Brisbane trailer component supplier ABS Trailquip has announced plans to market a new specialised transport vehicle in Australia.
Brisbane trailer component supplier ABS Trailquip has announced plans to market a new specialised transport vehicle in Australia.
The vehicle, based on the Fiat Ducato van platform, has been dubbed the Pallet Taxi and is capable of self-loading and unloading a pallet weighing up to 1,600kg.
The concept is the brainchild of ABS Trailquip Managing Director George Green and stems from his own experience of having difficulties getting home renovation materials delivered to his home.
“I was doing some home renovations and we needed some tiles delivered. To get the tiles delivered, it took four or five days to get delivered and when the truck arrived it couldn’t get up our driveway. And so the tiles had to be moved by hand with a trolley. The whole process took two or three hours,” Green says.
Further research revealed there was no other vehicle available locally or globally that could pick up and deliver one to two pallets without the need for a forklift or pallet jack at either end.
The concept is not limited to the Fiat Ducato platform and can be adapted to most European and possibly Japanese front wheel drive platforms.
The driving factor behind the decision to use the Fiat was based on the fact it has all of its components, including fuel tank and exhaust system, under the cab minimising interference with existing vehicle systems.
The Pallet Taxi uses standard Fiat brakes and the tare weight of the vehicle remains the same as a standard Ducato.
The Ducato itself has become a global platform and will be released in the United States this year under the Dodge nameplate.
ABS Trailquip has one prototype up and running and is seeking to manufacture the vehicle to order for the local market. With the concept covered by a worldwide patent, the company is also seeking to expand the Pallet Taxi’s market overseas depending on market interest.
We drove and operated the prototype machine and found it a novel solution to transporting goods into difficult to access areas.