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Curtainsider Trucks for Sale (377)
Curtainsiders are the workhorses of the transport industry. Extremely flexible, a curtainside truck can be used for such a wide range of delivery tasks. It can obviously do everything a box truck can do. If you want to load and unload quickly then there are the rear doors – either roller shutter style or with barn doors where the truck can be loaded from a loading bay. Where curtainsiders come into their own is when there are cumbersome objects that do not lend themselves to being loaded on pallets easily, but require the protection from the weather that a flatbed or drop side truck cannot afford. A forklift can load the truck quickly from either side – if you are in a rush and have the resources, the curtainsider can be loaded on both sides at the same time using two forklifts.
Used Curtainside Trucks & Trailers
After the ubiquitous box truck, the curtainsider is the second most popular rigid truck for sale at Truckpages. If you include the curtainside trailers then they usually top the charts. The most popular curtainside truck brand is, unsurprisingly, the market leader DAF, whilst the largest choice of curtainside trailers comes from leading manufacturer, SDC .
More Curtainsider Trucks Info
Buying a Used Curtainsider
Buying a used curtainside truck is no different to making any other secondhand truck purchase. You must take a good long look over the driveline, check the wheels and tyres etc. The only additional area you need to consider is the state of the curtains and tracks themselves.
Take your time and undo every clip that holds the curtains in place, then fully slide them along to reveal the while of the loading area. Make sure the belts are not worn and that there are no tears in the curtains. Check of any earlier repairs to the curtains – it is not necessarily a terrible thing that they have been damaged slightly in the past, but the repair will need to be solid.
Some curtains look tired when they have had their previous graphics removed, but often, a decent quantity of traffic film remover can sort this out. Buying a curtainsided truck with the logos simply painted over could be a lot of work to remove and you may be better negotiating a great deal with the seller and investing in a new set of curtains.
Curtain Replacement
It is not the end of the world if you have to replace the curtains – doing so will really smarten up the truck in any case. Buying new curtains for the truck also means that you can change the colour to one that suits you better. Bear in mind that there is usually only a choice of base colours – matching your livery may be a lot trickier.
Recycle Old Curtains
If you are buying new curtains for the curtainsider, then don’t just throw away the old ones – there is a company in Switzerland called Freitag (translated as Friday) that buys these curtains to make them into handbags and satchels.
Other Names for Curtainsiders
Tautliner
Over the years there have been plenty of companies making these types of truck bodies. Sometimes the brand names stick – think Hoover and vacuum cleaners. You may hear people talk about ‘Tautliners’ – this is a brand of curtainside body that is built by Boalloy in Cheshire. They differ slightly to many curtainsiders in as much as the bottom of the curtain is never removed and the curtains simply slide along a rail.
Tilt Body
These are a type of curtainsider that is a lot more popular on the continent. They are essentially a dropside truck with a removable frame and series of curtains. This means that the truck can be used as a curtainsider, but if there are loads that are too tall for the frame (and are OK being exposed to the weather) then the frame is removed and the truck is a standard dropside. This type of ‘Tilt’ or ‘Tiltliner’ body is common for semi-trailers in the continent.
In the UK we see the vast majority of trucks as traditional curtainsiders, with a tiny percentage being tiltliners.
Euroliners
These are trailers that look like curtainsiders that are used on the continent. The main difference is that the roofs slide open to help loading from overhead. This means that loading long items or heavy coils from an overhead gantry crane is possible.
Megaliners
Mega trailers in general are those that run on smaller wheels and tyres with a low-ride tractor unit. Using smaller wheels means that the height of the body can be taller giving more load space. In the UK this is less of a problem, as our motorway bridges are higher than on continental Europe. We are able to have overheight trailers running on normal wheels and tyres.
Latest Curtainsider Trucks News
Short Lead Times Result in First Mercedes Actros order in 5 Years
Caledonian Logistics has ordered 35 Mercedes-Benz Actros trucks in rigid and tractor unit form – their first Mercedes Actros order in five years, due in part to short lead times frrom the German manufacturer. The Aberdeenshire-based company’s 35 new vehicles are being supplied by local Dealer BLS Truck & Van and are the subject of contract hire agreements with Mercedes-Benz Finance. Most are replacing trucks by two other manufacturers that have reached the ends of their contract hire terms. However, Caledonian Logistics is also increasing its total fleet strength by a couple of vehicles, to 80. Caledonian Logistics has ordered…
New FUSO Canter for Brewery
So reliable was Gower Brewery’s first FUSO Canter that when it was finally due for replacement Director Chris Mabbett had no hesitation in returning to South Wales Dealer Euro Commercials for another. Established in 2011, the multi-award-winning Gower Brewery employs traditional methods to produce handcrafted, premium-quality ales at its base on the Crofty Industrial Estate, Pen-clawdd. Like its predecessor, which had been in service since 2013, the company’s new Canter has a gross weight of 7.5 tonnes. As a 7C15 variant it is powered by a 3.0-litre common-rail turbodiesel that produces 150 hp and 370 Nm of torque. The truck…
A Tonne Extra Payload Seals FUSO Canter Deal
If you have been used to operating 3.5 tonners, then you would expect to get a much larger payload from a 7.5 tonner. Unfortunately this is not always the case – unless you opt for a lighter chassis like the Fuso Canter which has a body and load allowance of over 5 tonnes. The 7C15 offers a combined body and payload allowance of 5,100 kg, roughly a tonne more than a conventional chassis with the same gross weight A new, high payload Canter, sourced from local Mercedes and Mitsubishi Fuso Dealer Rygor Commercials, has helped the Gloucestershire-based craft baker emerge…
Low Ride Seals Mercedes Actros Deal
Mercedes-Benz Trucks’ ability to supply a 26-tonne chassis with the low frame height that allows customers to maximise load volumes meant that when it needed a second truck to stay ahead of growing customer demand, PRM Green Technologies had no hesitation in choosing another Actros. The company, which operates from headquarters in Cannock, Staffordshire, provides specialised IT equipment recycling and secure data destruction services for customers from across the commercial and public sectors. Like its three-year-old predecessor, the new vehicle was supplied by Dealer Midlands Truck & Van. Once again, the operator chose a 2540 LnR model with ClassicSpace L-cab,…
Renault Range D Conquest Deal
Roger Millett, Transport Solutions Executive at Sparks Commercial Services Ltd had a good day when, after cold calling a pallet operator with no Renault trucks on the fleet, he managed to close a deal for two new Renault Trucks. The dealer, Sparks Commercials, reputation for aftersales service helped his case, as did the falling service levels from their existing truck dealer has led to a Renault Trucks D Wide 26-tonne rigid turning up at Broughton Transport Solutions Ltd. to service increasing demand on their pallet network business. The D Wide with high-spec, rear-steering chassis was an operator-requested preference due to…
