The Ackermann Story, Part 3

PA Containers and swap bodies

November 07, 2025

The third part of our Ackermann chronicle deals with the most successful years of the Ackermann company from Wuppertal. Many innovations and good sales figures characterize the company's history during the German economic miracle. Our freelancer Markus Hügle from Teningen has thoroughly researched and described in detail what Ackermann had to offer in the almost 150 years of its existence. 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 covers the last Ackermann era until the takeover by the US group Fruehauf and the bitter end in 1996.

Beautifully restored: Mercedes LP 322 with Ackermann furniture body and trailer. At Ackermann, vehicles with this uniform front end were referred to as “Type America.”

To kick off the third part of our Ackermann chronicle, we take a brief look back at the late 1950s and show two color photographs by Detlef Gerth, which were recently made available to us. The photos show two carefully restored Ackermann panel trucks that were displayed at a commercial vehicle meeting in 2015. This is followed by a photo of a Büssing furniture truck with what Ackermann called a “steep-form cab” at the Olympic Stadium in Munich. We then turn our attention to the actual topic of this article.

This “Type America” from Ackermann, which was built around 1958 on the basis of a Magirus-Deutz Mercur 112 FL and later carefully restored, is no less beautiful.

The photo shows a Büssing BS 13 FSA (chassis for special superstructures) with an underfloor engine from 1970. The backdrop is the tent roof in Munich's Olympic Park from 1972.
After Ackermann replaced the “Type America” with its cubic successor model, it was referred to as the new “steep shape” to characterize its changed appearance. Another example of this is the photo at the beginning of this article, which shows a Mercedes 1113 belonging to the Hinz trucking company in Kassel in 1993.

An important major customer for Ackermann was the German Federal Railways. In the early 1950s, there were no standardized 20- or 40-foot containers in Europe; these did not appear until the mid-1960s. This meant that goods transported by rail had to be laboriously loaded from trucks onto wagons and then transferred back onto the road vehicles of the rail freight forwarders at the destination station in order to finally reach the respective recipient. Culemeyer road rollers could transport entire railroad cars by road to the recipient's factory for large customers who did not have their own rail connection, but there was still no satisfactory solution for smaller transport tasks.

It was only with the development of the so-called PA containers that a remedy was found. PA stands for the French “porteur aménagé” and literally means “equipped carrier” or “roll container.” The German Federal Railways marketed the system under the brand name “Von Haus zu Haus” (door-to-door). The standardized containers fit on both railroad cars and trucks, but had to be rotated each time they were transferred, as they were positioned crosswise on the cars and lengthwise on the trucks.

In 1950, testing began on the new PA containers for rail and road. Ackermann actively participated in the “door-to-door” system with a short semi-trailer equipped with a rotating and tilting subframe that could be used to load the containers. A first-generation Magirus-Deutz S 3500 with a narrow, angular hood served as the tractor unit for the trials.

The pictures show different positions of the subframe, which was used to maneuver the PA containers into the appropriate position for unloading, loading, or transport.

Ackermann therefore developed a special single-axle semi-trailer that could accommodate a PA container. The transfer process initially proved difficult. The simplest solution would have been to use a crane, but not every recipient company had one at its loading ramp, nor did it have the additional personnel to operate it. A crane on the trailer itself would have had a negative impact on weight and driving characteristics. So the engineers at Ackermann came up with the idea of placing a movable subframe on the trailer chassis, which would allow the driver to load a PA container from the ground or from the wagon in a one-man operation. However, space at freight yards was usually limited, and complex maneuvering cost valuable time. The subframe could therefore be rotated 90 degrees for loading and unloading from the wagon. The truck driver simply had to position his small semi-trailer parallel to the track and could then pick up the container by swiveling the subframe. Once locked in place, the journey to the recipient could begin.

The first test vehicle was built in 1950 with a Magirus S 3500 conventional truck with a square hood as the tractor unit. The S 3500 was also chosen for series production, which began in 1951, but now with a round hood. The system quickly caught on and became a great success. Depending on the load, the containers were open, closed, or round. Many breweries also opted for this combined transport.

The Uerdingen wagon factory manufactured freight cars that were equipped with a system for holding the PA containers. Ackermann was the main supplier of the corresponding road vehicles. Several other companies were also commissioned by the German Federal Railways to manufacture them.

This photo was taken in 1958 when PA container transport was presented to the press. On such occasions, media representatives still wore suits and ties at that time.

