The IAA Transportation took place from September 17 to 22, 2024 under the motto “People and Goods on the Move”. The “leading platform for logistics, commercial vehicles and transportation” invited the world to Hanover and presented a “huge selection of innovations”, for example with regard to the transport transition. With 1,650 exhibitors from 41 countries, participation was 20 percent higher than two years ago. The internationality of 73 percent marked a record number of exhibitors from abroad. The high participation of Chinese commercial vehicle manufacturers was particularly striking.
Over the past decades, the name Wörnitz (Germany) has become synonymous with Europe's largest classic truck meeting. The event takes place every two years, in 2024 for the 18th time. On the rain-free weekend from September 6 to 8, around 400 vehicles gathered at the Wörnitz truck stop, including many rarities and new acquisitions. They came not only from all over Germany, but also from other countries such as the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria and Switzerland.
Bodies for trucks, trailers and semi-trailers are essential in the transport industry. Body construction companies are responsible for providing them, ensuring that commercial vehicles are fit for purpose. This is because vehicle manufacturers usually only supply chassis with cabs.
This article is about the body manufacturer Ackermann. Our freelancer Markus Hügle has researched the history of the Wuppertal-based company for us and described in detail what the company has had to offer in the almost 150 years of its existence. Part 1 deals with the company's beginnings and its development in the post-war period, while parts 2 and 3 describe the period up to the 1970s. Part 4 covers the final era in Ackermann's history, up to its bitter end in 1996.
Nowhere in Europe are there as many truck fans as in the Netherlands. In this relatively small country, not only is cheese held in high esteem, but trucks are also very popular with the Dutch. Hardly any commercial vehicle operator would miss the opportunity to have their vehicles painted in elaborate multi-colored designs, and hardly any freight forwarder is not proud of the individual design of their trucks. The Spaansen company from Winkel in North Holland is not only no exception, but a shining example of the Dutch truck mentality. This report by Steve St.Schmidt is about Ton Spaansen and his latest acquisition, an International Transtar 4300 Conventional, built in 1971.
Every year on the last weekend in July, the "Profile Truckstar Festival" is held in the Netherlands. In 2024, it took place for the 42nd time. More than 2,300 trucks gathered at the TT Circuit in Assen in the north-east of the country. No other truck event in the world can compete with such numbers. Friday was the arrival day and on Saturday and Sunday 55,000 spectators came to enjoy the vehicles. There were classic and vintage trucks to admire, but above all modern trucks arrived from all over Europe. They outdid each other with particularly elaborate paintwork and decorative and valuable add-on parts. Steve St.Schmidt set off from Berlin to report on this spectacular event and illustrate his coverage with many photos.
For the 17th time, a special kind of classic vehicle festival took place on the site of a southern German gravel works between Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Participants were able to let off steam with their historic vehicles and construction machinery to their heart's content and spectators were invited to marvel at the colorful goings-on without barriers and fluttering ribbons. In addition, the meeting was, as always, characterized by a variety that could hardly be surpassed. Andreas Fehsenmeier and his son Linus from Heidelberg were there for truckinfocus.com and sent us an interesting report with great photos.
For the tenth time, the "Extraordinary Therapy Weekend" took place in Pritzwalk on the company premises of truck interior designer Andy Tägder, whose luxurious cab design can be admired on his Facebook page "AT Lkwpolsterung". Around 120 highly polished tractor units, most of them with expensive tuning parts and elaborate paintwork, attended the event from July 5 to 7, 2024. Matthias Herrfurth from Berlin was on site for truckinfocus.com and photographed some of the most beautiful trucks for us. Matthias has also made a name for himself on Facebook, he has almost 30,000 followers on his very successful page "Transport - Fotografie Matthias H. / Truckspotter".
Ford Trucks wants to be the eighth wheel on the wagon, so to speak, i.e. the eighth major truck manufacturer in Europe. This wish seems to be coming true. Following the presentation of the Ford F-Max tractor unit at the IAA 2018 in Hanover, things are looking up across Europe for the Ford Trucks brand, which has been producing trucks in Turkey for 60 years and is now also aiming for international success. The next step forward was the presentation of the new F-LINE product family in Crailsheim near Stuttgart at the beginning of June 2024. Ford Trucks now also offers distribution and construction vehicles as well as medium-duty tractor units. Steve St.Schmidt accepted the invitation to southern Germany and reports on the presentation of the new trucks.
