Kögel unveils the new Kögel trucker trailer at IAA Commercial Vehicles 2018

The KTT is the outcome of an opinion poll that Kögel conducted with professional drivers at the Truck Grand Prix, the Wolfsmeile festival and at motorway services. We asked what makes the perfect trailer for truckers. The Kögel Development department checked the feasibility of all respondents' suggestions and incorporated them in the KTT. Drivers' suggestions were very down to earth: more payload, user-friendliness, and last but not least, an appealing look.

The starting point for the KTT was the payload and weight-optimised frame and body of the NOVUM generation Kögel Light^plus. At the request of the pros who responded to our survey, the KTT has an internal height of 2,710 millimetres, thanks to a 90-millimetre-high frame neck. We were easily able to implement many of the other requests via our extensive individualisation range: To maximize payload, the trailer has lightweight equipment such as aluminium wheel rims, landing gear, air tanks and roof support frames, and portal doors made of extremely light yet strong duroplastic sandwich panels, with a honeycomb core known for its use in the aerospace industry.

Naturally, the KTT also comes with the familiar benefits of the NOVUM generation. These include the new air and lighting console on the front wall, which transfers the forces into the frame via the side members, the new outer frame profile, which greatly increases the accessibility of the VarioFix lashing points, and the variable lattice pockets of the sliding and corner posts. Axles were another topic close to professional drivers' hearts: they wanted the trailer to run smoothly behind the truck. So we fitted the KTT with Kögel KTA trailer axles – axle units characterised by easy maintenance, excellent tracking and reliability. The KTA's unique "double suspension", made from a soft rubber bearing and a spring steel wishbone, not only enhances the driving characteristics of the trailer but also reduces tyre wear. We also integrated an axle lift in the first and third axles, which complements the dynamic wheelbase control perfectly.

Respondents also had a lot to say about loading and unloading, as well as load-securing. So we fitted direct tensioners without a belt to make the tarpaulin easy to open and close. In addition, the floor load-bearing capacity is designed to withstand high fork-lift axle loads of up to 7,200 kilograms. To minimize lashing work, the KTT comes with a non-slip floor. In this optional feature, the plywood floorboards are provided with an anti-slip coating, which makes load-securing much easier and safer. This saves drivers, shipping agents and freight forwarders time, as it eliminates the time-consuming process of covering the trailer floor with anti-slip mats. Thanks to the anti-slip coating's sliding friction coefficient of μ* = 0.6, fewer lashings are necessary. For optimal load-securing, the VarioFix perforated steel external frame is equipped with 24 pairs of lashing shackles, with each ring affording 2,500 kilogrammes of tensile force. And of course, the DIN-EN-12642 Code XL certification means that no additional load-securing is required for form-locked loading.

As an add-on, the KTT is equipped in accordance with Daimler Directive 9.5. This includes a pallet stop and a double front wall bulkhead, among other things. Also, to dispense with the lattices required for Daimler Directive 9.5 when transporting pallet cages and strapped loads, the KTT has the Kögel Strong & Go body. This combines the innovative body of the NOVUM generation with a Kögel integral roof tarpaulin reinforced with stiffening belts. For certified beverage transport, only one row of lattices is required for single-level and double-level beverage crates on standard pallets with the Strong & Go body, instead of three or four rows with the normal body.

The KTT is also equipped with an ice-free system. This long inflatable air hose is mounted underneath the roof tarpaulin. When inflated, the hose pushes the tarpaulin upward in the shape of a slightly pointed roof, and accumulated water, snow and ice are easily and conveniently removed. This allows drivers to safely remove water and ice from truck tarpaulin roofs before and after driving, preventing serious accidents caused by falling chunks of ice. To improve road safety and prevent turning accidents, this lightweight trailer is equipped with flashing side marker lights. Other individual equipment includes Kögel LUXIMA LED exterior lights, a pair of LUXIMA LED reversing lights at the rear and another pair on top of the landing gear, Kögel LUXIMA LED working floodlights on the internal front wall for interior lighting, rubber ram bumpers, a transverse Delta rubber profile, a pallet stowage box, two large toolboxes, wheel nut protection caps and much more.

Cathodic dip-paint coating: lasting protection from corrosion

In the KTT, the entire vehicle frame is given long-lasting protection from corrosion by nano ceramic and cathodic dip-paint coating, supplemented with UV painting.