News Article

With the price of fuel increasing almost on a daily basis, fleet operators need to use every means at their disposal to improve fuel consumption and reduce costs. One way of doing this, which may not be immediately apparent, is to specify a steering axle when ordering new semi­-trailers.

BPW has been supplying its patented self­-steer axle to a wide number of fleets for many years, primarily to improve tyre wear and manoeuvrability

There is no disputing the self­-steer axle does both of these things. Tests prove that tyre life on a tri­axle semi­-trailer is at least doubled, and on the rear­most axle (i.e. the self­-steer), tyre life can be extended three to four times.

Manoeuvrability is improved because the trailer will follow more closely the path taken by the tractor unit, with considerably less ‘cut­in’ on cornering.

However, a further advantage of the self­-steer is an improvement in fuel consumption. In simple terms this comes about because the trailer is being ‘steered’ through corners rather than being ‘dragged’ through them. Tests carried out by BPW show that over a distance of one million kilometers, up to 10,000 litres of fuel can be saved.

The BPW design is both simple and effective. It uses a specially designed pressure bearing similar to a ‘rising ­butt’ hinge (see diagram), whereby side forces acting on the wheels during cornering cause them to turn slightly thus initiating the steering effect. Once through the corner, the wheels return to the straight ahead position. An automatic locking mechanism ensures the steer­ axle is not activated when the trailer is reversing.

March 2011

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