Operators get ready to ‘Hydraroll’ as airfreight market prepares for climb out

Joloda International, which makes the world market leading Hydraroll Aircargo Rollerbed system for handling air cargo and palletised freight, says that the sector is showing definite signs of recovery – and on both sides of the Atlantic. The company has announced two major orders for the latest version of its highly successful twin roller track system – one from Luxembourg-based Wallenborn and the other for Forward Air in the US, which was the first to equip with the twin track system when it was introduced six years ago.

Wallenborn, which acquired Rutges Cargo BV in 2009 and now serves more than 100 airports across Europe, has taken delivery of 40 complete trailer kits of Hydraroll system in just the last few weeks, for installation during build for its expanding fleet of tri-axle super-cube trailers. The company already operates over 300 tractor units and almost 500 trailers on road feeder services and air cargo distribution, which includes general, high value and perishable traffic.

US-based Forward Air has specified the twin track system for installation across its entire new 100 unit trailer build programme. The new trailers will be put in place during the first quarter of 2011. The company was the first operator to equip 100 of its 500 trailer fleet with the twin track system when it was introduced six years ago.

The Hydraroll twin track is the latest iteration of what has become the industry’s now ubiquitous standard rollerbed system and features special patented wide-track twin rollers which provide 30% improved support for ULDs and pallets. The effort required to push a fully laden container within a trailer unit is also reduced by 33%. Forward Air currently fits four lanes of twin track rise and fall rollerbed and infills the remaining floor area with timber.

Additional benefits include much closer roller aperture clearances on the now quick release top plates – which has significantly reduced the opportunity for ingress of debris by 29% compared to older Hydraroll systems – and by 45% compared with typical competitor systems. Maintenance is also dramatically reduced – with some operators reporting a lack of need to clean the system for up to four years. The system now also incorporates full channel length acetal strip airbag protection to prevent potential damage and extend operating life. Controls for the system, which operates at 30psi (2.1Bar), are now clustered inside a weatherproof stainless steel enclosure.

Rise and fall on the latest twin roller system provides 13mm of load elevation – adequate for all container configurations, even units with slight damage. The system also incorporates manual flip-up pallet stops and the controls include an auto-down feature for the rollers. These combine to make the Hydraroll twin roller system the safest available in the world.

Joloda Group Chairman, Wojtek Kordel says, “We are now seeing definite signs that the airfreight sector is preparing to climb out of the economic downturn that has affected every level of the transport and logistics industry worldwide. Joloda is the world leader in design, manufacture and installation of specialised materials handling systems for the transportation industries – and the air cargo sector has always been a cornerstone of our business. There are now over 100,000 of our systems operating in all major airports worldwide. Alongside our other manual and powered systems, we now have a fully integrated range of materials handling systems capable of moving goods from the loading bay to their final destination, irrespective of the mode of transport that is used to get them there”.