The legendary Magirus round-nose was initially used for the series production of the semi-trailers. It owed its characteristic hood to the lack of a water cooler, which dictated the angular shape of the hood in other makes. Magirus used air-cooled Deutz engines.

“No more maneuvering” – this was the slogan used to advertise the “door-to-door” system in the 1950s. A 6.5-ton PA container could be loaded in just a few minutes by a single man.

Door-to-door containers came in a variety of shapes, but their dimensions were standardized. It was an ingenious system, whose only drawback was the limited capacity of the individual containers. When sea containers came onto the market, PA containers became obsolete.

There were also PA containers in a flatbed version with a tarpaulin cover. It is not known whether this variant could be loaded onto railway wagons together with other PA containers.

This vehicle is another variant: a tractor with a short ballast flatbed pulls a trailer on which the subframe for PA containers is mounted.

After the Magirus conventionals, cabovers took over the task of transporting PA containers. The German Federal Railways remained loyal to Magirus and used 135 D 11 FS tractor units.

Many breweries used the door-to-door system, as the PA containers also proved their worth as beer kegs. The photo shows the forecourt of Münster Central Station in Westphalia in the 1960s.

In the 1960s, newer tractors followed, again from Magirus. The wide square-nose truck complemented its round-nose counterparts, and from 1966 there were also 135 D 11 FS cabover trucks. However, a major disadvantage was the low capacity of these containers. When the first sea containers appeared in Germany in 1966 and special semi-trailer chassis were soon designed to transport one 40-foot container or two 20-foot containers, PA containers lost their importance and finally disappeared completely in the early 1980s.

Ackermann also supplied at least one transport vehicle for two PA containers on behalf of the German Federal Railways. The number of units of this variant is unknown, as is whether it was only a test vehicle.

Ackermann also developed other superstructures for the German Federal Railways, such as swap bodies that could be transported on both trucks and railway wagons. Henschel cabover trucks were mostly used for this purpose.

Experiments were also carried out early on with removable flatbeds for rail loading – a precursor to the swap bodies that soon became widespread. The photo shows a Henschel HS 3-125 T with a very short cab, which was built between 1959 and 1961.

This rig was designed for the German Federal Railways' “piggyback transport,” in which the flatbed of the semi-trailer was loaded onto freight cars. The tractor unit was a Henschel HS 145 TS, while the flatbed and trailer were from Ackermann.

Thanks to the Ackermann track system, the semi-trailer truck had an extremely tight turning circle, as can be seen from the tracks in the snow – even with the flatbed loaded. The photos below show the rail loading, where the flatbed was lowered by means of hydraulic support legs as soon as the tractor unit and dolly had been removed.

In addition, there were standard flatbed bodies for trucks and for two- and three-axle trailers of various weight classes. Like tipper bodies, they were manufactured from 1960 onwards in the newly built Plant II in Treis on the Moselle. From then on, the main plant in Wuppertal was able to concentrate entirely on closed light metal bodies. In Austria, the company Schneider & Blaha, later Brentenwerke, built light metal bodies under Ackermann license from 1957 onwards. In addition, two foreign plants were established in the early 1960s in Willisau in the Swiss canton of Lucerne and in Etreux in France, which also successfully supplied the Belgian market with bodies. In March 1964, the 10,000th light metal vehicle was delivered.

In Austria, Brentenwerke manufactured closed bodies under license from Ackermann. The picture shows a British Austin panel truck with a light metal body that was used by a Viennese trucking company.

Brentenwerke also fitted this Bedford TK from the 1960s with a light metal body under license from Ackermann.

The Swiss town of Chiasso is located directly on the Italian border. This is probably why the Bernasconi brothers chose a Lancia Esagamma as their transport vehicle. The semi-trailer was manufactured by the Swiss Ackermann branch.

This Magiris-Deutz 210 D 16 FL (built between 1964 and 1966) also received its body from the Swiss Ackermann branch.

The OM Tigrotto 65 was also available in Switzerland from 1962. Saurer imported light trucks from the Italian brand in order to be able to offer vehicles in the lower weight classes up to six tons payload. The model shown in the photo does not have much in common with the appearance of the Tigrotto, as it was completely re-bodied by Ackermann. Only the radiator grille is reminiscent of its origins.

A final example of Swiss Ackermann superstructures is this Mercedes LP 1113 from 1968. An unusual detail in Germany, the country of origin of the chassis, are the Trilex rims, which were very popular in Switzerland.