The biannual Hillhead Quarrying, Construction and Recycling Show is a must-attend event for British fans of heavy construction equipment. Held in a working quarry in the picturesque area outside Buxton, Derbyshire, the show attracts most of the large excavator and wheel loader manufacturers, along with a wide selection of crushing machines, dump trucks and construction-related commercial vehicles.
In addition to over 600 exhibitors, a major attraction is the live demonstrations which are held throughout the day at the quarry face. Richard Stanier sent us this pictorial report on a few of the vehicles on display.
Over the last three years, the Road Transport Expo at Stoneleigh Exhibition Centre in Warwickshire has become the most important fixture in the British commercial vehicle exhibition calendar, and this June’s event was no exception, with all of the major heavy truck builders in attendance with an impressive supporting cast of trailer and bodywork suppliers. Our freelancer Richard Stanier from Stoke-on-Trent took a look around and sent us his report with interesting photos.
On June 8, 2024, it was that time again: as every year, the British Motor Museum in Gaydon hosted the "Classic and Vintage Commercial Show" over two days. What is probably the largest gathering of its kind in Europe regularly attracts up to 400 commercial vehicles from before the year 2004, with participants from other countries adding to the diversity of classic commercial vehicles. Admission is also valid for the museum, with around 400 classic cars and more than 160 tables with models of all scales. Our freelancer Richard Stanier from Stoke-on-Trent provided us with a photo report of the event.
"Fuhrmann Sandro Kollan" is the name of a company from the Ostprignitz-Ruppin district in north-western Brandenburg that deals exclusively with timber transportation. The company has earned a good reputation not only for the outstanding quality of its services, but also for the appearance of its elaborately designed trucks. Our freelancer Christoph Büch set off from Berlin to visit the company's boss Sandro Kollan to find out a few details about his company. Here is his report:
Vehicle bodies are indispensable for the transportation industry. Vehicle manufacturers generally only offer chassis with cabs, while the necessary bodies, trailers and semi-trailers are supplied by vehicle construction companies.
Ackermann from Wuppertal has not only made a name for itself with beautifully designed panel bodies, but also with a wide range of innovative products. Markus Hügle has researched everything Ackermann has had to offer in the almost 150 years of its existence in his company history. Part 1 deals with the beginnings up to the post-war period, parts 2 and 3 describe the period up to the 1970s and part 4 the last era up to the takeover by the US company Fruehauf and the bitter end in 1996.
Skill at the wheel of a truck is the theme of the "Lorry Driver of the Year" competition, which was held in England every year since after the Second World War. In our report, the authentic photos are particularly fascinating. The photographers from the magazine "Commercial Motor" were out and about at the event site in Birmingham in 1960 to take pictures of the competitors and their vehicles, which have long since become classics. Looking at the old black and white photos, we feel transported back to a bygone era.
Airfield vehicles are specially designed for use at airports. They perform various tasks on the airfield to ensure the safety and supply of aircraft and passengers. Anyone who does not have to deal with them professionally or is about to embark on an air journey hardly ever sees these vehicles. That's because they are hardly ever on the road.
In our article, we take a look at the airfield vehicles of recent decades: aircraft tractors, special tankers, baggage and catering transporters, as well as buses that can only be found on the airfield, plus huge fire trucks that help save lives in the event of a disaster. From a multitude of photos, we have selected the most interesting ones. The captions reveal some of the details we researched about the individual vehicles.
FTF, the Dutch manufacturer of trucks and special vehicles, was known for individual solutions in the construction of particularly heavy units. When container traffic became established internationally, methods had to be developed in a short time to transport the standardized large containers in the port. Europe's first container terminal was built in Rotterdam in 1966. FTF supplied the tractor units with which trailer trains up to 330 feet long could be moved in the port area. In this article, Niels Jansen from Bergen in North Holland describes how the development progressed and what has become of some of the FTF port tractors.
