The Hidroamerica flatbed trailer weighs 36% less when made in 100% Strenx® steel

Today, one of the biggest challenges faced by the transportation industry is reducing equipment weight and keeping operational costs down. To solve this challenge, Hidroamerica used Strenx^® 700 to manufacture the frame of its flatbed trailer, reducing the weight by 36% compared to the same semitrailer variant using ASTM A36. 

For ten years, the company has worked exclusively with Strenx^® and Hardox^® steels from SSAB, considered to be some of the strongest in the world. The steels have helped to advance the evolution of equipment manufacture over the past decade. “Today, these materials are our standard,” says Felipe Guerrero, general manager of Hidroamerica. “They have a very large repertoire, which we have used throughout our entire portfolio of semitrailers (flatbeds, tippers, cement hoppers, lowbeds, etc.) and chassis equipment, and to develop boom cranes and rescue cranes.”

Customer and user benefits

• Redesigned trailer frame weighs 36% less than when using ASTM A36
• Trailers made lighter while increasing payload capacity
• Floor weight reductions on par with weight of aluminum
• Tare weight savings plus increased capacity quickly recoup trailer costs 
• Membership benefits of My Inner Strenx^® including market differentiation

Hidroamerica uses Strenx^® steel in the design of its ultralight three-axle flatbed trailer. “Our flatbed frame is made of 100% Strenx^® 700 from SSAB. The main beams are I-shaped and joined via submerged arc welding. All structural components of the trailer are made using this steel. Strenx^® is even used in the stamped steel floor, which was developed by Hidroamerica and has a crosshatched surface, reducing the weight by 300 kg (661 lbs.) as if the floor were made of aluminum,” Guerrero adds.

“And going back to the topic of weight: When that trailer was first made, it weighed 7,500 kg (16,535 lbs.). Today, this same trailer weighs 4,800 kg (10,582 lbs.) and has all the benefits of being made of high-strength steel. It is more economical and easier to manufacture, and future maintenance will be less costly compared to a trailer of the same weight made in aluminum and steel.”

For Hidroamerica’s general manager, the benefit of using Strenx^® steel is in the customer’s profitability. “If you need a robust frame, we offer a higher strength steel that adds durability without increasing the weight. Conversely, if the customer wants a lighter frame, they will get a lighter rig without sacrificing on the frame’s strength,” he adds. Hidroamerica did the math, and, in approximately five years, the increased payload capacity alone pays for the entire cost of the trailer because of this additional tare weight.