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An enterprising Turkish transport group has combined its own skills with Dutch and German engineering expertise to come up with a range of trailers fit to challenge the best that Europe has to offer. Bryan Jarvis reports.
Building two chalk and cheese products in the same factory is no mean feat but an enterprising Turkish trailer manufacturer has managed it with the unlikely pairing of Kässbohrer powder and liquid tankers and the highly specialised Talson range of dry-freight and reefer trailers.
Tirsan was set up in 1977; it dominates the Turkish trailer market and in 1998 opened a plant in Germany.This forms a major role in the group's long-term strategy to supply trailers to all parts of Western Europe, and ultimately to become one of the main trailer manufacturers alongside Schmitz and Krone.
Tirsan's first task was to prove that Turkish transport engineering standards are in no way inferior to those in Europe; to this end it has embraced state-of-the-art trailer manufacturing technology. Whereas 20 years ago it was producing York axles under licence, its current range meets the latest EU standards while the factory is run under the ISO EN 9000 guidelines. Tirsan uses BPW, SAF, DCA andTridec running gear, as well as Wabco electronics, Aspok lighting and fridge units from Thermo King or Carrier.
Its German satellite at Gochjust north of Duisburg, assembles trailers from ready-painted chassis frames, body kits, stainless steel and aluminium tanks, which arrive from Turkey by sea and road. Most of the other components, such as axles, suspensions, braking, electrics and electronics, are sourced in Germany.
Innovative thinking from the Kassbohrer and Talson sales-engineering teams is a key element in Tirsan's drive to re-establish these marques in the central EU states. France remains a notoriously difficult market to penetrate, but the group's thrust into the UK and Ireland is now two-pronged.
Leeds-based Specialist Trailer Hire handles the sales of Turkish-branded Tirsan trailers but KassTal Trailers UK of Halifax,West Yorkshire,...