The full-service logistics company TST, from Worms, relies on the Krone Safe Curtain for customers in the beverage trade: The load securing curtain does not require classic side slats and thus offers many tangible advantages.
W
e no longer buy other curtains: In our business, the Krone Safe Curtain is the optimal equipment on the market”, says Andreas Nicolai, forwarding manager of TST GmbH. The medium-sized full-service logistics company from Worms has many customers in the beverage trade: When loading and unloading through the sides, the load-securing curtain shows its full strength. Krone has thus launched a product on the market that does not require the classic side slats: High-strength spring steel strips are integrated in vertical PVC tunnel pockets in the side curtains. This not only makes handling easier, safer and quicker; the Safe Curtain is also lighter than conventional curtains and thus allows more payload.
OPTIMAL SOLUTION FOR LOAD SECURING
When the product was first presented at the IAA Hanover in 2018, it was immediately clear to the TST team that they wanted to use the curtain: “The Safe Curtain in combination with the anti-slip floor TrailerSafetyFloor offers an optimal solution for load securing. It also makes it easier and safer to comply with legal requirements.” The company has already been working with Krone for ten years. “At that time, we decided to use products from the Emsland region because Krone was able to meet all our requirements for a fleet of vehicles in an optimal way.” At TST every newly purchased trailer is now equipped with a Safe Curtain. In 2020, the company celebrates its 30th anniversary: in 1990, it was founded as a one-man company by Frank Schmidt, himself a truck driver and son of a haulage contractor. He wanted to offer more than just transport from A to B and together with a growing number of customers, realised his philosophy of integrating himself ever further into the production and logistics processes of his clients. He still runs the company today – together with his wife Melanie. TST now has more than 3,000 employees at over 70 locations and maintains over one million square metres of storage space.
Open the curtain and load or unload directly: The company TST uses Krone Safe Curtain on all Profi Liners in its fleet.
49 PROFI LINERS WITH SAFE CURTAIN
“We offer all services in the logistics chain from a single source – from packaging to warehousing and transport”, explains Nicolai, who is responsible for the Pallets division. “Our focus is on individual logistics solutions for our customers” Currently, the TST fleet comprises 120 of its own trucks with more than 250 towed units: Almost 100 of these are Krone trailers. In addition, there are 21 jumbo swap bodies from the Commercial Vehicle Group. “All 49 Profi Liners that we drive, are equipped with a Safe Curtain. They are mainly used in local and regional transport and mostly in the trade and beverage sector.” Above all, a Safe Curtain saves time: “We can clearly feel that”, says the TST forwarding manager. “When it comes to side loading, we are often given preferential treatment at the customer with this system”. They appreciate the fact that the drivers can vacate the parking space their vehicle needs at short notice. “If the customer knows that we come with a Safe Curtain, it is clear that loading and unloading will be fast. The driver opens the curtain and can start immediately – before he has taken out all the slats from another vehicle and safely stowed them away, it takes time. As soon as he has finished, he closes the curtain and can drive off again immediately.” This also means that companies can increase their appeal among drivers by using this curtain: “A Safe Curtain makes work easier: If I can load and unload faster and more easily, this is a real plus in everyday life for me as a driver.”
LESS RISKS, LESS COSTS
A Safe Curtain also offers advantages in terms of occupational safety: “If the slats have to be inserted and removed by hand with conventional curtains, there are risks for the drivers. Especially when they work overhead, it may cause injuries quickly. With the Safe Curtain, this is completely unnecessary.” There is no need for staff training: “It is all self-explanatory. Handling is the same as with a traditional curtain, just the annoying removal and insertion of the insertable slats is eliminated or reduced to the two perforated rails for securing the load to the rear for a form fit.” These arguments alone make the investment worthwhile, reports Nicolai. But he also emphasizes: “In the subsequent years, there are of course also fewer costs for new purchases and repairs. With the conventional system, the driver sometimes forgets the slats, they break during loading and unloading, or the truck accidentally runs over them. With a Safe Curtain, that doesn’t happen, and you save on replacing them.”
The fact that Safe Curtain manages without insert slats makes it lighter and the handling much easier. At TST, the innovation has already proven itself in practical use.
Some customers are initially sceptical about the curtain: “Industrial customers in particular tend to insist on the old system with insert slats because they are used to it and do not want to deal with the new technology, even if it is simple and absolutely convincing”, is the opinion of the TST team. ”If side slats have been the standard for decades and suddenly are ‘missing’ in a vehicle, uncertainty prevails: the companies have their own rigid specifications for load securing and do not yet know the product. But the Safe Curtain is certified according to DIN EN 12642 Code XL (up to 140 km/h), VDI 2700 ff beverage certificate and Daimler 9.5. “In the beginning we used the Safe Curtain mainly with regular customers who were open to innovations and to whom we could easily bring the curtain closer. We were quickly able to show that the product is very well proven in practical use”.
