The perfect trailer. That’s what Lane Construction’s Stafford, VA, location wanted. With a Roadtec Shuttle Buggy at hand and an interstate to pave, Lane Construction needed a trailer that would efficiently get the equipment to the job site without hassle while meeting road regulations.
The Roadtec Shuttle Buggy brings efficiency to Lane’s paving operation. It is designed to quickly and efficiently carry asphalt between the hot mix asphalt haul truck and the paver during road construction. However, while the Shuttle Buggy enhances productivity by eliminating any delays in paving on the job site, it also poses some logistical challenges. It is simply a large load to carry.
“The Shuttle Buggy is 12 feet tall, and we didn’t have a trailer that could easily haul it,” says Tim Payne, Lane shop foreman. Because of the logistical challenges, he said, Lane found it easier to use another, less efficient method to complete the work. They “made do” with the equipment they had onsite.
While the company wasn’t necessarily losing jobs without the Shuttle Buggy in use, Payne’s equipment management knowledge easily told him leaving the $500,000 piece of equipment parked in the yard to collect dust just didn’t make sense. With the potential to improve efficiency and productivity in sight, Payne set out in search of a trailer that would meet Lane Construction’s need not only for hauling the Shuttle Buggy but also for flexibility to handle other equipment and loads as well. Trailers made specifically for the Shuttle Buggy would sit idle if the machine wasn’t in use.
Payne’s search culminated at the World of Asphalt tradeshow in Charlotte, NC. It was there that the Lane team spotted the Talbert 50CC-PS, a trailer design influenced by its dealer, Hale Trailer Brake and Wheel.
“The trailer is designed specifically for the paving market. We were highlighting it at the show because it was the ideal market segment,” says Chris Hill, general manager for Hale. “We had the model on display, and after reviewing the specifications with Lane Construction, we found it was the perfect fit for their needs.”
Hale has been a Talbert dealer for more than 20 years. The companies’ relationship has evolved to a point where Hale works with
The trailer features a bolt-on ramp to provide a more gradual load angle at the rear
Talbert to design new trailer solutions. When the dealer encounters a challenging application, it turns to Talbert for an engineering and design solution.
“We’re always looking at how we can fit the needs of our customers,” Hill says. “We don’t want to give them any off-
the-rack trailer. We want it to be an ideal solution for the equipment that needs hauling, which is how the 50CC-PS was developed. We saw a need for a trailer of this caliber in the industry, and we knew Talbert would be the company to bring it to life.”
The process begins by examining the products that need to be hauled, their weight, dimensions, and the combination of equipment on a load at any given time. In the case of the 50CC-PS, the 26-foot deck offers space for full construction fleet loads and features a specially designed ramp to allow easy loading and unloading of common paving equipment such as rollers. The design of the ramp and trailer slopes from the bottom up to create a more moderate incline over a greater distance, approximately a third of the deck length. This feature is ideal for equipment with very low ground clearance and a long body length, such as the Shuttle Buggy.
“This trailer was specifically designed for pieces of equipment that are low to the ground,” says Russ Losh, Northeast area sales manager for Talbert. “The shallow loading height allows equipment to be rolled onto the trailer without scraping the bottom of the equipment on the trailer. This eliminates the need to lay planks out behind the trailer when loading and unloading, which saves up to 30 minutes.” In the case of Lane Construction, which needed to load and unload the Shuttle Buggy daily, the time saved was a huge advantage.
“We wanted to use the Shuttle Buggy on project work we were completing on a portion of Interstate 95 outside of Stafford,” Payne says. “However, due to road restrictions on I-95, equipment couldn’t be left on the highway overnight. We needed a trailer that could easily haul the Shuttle Buggy to and from the jobsite every morning and every night.”
Complicating the challenge even more was the fact that Lane Construction faced specific height restrictions. “To legally transport the Shuttle Buggy, we needed a trailer that could haul it without exceeding the 13.5-foot height road restriction,” Payne says. “When you’re working with a 12-foot-high piece of machinery, that’s not an easy requirement to meet.”
Talbert’s 50CC-PS met all these specifications. The trailer’s finish height at the front of the main beams is 8.75 inches, ensuring that when the Shuttle Buggy was loaded it wouldn’t exceed the 13.5-foot restriction. Additionally, the trailer features a bolt-on ramp to provide a more gradual load angle at the rear: fifteen degrees rather than the standard 35-degree angle. The 50-ton capacity 50CC-PS offers a deck width of 8 feet, 6 inches, and a low deck height of 20 inches. The specifications worked so perfectly for Lane that the company purchased the exact model that was displayed at the show.
For Lane, it was those distinct specifications that really stood out. In addition to the time saved when loading the equipment, each axle accommodates up to 25,000 pounds, making it easy to carry the 80,000-pound Shuttle Buggy.
“We got the paperwork rolling right away after World of Asphalt,” says Hill. “Lane Construction was equipped with the trailer in just about a month’s time.”
While Lane originally purchased the trailer to haul the Shuttle Buggy, when that equipment isn’t needed on the job, the team uses it to haul pavers, excavators and other large equipment to sites throughout the area. “The 50CC-PS is so unique because of the low load height. It makes it efficient to load and unload, and we rarely have to worry about exceeding any height restrictions,” Payne says. “We use it all the time. Every day, in fact.”
Hill says he’s not surprised that Lane uses the Talbert trailer on a regular basis. In fact, Hale sees a lot of demand for Talbert trailers because of the company’s design and engineering expertise. “Talbert covers a lot of specialized transport with their lowboys, sliding axles and steerable dollies,” he says. “There’s a big market for all of the interesting stuff they do, and their commitment to what the industry needs really pays off for our customers.”
It’s a commitment that, for Lane Construction, has made for the perfect haul.
