TMT AND NEW CHALLENGES IN LIQUID TRANSPORT

TMT International, led by Alfredo and Gianluca Spinozzi, is an Italian company with solid roots and over 50 years of experience in the market of tanks and Walking Floor semi-trailers. It is no coincidence that it defines itself as a Tanks & Trailers creator, because it is able to create the perfect, tailor-made product starting from zero. This reflects the determination to provide its customers with unique and cutting-edge products through continuous innovation, the search for high quality materials, high safety controls, excellent and accurate workmanship.

Confirming this is one of the latest projects carried out for the Romanian customer DML Invest, the first transporter in Eastern Europe to adopt a semi-waterproof semi-trailer Scrigno with side doors. This innovative solution, designed and created for the first time specifically for DML Invest, is the result of a careful analysis of the customer’s needs and the problems he encountered every day in the transport of materials. 

First of all, the type of load transported by the customer, i.e. scrap metal mixed with an oily liquid mixture, required a particular solution that could prevent the dispersion of materials during the journey, thus avoiding economic damage and risks in terms of safety. In fact, in addition to ensuring transport reliability and compliance with current anti-pollution regulations, the vehicle had to be designed in such a way as to completely exclude deterioration or any malfunction of the moving floor caused by this highly corrosive oil emulsion.

TMT International already had in its portfolio a solution for the transport of loads with a high liquid content, such as wet waste, slaughterhouse waste, batteries and sludge. It is the Leakproof semi-trailer, completely hermetic and moving floor, capable of guaranteeing safe transport without worries of leaks or contact with the road surface and in compliance with rigorous anti-pollution regulations. Among other things, its reliability is ensured by a pre-delivery test consisting of filling with approximately 10,000 liters of water.

However, in addition to liquids, the customer needed to transport a wide range of goods, including bulky, unpackaged or specially sized materials. Therefore, he needed a versatile and multi-purpose moving floor solution, with the possibility of loading/unloading not only from the rear of the vehicle but also from the side. Precisely this determined the complexity of the project, as TMT had to reconcile different technical characteristics and functions in a single vehicle, often divergent from each other but in any case, complex in the implementation.

Thus, was born the idea of ​​the semi-waterproof semi-trailer Scrigno with side doors. In fact, the project was implemented in two phases. In the first phase, the standard configuration of the semi-trailer Scrigno with side doors was proposed. From the moment the customer confirmed the structural characteristics, the second phase began, that is, the creation of the semi-waterproof floor. 

The Scrigno model is one of TMT International’s flagship products, together with the Conchiglia semi-trailer. This moving floor vehicle offers a total lateral opening of 12.30 m, without the interposed column, and a continuous loading height of 2.57 m. The versatility and flexibility allow the transport of long items without problems.

One of the most important structural features is the absence of the interposed column. To date, very few companies in Europe are able to make fully opening semi-trailers. The total opening allows you to easily load and unload any type of material longer than 6.3 meters (e.g. aluminum billets or panels). In addition to ensuring ease of loading and unloading and reducing the risk of damaging the material, this configuration allows for significant time savings, which varies between 10-15 minutes for each load depending on the weight and type of material transported.

Another particularity is the reinforced frame in hot-dip galvanized high-strength steel. It enjoys notable resistance to corrosion, which makes it suitable for use in aggressive environments. It is extremely wear-resistant and does not require additional protection against rust.

The real innovation, however, consists in the creation of the semi-watertight moving floor applied to the semi-trailer with total opening. The vehicle supplied to DML Invest is the only semi-waterproof vehicle in Eastern Europe. To date, no one has yet proposed the semi-waterproof semi-trailer with the 110 package and total opening.

The complexity of the project, especially from a design point of view, required more time for its implementation. TMT had to compare different available options and evaluate which of these best suited the customer’s needs. Also, because due to another request from DML Invest, which concerned the increase in load stops from 16 provided in the standard version to 24 in total, the number of holes from which the transported liquid could escape has increased. Despite this difficulty, TMT managed to minimize losses.

The Scrigno vehicle was supplied in March and received only positive feedback from the customer. He was extremely satisfied, as the semi-impermeability feature made it possible to reduce the dispersion of the transported material.

In reality, TMT International has been collaborating with DML Invest for some years. In 2023, the Conchiglia model semi-trailer was already created for them, flexible for different types of transport, from pallets to bulk materials, with a load capacity of 92 m3 and an internal useful length of 13,600 mm. Its self-supporting Strenx 700 steel frame guarantees strength and lightness.

DML Invest chose TMT International not only because it is able to offer a wide range of configurations and therefore respond to the specific needs of customers, but also because it has managed to implement dedicated after-sales assistance. In the field of semi-trailers and, in particular in that of moving floors, the complexity of the technologies used requires a dedicated figure who, in times of difficulty, can interface with the customer, reassure him and find the most correct and rapid solution. They are vehicles used by companies in their everyday work and time, for these companies, is a fundamental value. The customer can always contact TMT for any problem and at any time.

Confirming the customer’s satisfaction is the fact that DML Invest has already requested the creation of the next semi-trailer, always with side doors but in the light version (starting from 8200 kg). In this way it will have all three of the most requested configurations.

www.tmtinternational.it