 | |
| Company type | Privately held company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Automotive industry in New Zealand |
| Founded | 20 February 1878 |
| Founder | David & Joseph Steel |
| Headquarters | Christchurch, New Zealand |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Products | Sidelifters, semi-trailers, Intermodal freight transport equipment |
| Website | www.steelbro.com |
Steelbro Group is a heavy vehicle and crane manufacturer headquartered in Christchurch, New Zealand. In 2013 it owned the Steelbro, Transtank, Fuelgear and Freightquip businesses. [1]
Steelbro was founded in 1878 by brothers Joseph and David Steel [2] [3] and originally named the Steel Bros Canterbury Coach Factory in Lincoln Road, Addington, New Zealand. At this time the settlement of Christchurch was less than 30 years old.
The company initially manufactured horse drawn wagons, coaches, gigs and drays for the South Island of New Zealand. By 1895 the Steel brothers employed 22 staff.
In the early 1900s the company began making motor vehicle bodies, initially for commercial vehicles then private cars. The first of these were built on Albion chassis and then later Ford, Leyland and Bedford. This was followed by Triumph and Caterpillar and McCormick-Deering tractors. [4] During the war years a number of military products were manufactured by the company to support the war effort, including tractors, barges, construction equipment and even including dummy aircraft for placement at a number of airports around the South Island of New Zealand. By 1952 the company employed about 100 staff. [4]
In 1960 the company began mounting HIAB cranes to custom heavy trailers and truck bodies. Soon after becoming the first company outside of Sweden to manufacture HIAB loader cranes. [4]
By 1967 the first Toyota Corona to be assembled in New Zealand came off the Steel Brothers' Motor Assemblies production line. [5] Steel Brothers also assembled and exported Mark 4 Lotus Seven sports cars from 1973 to 1979.
In the mid 1970s the growth of intermodal freight transport was becoming significant in New Zealand, an island nation reliant on sea freight for both imported and exported goods. Soon after the company began to manufacture Sidelifters for the New Zealand and International markets. These were used to load and unload shipping containers for transport by road. [4]
By the 1980s the company was manufacturing cars, truck bodies and heavy trailers for New Zealand, the Pacific, Southeast Asia and the United States and trading under the name of Steelbro. Along with the in-house designed heavy trailing equipment were agency brands for Putzmeister, HIAB and Johnston Roadsweepers. [4]
In late 2001 Steelbro acquired Klaus Transportsysteme GmbH & Co. of Memmingen, Germany. [6] Another Sidelifter manufacturer, known for pioneering a number of the early concepts used in the industry during the 1960s. [7]
In 2003 the company began marketing a new type of container, designed to drop cargo such as coke directly from the bottom of the container into the hold of a ship. [8]
In 2005, about 2000 litres of diesel fuel from Steelco's Sockburn plant leaked into the Heathcote River after a thief stole fuel and left the nozzle running on the ground. [9]
In 2010 Steelbro was involved in a patent infringement suit with Swedish company Hammar Maskin. [10] In 2011 the company received a patent for a new stabilizer design. [11]
In 2013, the sidelifters division of Steelbro was placed in receivership, after which the NZ distribution of the equipment was taken over by TMC Trailers. [12] The company's plant in Christchurch was closed. [13] [14] Steelbro Group moved Sidelifter manufacturing to its other facilities in Asia. [1]
In 2014, the sidelifters division of Steelbro was purchased by Howard Porter [15] and continues the operation of the global business [16]
Although Steelbro still manufacture customized semi-trailers, the main product manufactured is the cranes and trailer combined as a Sidelifter. [17] The New Zealand manufacturer assembles components from a number of different international sources in the Christchurch factory before shipping to customers worldwide. [18] [19]
The capacities of variants range from 4 tonnes to 45 tonnes. The most common models are rated to a maximum of 36 tonnes.
A range of crane models are offered by the company with model numbers reflecting the capacity of the crane pair and design variant. For example, the SB360 is the first generation design of Sidelifter cranes capable of lifting a maximum 36 tonne as a pair. Likewise the SB362 is a third generation design with the same maximum lift capacity.
Containerization is a system of intermodal freight transport using intermodal containers. Containerization, also referred as container stuffing or container loading, is the process of unitization of cargoes in exports. Containerization is the predominant form of unitization of export cargoes, as opposed to other systems such as the barge system or palletization. The containers have standardized dimensions. They can be loaded and unloaded, stacked, transported efficiently over long distances, and transferred from one mode of transport to another—container ships, rail transport flatcars, and semi-trailer trucks—without being opened. The handling system is mechanized so that all handling is done with cranes and special forklift trucks. All containers are numbered and tracked using computerized systems.
An intermodal container, often called a shipping container, or cargo container, (or simply “container”) is a large metal crate designed and built for intermodal freight transport, meaning these containers can be used across different modes of transport – such as from ships to trains to trucks – without unloading and reloading their cargo. Intermodal containers are primarily used to store and transport materials and products efficiently and securely in the global containerized intermodal freight transport system, but smaller numbers are in regional use as well. It is like a boxcar that does not have wheels. Based on size alone, up to 95% of intermodal containers comply with ISO standards, and can officially be called ISO containers. These containers are known by many names: freight container, sea container, ocean container, container van or sea van, sea can or C can, or MILVAN, or SEAVAN. The term CONEX (Box) is a technically incorrect carry-over usage of the name of an important predecessor of the ISO containers: the much smaller steel CONEX boxes used by the U.S. Army.
A container ship is a cargo ship that carries all of its load in truck-size intermodal containers, in a technique called containerization. Container ships are a common means of commercial intermodal freight transport and now carry most seagoing non-bulk cargo.
