Truck Trailers: The Essential Guide to Types and Logistics Efficiency

Trailer Guide: How to identify them? The freight transport sector utilizes a wide range of specialized trailers, each designed to meet specific cargo requirements. This in-depth guide will help you understand the unique characteristics and practical applications of every major trailer type.

Trailers for Palletized Goods

Curtainsiders: The Versatile Workhorse

Our Trailer Guide starts with the curtainsider, a type of trailer particularly valued in the freight transport sector for its flexibility and ability to adapt to loads of various sizes. Its structure is characterized by a combination of pillars, crossbeams, and a sliding side curtain, which allows for quick and simplified access to the cargo. The name itself comes from the "curtain" (centina), the supporting arch that holds the roof, ensuring structural integrity.

How a Curtainsider is Structured:

Thanks to its modular configuration, the curtainsider allows for extremely easy loading and unloading, making it ideal for various types of goods. Here are its main features:

• Modular structure with a sliding roof → Vertical pillars are removable, allowing the trailer to adapt to loads of various heights and dimensions.
• Full opening of side curtains → The sliding system allows the sides to be completely uncovered, facilitating loading and unloading with forklifts or cranes.
• Removable locking bars for oversized loads → Essential for transporting bulky or irregularly shaped goods, ensuring greater versatility.
• Curtain tensioning system → Keeps the curtain taut to protect the cargo from weather and ensure greater stability during transport.

Why choose a curtainsider trailer?

The curtainsider is an ideal solution for those needing speed in loading/unloading operations, cargo protection, and versatility. It is used for a wide range of goods, including pallets, industrial materials, agricultural products, and oversized loads, offering a perfect balance between strength, practicality, and safety.

Types of Curtainsiders:

1. Standard Curtainsider
   • Useful length: 13.60m
   • Useful height: 2.70m
   • Payload: 24-25t
   • Advantages:
     • Loading versatility (side, rear, top)
     • Weather protection
     • Optimized for standard pallets
2. Mega Curtainsider
   • Useful height: 3m
   • Increased volume up to 100m³
   • Special features: Lowered loading deck and air suspension; ideal for high-volume automotive and lightweight cargo.
3. Double Deck Curtainsider
   • Adjustable crossbar system creating a second loading level.
   • Capacity: up to 66 Euro-pallets.
   • Function: Allows for stacking non-stackable goods to maximize internal volume.

Box Trailers (Dry Vans)

The box trailer is a closed, rigid-structure trailer characterized by fixed walls that offer maximum cargo protection and security.

Types of Box Trailers:

1. Standard Box Trailer
   • Rigid and closed structure; ideal for high-value goods sensitive to theft or weather.
2. Isothermal Box Trailer
   • Constructed with special insulating panels to maintain internal temperature passively. Required for specific ATP-regulated goods.
3. Refrigerated Trailer (Reefer)
   • Equipped with an active cooling unit and high-insulation walls to maintain the cold chain between +25°C and -25°C.

Trailers for Bulk Freight

Tippers (Dump Trailers)

Tippers utilize a hydraulic system that allows the body to be lifted for gravity-based unloading of loose materials like sand, gravel, or grain.

• Rear Tipper: Most common for construction and agriculture, tipping at 45-50°.
• Trilateral Tipper: Offers the flexibility to unload from the rear or either side.

Walking Floor Trailers

The Walking Floor is an innovative system using a reciprocating floor of aluminum slats to move the load without tipping, ideal for indoor unloading.

Tankers (Cisterns)

• Bulk Powder Silo: For grains, flour, or cement, using pneumatic discharge systems.
• Liquid Tanker: Specialized compartments for chemicals, fuel, or food-grade liquids.

Intermodal Transport Units (ITU)

Containers

Standardized global units (20ft, 40ft, 45ft) designed for seamless transition between ship, rail, and road transport.

Swap Bodies (Casse Mobili)

Lighter than containers and optimized for European road transport, often featuring foldable legs for independent standing.

Specialized Trailers

• Flatbed/Low-Loader: For oversized heavy machinery or construction materials.
• Car Carrier (Bisarca): Multi-level decks for vehicle logistics.
• Coil Carrier: Curtainsiders with a reinforced internal "well" for safely carrying heavy steel coils.

Conclusion

Choosing the correct trailer is fundamental to optimizing transport efficiency, ensuring safety, and maximizing profitability. By matching the nature of your cargo with the right equipment, you eliminate waste and ensure regulatory compliance in the modern 2026 market.

This guide is based on general information widely accepted within the freight transport industry. Specific characteristics may vary depending on the manufacturer, model, and year of production. For detailed specifications regarding a particular trailer, we highly recommend always consulting the manufacturer's official technical documentation and the regulations currently in force.