Newton Trailers Limited News

Magnesium is not aluminium is it?

Magnesium is not aluminum, is it?

It was either my Chemistry teacher or my wife who said 'You are arrogant Smith'.  Not relevant but these are my ramblings and I will say what I like. Also, it is only suppliers and trailer manufacturers who read this blog searching for slights and hurts. I digress..... anyway as my Chemistry teacher (recently deceased) would clearly have informed me is that I am referring to Aluminium alloy and not the pure element aluminum when discussing the aluminum so vital to our industry. Magnesium is an important minor component of the mixture that is 80% sourced from .......... China. I bet you have spotted which way this is running. So China is less and less worried about what it is going to get for Christmas from the rest of the world and declared that it would not supply any increased amounts of Magnesium from midnight.  So this could mean that European aluminum alloy suppliers have not got the ingredients to even supply the aluminum even currently sold to the trailer manufacturers of Europe.  Shit hits fan around Christmas time by current reckoning.  So it is now a case of which trailer manufacturers recognize this and which ones will work it out whilst repairing the fan as the turkey is roasting in the kitchen. So another alloy price spike wends its' weary way towards us.

Posted by Andrew on 21/10/2021

Fruehauf out of Administration

Fruehauf went into a nasty and  contested Administration in August and September. Insiders were aware of the difficulties that the company has been in for some years. The brand has been stretched to breaking point - and clearly beyond - for the third time in 16 years.  MV Commercials are the new owners  and have the ambition and heart to try and restart the site again. It is of course a difficult time to restart a company with aluminium and parts either hard to source or absent in the market. With the range of products in MV's stable, grabs, cranes etc there is a strong chance of success.  We wish them well and we shall wait and see what happens next.

Posted by Andrew on 20/09/2021

Sugar Beet - ready for kick off

Sugar beet is about to kick off - the season of mists and beet lying on the side of the roundabout in Bury St Edmunds is upon us again.

Hopefully with British Sugar's improvements to the trailer fleet; automatic doors, automatic sheet systems and no catwalks we will see less thrills, spills and automobiles. If we could only get all the sugar beet trailers securing the load below the height of the top rails and covered with a sheet system then 2 plus 2 will start to equal 4 in Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Essex and Lincolnshire. With the prospect of trailer weights increasing by 2 tonnes over the next few years this will be a challenge to keep the beet in the box.

Posted by Andrew on 09/09/2021

Booming June

What a strange market. Supplies for every trailer part are limited or limiting. Some trailer manufacturers such as Fruehauf remain dormant whilst others power on. EBS systems have gone missing from the supply chain. Wabco say no more systems until August - so everyone on the ship lurches to starboard and cleans out Haldex and Knorr Bremse from the shelves. Odd odd odd. So potentially it is a buoyant market but one where getting hold of trailers to sell is the problem. Harvest could be missing some players this year.... 

Posted by Andrew on 14/06/2021

May News

After 30 years at it you can run out of new things to say. But pretty much you can just repeat news of about 8 years ago and the circle is relevant again. We have coped with Brexit (sort of), the Pandemic is rapidly becoming old newspaper now - so we need another crisis to brighten up our dull old lives. And this time it is lack of rain (failed monsoons for 2 years) in Taiwan and too much cold in Texas in February.  Who would have thought that even a loaf of bread has a semi-conductor silicon wafer in it? Taiwan makes the most silica but has no water to keep the silicon mills running - and power cuts in Feb took out the next slice in Texas. And so ...... no LED lights for trailers and even less ECU for the braking systems. = sad trailer manufacturers relying on WABCO, Haldex or Knorr Bremse to slow down their equipment are shit out of luck.  Back next year when maybe there will be some trailers to sell. Love and kisses etc. 

Posted by Andrew on 04/05/2021