to more than $3.0 million USD which was reported to be primarily driven by the growth of fulfillment solutions and value-added services provided to China commerce retail businesses as well as the increase in revenue from third-party merchants of cross-border and international commerce retail businesses. During the December 2021 quarter, 67 per cent of Cainiao’s total revenue was generated from external customers. The daily average package volume delivered through its global delivery network exceeded five million for the reported period.

So, CIMC Vehicles’ latest innovation – the low-saddle van trailer – is a compliant build that ensures maximum space for package and parcel delivery most notably due to the lowered design of the saddle which provides more space for the van part of the vehicle while adhering to legal height limits – original height at 1,200mm with around 86 square metres, new design height at 960mm with around 100 square metrea, 16.3 per cent cargo space increased. Considering the package and parcel distribution industry in China and around the world is anything but slowing down, the low-saddle van trailer has potential to gain traction in the global market.

Interestingly, despite pushing the new low-saddle van concept, there is currently minimal uptake of this build.
“It is a very limited and stable market segment,” said CIMC Vehicles. “Low saddle van trailers, if laws and regulations were implemented more rigorously, this product will have the largest space for compliant products, and it can be popular among package parcel transport and express companies. The market demand of low saddle van-trailer in China is currently at the early stage, therefore similar types of products are not commonly seen in the market.”

China is proceeding with a number of large-scale infrastructure projects including express road routes, high-speed train networks and wind turbine generation to move forward on its commitments toward carbon neutrality.

To support this environmental consideration, CIMC Vehicles is developing advanced aerodynamic designs for low fuel consumption, tyre-monitoring systems, GPS, a cargo-spacing monitoring system and even a 360°monitoring system.