Doing something no one else is doing. It's often a guarantee of success. This is now also true for Tohaco; the Liessel-based company has experienced considerable growth over the past two years and that is thanks to its unique trailers with air suspension system.
The use of an air suspension system has long been used within the transport sector, but for trailers it was quite unusual until now. Tohaco developed an air suspension system for trailers up to 3.5 tonnes and has been on the market with it since early 2013. "At the time, we joined forces with several parties, including a developer from the transport world and an owner of a metal company," says Berry Hurkemans of Tohoca. "We had already come across trailers with air suspension left and right at trade fairs, but in our opinion there were still quite a few snags. Together with VB-Airsuspension and others, we developed the final concept. We built several prototypes and saw how it performed in practice. After the necessary preparation in terms of sales, a website, warranty and maintenance manuals, we entered the market. Meanwhile, it is slowly starting to spread."
No air suspension system failures yet
The trade was initially sceptical. There were doubts about the functioning of the suspension and suspension system in particular. And those very aspects turned out to work extremely well, is the conclusion after a few years. "The first failure of the system has yet to occur. Of course we will still run into things and we have bumped our noses before too, but so far we know few problems."
In particular, the use of air suspension on trailers increases comfort and safety. "The system creates the possibility of lowering the trailer so that driving on and off can be problem-free. In addition, the independent suspension, together with the air suspension, ensures that the wheels are always in contact with the road surface. A normal trailer jumps and dances in all directions, even when empty. You prevent that with the air suspension system."
Export growth
Meanwhile, the concept is also catching on in other European countries. In the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg, Tohoca is the only party building air suspension for trailers. Even in the rest of Western Europe, there is no party developing air-suspended trailers in series. Certainly not in combination with electric steering. "In Germany, air-suspended trailers are only built as customised products. Those trailers are more manually operated. We have electronic control as a starting point. A closed system where you have no influence as a user. That also provides extra safety."
Hurkmans still sees plenty of opportunities for the future with its air suspension system. "There are still many more opportunities than we are taking advantage of now. We are a young company, we can still expand. But the most important thing is to first lay a foundation that we can build on. We do not want to make any promises to customers that we cannot keep. We will first succeed with the current trailers. Doesn't take away from the fact that there are plenty of opportunities, for instance around horse and bone trailers."
Photo caption: Tohaco managing director Berry Hurkmans (right) and Berry Bijsterveld at the production line of air-suspended trailers.
Source: www.tohaco.com
By: Kelly Bakker