In 1965, Ackermann presented a whole series of innovations at the IAA Commercial Vehicles trade fair. Ackermann unveiled a swap body system developed in-house. The patented system, called “AWL” (Ackermann-Wechsel-Lader), enabled drivers for the first time to detach the body from the carrier vehicle independently and load a different one. Until then, almost all truck-trailer combinations, i.e., motor vehicles and trailers, had permanently mounted bodies. To load or unload, the truck had to remain stationary and the driver had to wait accordingly. The interchangeable body could remain at the loading ramp while the base vehicle was on the road with a different body.

The Ackermann Swap-Body-System (AWL system) was an important innovation for the transport industry. Although other suppliers also offered swap bodies, Ackermann achieved a dominant position and outstanding sales success. The Mercedes LP 1620 of the cubic generation was itself an extremely popular truck. It and its counterparts dominated the streets in the 1960s, not only in Germany. From 1973, the “new generation” replaced the cubic series.

“New standards for efficient transport” – that's how Ackermann advertised the AWL system, and not without good reason.

Magirus-Deutz three-axle truck parking an AWL swap body from the Schenker freight forwarding company

A Mercedes LP 2232 with 320 hp from the early 1970s with Ackermann swap body and trailer.

Deutrans, the state-owned freight forwarder of the GDR, also ordered swap bodies from Ackermann. The picture shows an Iveco 190-36 from the T series with 360 hp, which was built between 1987 and 1990.

Swap bodies also proved suitable for smaller trucks, such as this Hanomag-Henschel F 76 L with a total weight of just under 7.5 tons. The picture shows the vehicle loading or unloading the swap body.

The new system saved a lot of time and was ideal for large companies that constantly had to load finished goods, so it quickly became popular in many industries. Within about six years, several thousand AWL bodies were sold. Later, other manufacturers followed suit with similar systems. Initially, the AWL system was designed only for road transport, but shortly thereafter, the bodies could also be loaded onto railroad cars, enabling combined transport. Swap bodies had to be adapted to ever-changing length and weight regulations. The seven-meter body called Eurotainer also highlighted its importance for cross-border goods transport.

Another innovation from Ackermann was roll-up wall bodies, which allowed loading from three sides. The picture shows a Mercedes from the cubic generation from the fleet of a wood peeling plant in Eschenbach, Switzerland.

Another new feature was the roll-up wall bodies for trucks and semi-trailers. Previously, closed box bodies could only be loaded through the rear doors. Side doors were available as optional extras, but this made it almost impossible to load and unload small consignments quickly with forklifts or pallet trucks. Ackermann therefore developed movable side walls mounted on rollers for closed box bodies, so that pallets could be loaded quickly and easily with forklifts approaching from the side, or individual pallets could be removed.

From the mid-1960s onwards, closed bodies made of plastic composite construction, called AVK by Ackermann, were added to the product line. A facility in Wolfhagen near Kassel was taken over specifically for the manufacture of the corresponding components. These new bodies were mainly used for food box bodies and refrigerated vehicles.

In addition to all these innovations, Ackermann's portfolio still included “normal” bodies and trailers. These included, for example, flatbed trailers of various designs, as shown in the two photos. Above is a Mercedes LS 338 tractor unit (built between 1960 and 1963), which was later renamed LS 1418. Below is a Henschel F 161 S, built between 1967 and 1969.

All types of tippers could also be ordered from Ackermann. Above is a heavy Henschel three-axle truck of the HS 22 TK type, which was offered from 1963 to 1967, and below a tipper semi-trailer with a Krupp SF 701 tractor unit (built between 1959 and 1964).

The last photo in the third part of the Ackermann story shows two different car transporters. The Wuppertal-based company also manufactured this type of body. Both vehicles were based on Mercedes models and had the type designation 322. On the left is an LP 322, on the right an LPS 322. The type designation 322 was changed to 1113 in 1963.

In the mid-1960s, business was booming, with more than 1,000 employees in the various plants producing flatbed, tipper, and closed bodies as well as trailers in sophisticated series production. Even car transporters were part of the product line.

Carl Wilhelm Kölker had taken over the management of the company in the meantime. He quickly and far-sightedly recognized that in an increasingly European market, price would be the decisive purchasing criterion and that only size and specialization would enable the company to survive successfully. From around 1970, he promoted the Ackermann product line as the “Europe Program,” and from then on, flatbed vehicles were called “Internorm,” light metal bodies “Alunorm,” and refrigerated bodies “Afatherm.” This was intended to convey that standardized components enabled quick and cost-effective repairs across Ackermann's extensive service network. In the early 1970s, Ackermann had over 20 sales offices and more than 50 service stations in Germany alone.