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Aug 25, 2023

Top of the trailer game

Date: 30.06.2021 More than 60 years of innovation has put the Drake Group at the

Date: 30.06.2021

More than 60 years of innovation has put the Drake Group at the top of the Australian trailer industry, and they’re not slowing down anytime soon with a spate of new products on show

The Drake Group stepped up its Brisbane Truck Show display yet again, this year opting to outdo its usual two-up trailer installation, by stacking three trailers on top of each other!

The aim of this, beyond of course showing how tough its trailers are, was to show off the latest Drake and O’Phee innovations – a result of the combined 100 years of trailer building experience the two brands share.

There were plenty of firsts at the show for the Drake Group, as well as some of its tried and tested staples – with Drake continuing to push the envelope in the heavy haulage space.

Drake Trailers has successfully merged cutting-edge technology with its rugged, robust range of trailers.

A first for Drake, and a game changer in the heavy haulage space, is its latest steerable deck widener.

This in-house designed and built steerable widener features Drake's own ‘Active Steer’, which allows up to 35 degrees of additional maneuverability.

"We’re calling it Active Steer because it's basically steered off the skid plate to the turntable, with a mechanical link that steers the trailer as you corner," explains Drake Trailers’ head of technical sales, Byron Foss.

"All the axles steer on this trailer, not just the self-tracking on the rear axle, and what's unique is we have the ability to disconnect the skid plate and steer it via a radio remote control.

"If you want to crab the trailer for example, if you want more steering angle than what you could do with your prime mover, you can use the remote control and turn that steering even further," he says.

In addition to the Active Steer, the steerable deck widener features Drake hydraulic suspension, lay-flat ramps for improved wind resistance, and a 30,000-pound (13,608kg) hydraulic winch that is also controlled remotely.

With a payload of 33-tonnes or 47-tonnes with a Drake 2x4 dolly, as well as the increased maneuverability – this trailer offers a compelling metro heavy haulage option.

"This is a brand new model for us and we have high hopes – there was huge interest at the Brisbane Truck Show and it isn't priced much higher than normal self-tracking deck widener," Foss says.

Another innovative Drake creation is the quad axle drop deck widener, which brings the best of two popular trailer models together to create a high-productivity hybrid.

"We took elements from a couple of popular models and put them together to make one. It's a mix of our low boy and our traditional deck widener," says Foss.

"Some customers were asking for a top deck instead of a gooseneck, so we grabbed the top deck from the low boy and we put it on a normal deck widener to create this.

"You’ve got yourself a top deck now that you can put all sorts of stuff on – it's a great mix," he says.

The quad axle drop deck widener features BPW airbag suspension and self-tracking rear steer axles.

With a light tare weight of 13-tonnes Drake is able to achieve a payload of 36–37-tonnes, despite this trailer being a conveniently short 14.6m.

"It's a good metro trailer with the self-tracking rear, short length at 14.6m, and its high payload," Foss says.

"With its light tare weight even multi-loading is possible, making this a really versatile civil option."

If you’re in the semi space, you’ll be no stranger to O’Phee Trailers, one of the top players in the semi-trailer space since the late 80's.

Since joining the Drake Group in 2015, O’Phee has continued innovating and their latest range centres around the performance-based standards (PBS) approved super semi with split groups, available in flat top, drop deck and skel trailers ranges.

O’Phee had two of its super semis on display at Brisbane Truck Show; a flat top and container skel.

"They’ve got a new axle group arrangement, which allows you to load up to 49.5 tonnes gross in certain PBS applications," Foss says.

"Founder Mick O’Phee was one of the early players in the PBS space and he works very closely with our customers to maximise their route specific payloads. He's a guru in that space and has been since day dot."

As well as the super semi options, O’Phee showcased its iconic swing lift, one of its side loader options.

"One side loader we had on display at BTS was a swing lift with a light tare of 9.4 tonnes. This trailer is fast to operate [and] low height, so you can get high-cube 9’6" containers under 4.3m.

"Most other side loaders put you over 4.3m with high-cube containers on them. These things are tried and tested," he says.

Drake Trailers has been at it since 1958, when engineer Colin Drake started a trailer repair business in Brisbane.

Before long, Colin realised there was a market for well-built Australian trailers, particularly low loaders.

"He very quickly began manufacturing flat tops and drop decks," explains Drake Group's business development manager, Sam Drake, who is also Colin's grandson, representing the third generation of the family in the company.

"At the time, there weren't very many Australian manufacturers producing low loaders, so he started producing different models to address a gap in the market and that's where it all started."

For Colin it wasn't just about making the same old trailers already available down under, he wanted to innovate and build the best.

"Some manufacturers were making lighter-duty low loaders, but we took it to the next level," Sam says.

This led Colin to developing the swingwing widening low loader, which was launched in 1969 and has continued to evolve since its debut 50 years ago.

"When the company started producing the swingwing and full widener trailers, it was clear that my grandfather had created some models that were revolutionising the way equipment was moved in Australia," Sam says.

"The swingwing was the biggest game changer for the industry. There wasn't anything like it available at that time. No one was building a trailer like it."

Over the past 63 years the Drake Group has continued to grow through innovation and a customer-focused approach to delivering the right trailer for the job.

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