Schmitz Cargobull

A first visit for TruckStop, which provides an opportunity to discover the new S.KO COOL assembly line, but also several developments and new features that announce the manufacturer’s future directions. This visit also marks the beginning for TruckStop of broader coverage of the world of industrial bodybuilding.

For a first visit to Schmitz Cargobull, the Vreden site is certainly an excellent gateway. Here, the German manufacturer is currently making major changes to its industrial facilities with a new assembly line dedicated in particular to the new generation of the S.KO COOL, the refrigerated semi-trailer that occupies a strategic position in the range.

Schmitz Cargobull presents this new installation as a step towards the “Smart Factory”. Beyond the expression itself, the visit above all makes it possible to see how much the manufacturing of a modern semi-trailer is evolving. Automation, digital process control, robotics and interconnection between the different manufacturing stages are taking an increasingly important place in the plant.

The new line should in particular make it possible to improve the precision and consistency of production while offering greater flexibility. Schmitz is also placing emphasis on controlling the quality of refrigerated bodies, particularly in terms of thermal insulation.

The S.KO COOL at the centre of the new line

This industrial modernisation accompanies the arrival of the new generation of the S.KO COOL, whose international presentation is announced for IAA.

This new S.KO COOL makes it possible to understand another development in the sector: the semi-trailer is no longer only a body, a chassis and axles. It is progressively becoming a set of connected systems.

Schmitz is thus fitting a new Body Control Unit (BCU) as standard. A true central unit of the vehicle, it networks the main equipment of the trailers and should make it possible to improve their availability while paving the way for new digital functions. Information concerning, in particular, interior monitoring, door locking or the status of the different systems can thus be centralised. In refrigerated transport, where vehicle downtime can quickly become costly, this search for availability obviously makes perfect sense.

Refrigeration is evolving too

Another important element of the new S.KO COOL: its refrigeration system. The vehicle receives the new generation S.CU dc90 refrigeration unit, combined with an “ePTO ready” interface. The unit uses, in particular, a new two-stage piston compressor as well as R454A refrigerant.

According to Schmitz Cargobull, switching from R452A to R454A makes it possible to reduce the CO₂ equivalent linked to the refrigerant by 89%. At the same time, the manufacturer announces up to 6% additional refrigeration capacity and a reduction in fuel consumption of up to 10%. Cooling the body from +30°C to -20°C could be carried out up to 21% faster, representing an announced gain of around thirty minutes.

But the point that particularly attracts attention in the current context is probably this famous ePTO interface. It makes it possible to electrically power the refrigeration unit from the high-voltage battery of an electric tractor unit, without requiring a second high-voltage battery on the semi-trailer.

The same vehicle nevertheless retains the ability to work behind different types of tractor units. If no electrical power supply is available, the integrated diesel generator automatically takes over.

A pragmatic solution at a time when transport operators must gradually integrate electric vehicles without necessarily being able to convert an entire fleet all at once.

The S.KO COOL also receives several less spectacular developments that are directly linked to drivers’ daily lives: new interior LED lighting, an additional panel allowing the refrigeration unit to be controlled from the rear of the semi-trailer, an anti-slip multifunction floor, and also the possibility of installing a solar panel to maintain the battery charge when stationary.

More payload behind electric tractor units

Electrification does not only concern refrigerated transport. Among the new products presented by Schmitz is also the BERGER brand, whose LTOe model is a lightweight curtainsider semi-trailer specifically designed to work with electric tractor units.

Its unladen weight starts at 4.7 tonnes. But the work is not only about the hunt for kilograms: the wheelbase has also been adapted in order to better distribute the loads and limit the risk of overloading the drive axle of the electric tractor unit, which is naturally heavier.

Schmitz announces that an increase in payload can make it possible to reduce the number of trips by up to 10% for the same transported volume.

The approach is interesting because it illustrates a sometimes forgotten consequence of truck electrification: changing the energy source of the tractor unit also means rethinking the semi-trailer that works behind it.

The city is also becoming a development area

Schmitz Cargobull is also taking advantage of its partnership with Polish manufacturer GT Trailers to expand its offering in bodybuilding and urban distribution. The German group owns 48% of GT Trailers and the two companies are now jointly developing certain solutions.

Two vehicles illustrate this strategy: the S.BO CITY, intended for urban distribution with a dry box body, and the S.CS CITY, a “Tautliner” version intended for urban and regional activities.

The S.BO CITY combines a FERROPLAST body with a galvanised steel frame and focuses in particular on manoeuvrability thanks to a steering axle. Tail lift, lift-up rear door and various loading possibilities are intended to enable it to meet the needs of food distribution, general cargo and retail.

The S.CS CITY follows the same logic with a curtainsider body and a design adapted to difficult access and frequent stops. Its lifting roof notably allows side or top loading.

A first visit that calls for more

This visit to Vreden also had a somewhat particular dimension for me. It was my first visit to a Schmitz Cargobull plant and certainly not TruckStop’s last incursion into this world.

We have obviously been talking for a long time about trucks, transport and the men and women who use them. But behind the tractor unit lies another equally important industrial world: that of semi-trailers, trailers, bodies, refrigeration equipment and, more broadly, industrial bodybuilding.

TruckStop will now give more space to this sector.

This development also accompanies a personal change, since I will soon be taking on new responsibilities within the international bodywork jury. A responsibility that will naturally lead me to follow European manufacturers, bodybuilders and equipment suppliers much more closely, their innovations and, above all, the concrete solutions they provide to transport operators.

In this context, starting with Vreden was particularly interesting. Because behind the robots, digital processes and the now unavoidable terms Smart Factory or Industry 4.0, this visit above all shows that the transformation of transport is not taking place only under the cab of new trucks. It is also happening behind them.

And it is precisely this part of the vehicle that we will now be looking at much more closely at TruckStop.

Text and photos: Fabien Calvet