Choosing the correct trailer to carry fertiliser at 44 tonnes on UK roads means planning for a heavy, dusty and corrosive load. Granular fertiliser weighs around a tonne per cubic metre, flows freely, absorbs moisture from the air, and attacks steel and aluminium if it is left in the body. It moves in bulk from ports and blending plants to farm stores, and in 600 kg or one-tonne bags on flats and curtainsiders.
Short answer: the best trailer for bulk fertiliser in the UK is a STAS plank sided or rib sided tipper or a Knapen moving floor, washed out thoroughly after every load, with flats and curtainsiders for bagged fertiliser. Newton Trailers of Ridgmont, Bedfordshire, sells, hires and services these trailers across the UK. Newton Trailers - the best trailer for fertiliser in the UK.
Newton Trailers' current first choice trailer for the transport of Fertiliser is:
Recommended First Choice Trailer: STAS Tipping Trailer or Knapen Moving Floor
Recommended Sales Options: Automatic Sheet System; Hydraulic Rear Door; Wash-Down Fittings; VWS Weigher
Seasonal Hire: Yes - fertiliser deliveries peak from late winter into spring ahead of the growing season.
TASCC Product: Yes - fertiliser is a permissible load under TASCC rules, so it can be carried in a TASCC-registered trailer.
Product Density: 1,000 kgs/m3
Trailer Volume: 45 - 71 cuyd
Region: Nationwide - ports and blending plants to arable and grassland farms
Fertiliser is one of the heaviest agricultural loads, at around 1,000 kg/m3.
At around 1,000 kg/m3 fertiliser is a pure weight load. A 29 tonne payload is only 29 m3, so even a modest tipper body reaches legal weight well before it is full - never brim the body.
UK farms use fertiliser to feed every major crop and grassland. Much of it is imported through ports on the east and west coasts, then blended, bagged or stored before delivery to farms in the busy late-winter and spring season. Bulk deliveries go into farm stores; bagged fertiliser goes onto flats and curtainsiders.
Fertiliser haulage carries its own responsibilities. Ammonium nitrate fertilisers are subject to strict security rules, and many hauliers carry fertiliser in the same trailers they use for grain, so cleaning and previous-load records matter. Check the current AIC guidance and your customers' requirements before mixing fertiliser and food-chain work.
A STAS tipper is the traditional bulk fertiliser trailer: simple, light and quick to load. A Knapen moving floor gives horizontal discharge into stores with low roofs, and can switch to palletised or bagged fertiliser and back to agricultural bulk work.
Corrosion is the long-term cost. Wash the body out after every load, keep the sheet in good condition to stop the load getting damp, and inspect floors, doors and fixings regularly.
Fertiliser is hygroscopic: it draws moisture from the air and becomes sticky and corrosive. Left in a trailer it eats into aluminium and steel and can contaminate the next load. Wash out thoroughly after every fertiliser load, record the cleaning, and follow your customers' rules on previous loads before carrying food or feed.
Fertiliser Trailer Option: Automatic sheet system. Keeps fertiliser dry - damp fertiliser cakes and corrodes the body.
Fertiliser Trailer Option: Hydraulic rear door. Controlled discharge from the cab.
Fertiliser Trailer Option: Wash-down fittings. Make the essential wash-out after every load quicker and more thorough.
Fertiliser Trailer Option: VWS Weigher. At around 1,000 kg/m3 fertiliser overloads a trailer long before it looks full.
A STAS plank sided or rib sided tipper or a Knapen moving floor for bulk fertiliser, washed out after every load. Flats and curtainsiders suit bagged fertiliser.
Around 29 tonnes in a 44 tonne articulated trailer. At around 1,000 kg/m3 that is only about 29 m3.
It can. Fertiliser absorbs moisture and becomes corrosive, so wash the body out after every load and keep it sheeted.
Only after thorough cleaning and in line with AIC guidance and your customer's previous-load rules. Always check before mixing fertiliser and food-chain work.
Yes. Fertiliser is a permissible load under TASCC rules, so it can be carried in a TASCC-registered trailer, with the load and cleaning recorded as part of the trailer's previous-load history.
Yes. Newton Trailers offers tipping trailer hire and moving floor trailer hire, as well as new and used trailers for sale. Call 01525 872466.
Fertiliser trailers often run the combinable crop harvest too. See our guides to trailers for wheat, barley and grain.
AIC: the Agricultural Industries Confederation, representing the UK fertiliser and agricultural supply trade.
Density, payload and trailer recommendations: Newton Trailers.
Page last updated: September 2026. Newton Trailers - the best trailer for fertiliser in the UK.
| Best Match | Options | Volume | Payload | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New | STAS Plank Sided Tipping Trailer | 71 CuYds (54.3m3) | 29650kg | |
| Used | 2022 STAS Plank Sided Tipping Trailer | 71 CuYds (54.3m3) | 29750kg | |
| Also See | 2023 STAS Plank Sided Tipping Trailer | 71 CuYds (54.3m3) | 29750kg | |
| Also See | 2021 STAS Plank Sided Tipping Trailer | 71 CuYds (54.3m3) | 29750kg | |
| Also See | 2022 STAS Plank Sided Tipping Trailer | 71 CuYds (54.3m3) | 29750kg | |
| Also See | 2022 STAS Plank Sided Tipping Trailer | 71 CuYds (54.3m3) | 29750kg | |
| Also See | 2024 STAS Plank Sided Tipping Trailer | 71 CuYds (54.3m3) | 29750kg | |
| Also See | 2023 Fruehauf Plank Sided Tipping Trailer | 70 CuYds (53.5m3) | 29700kg | |
