Perfect pairing: Quality Carriers grateful for new trailer OEM

Randy Strutz is celebrating a new OEM partnership this Thanksgiving.

The Quality Carriers president asked three different manufacturers to build sliding drop-deck chassis trailers for the carrier’s domestic tank containers before turning to heavy-haul specialist Kalyn Siebert, which this year devised an all-new slider he says is “by far the best” of the four versions now in the company’s intermodal fleet. Kalyn Siebert’s “extendable ISO chassis” is 7 in. lower and nearly 1,000 lbs. lighter than competing designs, allowing Quality Carriers to better meet customer unloading requirements and haul heavier hazmat products under the 80-20 rule for transporting liquid tanks.

“If we could do it all over again, we would have gone to KS three years ago—and they’d already have all our business,” Strutz said.

The bulk hauler joined CSX Corporation in 2021 and debuted its truck-rail ISO tank service in September 2022. This year, Quality Carriers secured a patent for its innovative 20-ft. containers, which boast unique unloading, safety, and operating modifications designed to optimize performance for North American shippers; and doubled its fleet to over 600 units in a segment that continues to grow in response to sustainability and workforce initiatives. Russell Harrison, president of Tank Service Incorporated, said approximately 20,000 tanks now are dedicated to domestic duties in the U.S. and Canada during his market outlook at National Tank Truck Carriers’ 2024 Tank Truck Week.

Strutz had hoped to place 1,000 tanks in service this year, but various challenges restricted the rollout, and chassis were the most confounding—until now.

“We entered the market with an idea of how we thought it was going to work, but as with any new market, we definitely encountered some pain points, with the height of loading racks, and how our drivers interacted with the standard slider chassis,” said Shawn Harris, Quality Carriers vice president of tech services.

Unexpected obstacle

Quality Carriers leaders thought designing and sourcing domestic ISO tanks would present the greatest challenge going in. “It turned out to be the opposite,” Strutz said.

The pandemic-induced chassis shortage was the first problem. Then multiple OEMs said they didn’t have the capacity to take on special projects while catching up on backlogs. Strutz turned to a manufacturer in South Africa—where Welfit Oddy is producing Quality Carriers’ ISO tanks—but he didn’t see that as a long-term solution, so he tried other domestic suppliers. “And we were still struggling to secure the right chassis, with the right quality and delivery schedule, so we kept looking,” Strutz said.

See also: Quality Carriers secures ISO tank patent

Quality Carriers’ long-standing relationship with Polar Tank Trailer led Strutz to Kalyn Siebert, a sister company under EnTrans International that excels at heavy-haul customization. “If a customer wants something, and they’re willing to work with us, we’ll figure out how to do it,” said Matt Krock, Kalyn Siebert president. After initial meetings, Krock’s team developed a “very impressive” prototype.

“We tested it, made a few tweaks, and told them, ‘You’ve got all our business,’” Strutz said.

Custom engineering

Smaller tires are the most obvious height difference.

Quality Carriers’ previous chassis trailers sported 22.5-in. tires. Kalyn Siebert’s extendable ISO chassis features 17.5-in. Evoluxx ETL202 low-platform commercial trailer tires. “We do a lot of low-profile tires with our towing-and-recovery customers,” Krock explained. “And it’s not just the tires. You need specific axles, wheel ends, and suspensions for low-profile tires. They all must play together.”

Kalyn Siebert collaborated with Ridewell Suspensions to modify and repurpose an antiquated design for the trailer, allowing the trailer OEM to lower the deck height while leaving room for the tri-axle undercarriage in the main frame. “They worked together closely to create a suspension that could meet and exceed our expectations,” confirmed Zeek Hernandez, Quality Carriers director of asset management. Kalyn Siebert also used multiple finite element analyses (FEAs) to “skinny up” the frame while maintaining strength, primarily by using strategically placed, weight-reducing “lightening holes.”

The final product weighs 8,940 lbs.—960 lbs. less than its heaviest competitor—extends to 40 ft., 2.6 in. to meet bridge laws, and retracts to 31 ft, 11.8 in. to allow for clear and safe ground access to rear discharge valves, and facilitate seamless unloading at racks typically designed for DOT 407 tank trailers.

See also: Quality Carriers debuts intermodal service

“Of all the chassis manufacturers we’ve talked to, they’re the ones who listened to us most, and worked with us to create a solution, as opposed to saying, ‘We’re going to build the chassis the way we’ve always built it, and you’re going to live with it,’” Harris said. “And from our standpoint, we really appreciate partners who can help us solve problems for customers and make the job easier for drivers.”

Productive partnership

Quality Carriers ordered 175 extendable ISO chassis this year.

Kalyn Siebert began delivering the trailers in May, starting with 10 per month before ramping up deliveries to 25 per month. Quality Carriers had added 140 trailers to its existing fleet of 450 sliders as of early November.

“We plan on buying more next year as well,” a satisfied Strutz shared.

And Krock is thankful for a business-boosting win in what’s been a disappointing year for many trailer manufacturers, with FTR reporting year-to-date U.S. trailer orders were down 36% year-over-year through October.

“Kalyn Siebert has always been a company that will design to our customers’ needs, and although the ISO chassis market was brand new to us, the process of developing a trailer like this was really nothing new,” Krock concluded. “After several years of record sales for nearly the entire heavy-haul industry, and backlogs starting to return to normal, we were looking for the right opportunity to branch out and increase our product offerings.

“We couldn’t have picked a better partner than Quality Carriers.”