A crane is a machine used to move materials both vertically and horizontally, utilizing a system of a boom, hoist, wire ropes or chains, and sheaves for lifting and relocating heavy objects within the swing of its boom. The device uses one or more simple machines, such as the lever and pulley, to create mechanical advantage to do its work. Cranes are commonly employed in transportation for the loading and unloading of freight, in construction for the movement of materials, and in manufacturing for the assembling of heavy equipment.
Intermodal freight transport involves the transportation of freight in an intermodal container or vehicle, using multiple modes of transportation, without any handling of the freight itself when changing modes. The method reduces cargo handling, and so improves security, reduces damage and loss, and allows freight to be transported faster. Reduced costs over road trucking is the key benefit for inter-continental use. This may be offset by reduced timings for road transport over shorter distances.
A sidelifter is a specialised vehicle or semi-trailer used to hoist and transport ISO standard intermodal containers over longer distances.
A swap body, exchangeable container or interchangeable unit, is one of the types of standard freight containers for road and rail transport.
A flatcar (US) is a piece of rolling stock that consists of an open, flat deck mounted on a pair of trucks (US) or bogies (UK), one at each end containing four or six wheels. Occasionally, flat cars designed to carry extra heavy or extra large loads are mounted on a pair of bogies under each end. The deck of the car can be wood or steel, and the sides of the deck can include pockets for stakes or tie-down points to secure loads. Flatcars designed for carrying machinery have sliding chain assemblies recessed in the deck.
A container crane is a type of large dockside gantry crane found at container terminals for loading and unloading intermodal containers from container ships.
Rail freight transport is the use of railways and trains to transport cargo as opposed to human passengers.
A gantry crane is a crane built atop a gantry, which is a structure used to straddle an object or workspace. They can range from enormous "full" gantry cranes, capable of lifting some of the heaviest loads in the world, to small shop cranes, used for tasks such as lifting automobile engines out of vehicles. They are also called portal cranes, the "portal" being the empty space straddled by the gantry.
Shipping container architecture is a form of architecture that uses steel intermodal containers as the main structural element. It is also referred to as cargotecture or arkitainer, portmanteau words formed from "cargo" and "architecture". This form of architecture is often associated with the tiny-house movement as well as the sustainable living movement.
SBB Cargo is a subsidiary of Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) specialising in railfreight and is operated as the Freight division. Swiss Federal Railways is a former state-owned and -controlled company that was transformed in 1999 into a joint-stock company under special legislation following the first Swiss railway reform and divided up into three independent divisions: Passenger, Freight and Infrastructure. The headquarters of Swiss Federal Railways SBB Cargo AG, the Freight division's official designation, are in Olten. In 2013, SBB Cargo had 3,061 employees and achieved consolidated sales of CHF 953 million. In Switzerland, SBB Cargo is the market leader in rail freight, transporting over 175,000 tons of goods every day. This corresponds to the weight of 425 fully loaded jumbo jets.
Containerlift is a freight transport company in the United Kingdom. Containerlift introduced the sidelifter transport concept widely used in Australia and New Zealand to the UK.
A specialized set of jargon describe the tools, equipment, and employment sectors used in the trucking industry in the United States. Some terms may be used within other English-speaking countries, or within the freight industry in general. For example, shore power is a term borrowed from shipping terminology, in which electrical power is transferred from shore to ship, instead of the ship relying upon idling its engines. Drawing power from land lines is more efficient than engine idling and eliminates localized air pollution. Another borrowed term is "landing gear", which refers to the legs which support the front end of a semi-trailer when it is not connected to a semi-truck. Some nicknames are obvious wordplay, such as "portable parking lot", in reference to a truck that carries automobiles.
A shipping container is a container with strength suitable to withstand shipment, storage, and handling. Shipping containers range from large reusable steel boxes used for intermodal shipments to the ubiquitous corrugated boxes. In the context of international shipping trade, "container" or "shipping container" is virtually synonymous with "intermodal freight container", a container designed to be moved from one mode of transport to another without unloading and reloading.
A twistlock or twist lock, together with matching corner castings, as defined in norms including ISO 1161:1984, form a standardized (rotating) connector system, for connecting and securing intermodal, and predominantly ISO-standard international shipping containers. The primary uses are to securely stack containers, for locking them into place on a container ship, semi-trailer or rail carriage, and for lifting and handling by specific container-handling equipment, like straddle carriers, reach stackers, container-handling forklifts, sidelifters, and various types of container cranes.
Keith Walton Tantlinger was a mechanical engineer and inventor. As Vice President of Engineering at the Fruehauf Trailer Corporation his inventions played a major role in containerization. Working with a Fruehauf customer, Malcom McLean, they spearheaded the container ship revolution in the 1950s, Tantlinger developed much of the early technology that made modern container shipping possible while at Fruehauf. After its initial order of containers from Brown Trailer, Sea-Land switched to containers made by the Strick division of the Fruehauf Trailer Company. Fruehauf had been one of the dominant players in building truck bodies and trailers for a long time, and, as already described, had previously innovated in the design and construction of the early commercial semi-trailers. President Roy Fruehauf was impressed with the idea of containerization, so in addition to manufacturing containers for Sea-Land his company agreed to make the trailer chassis that were needed, and also to provide financing to Sea-Land for the purchase of these containers and chassis.
Toll Domestic Forwarding (TDF) is a division of the Toll Group specialising in freight forwarding by road, rail and sea within and between Australia and New Zealand.
A container chassis, also called intermodal chassis or skeletal trailer, is a type of semi-trailer designed to securely carry an intermodal container. Chassis are used by truckers to deliver containers between ports, railyards, container depots, and shipper facilities, and are thus a key part of the intermodal supply chain.
