Tough Trailers Carry Tristar Industries to Success

Location:	Darwin, Northern Territory
Country:	Australia
Fabricator:	Tristar Industries Pty Ltd
Products Used:	AS/NZS 3678 - 250 XLERPLATE® AS/NZS 3678 - 350 XLERPLATE®

Darwin company Tristar Industries Pty Ltd has a 30 year history to back its claim that remoteness from major markets is no barrier to success.

The privately owned Australian company manufactures and sells an average of 80 side tipper semi trailers every year to customers in Central and North Queensland, the Northern Territory and Western Australia, including the Pilbara and Kalgoorlie regions.

It also produces water tankers, end tippers, pressure vessels and operates a general fabrication service backed by profile cutting, guillotine, bending, folding and rolling services.

Tristar Industries' first request for a side tipper design was from a customer involved in the long clean up after Cyclone Tracy. The design was a success and since then the company has developed a range of standard models as well as building to customer specification.

XLERPLATE® steel from BlueScope Steel is a key ingredient in the success of the Tristar side tippers and is widely used in the company's other fabrication work.

Production manager Frank Spiegel, who has been with Tristar Industries for nearly 20 years says the company's order book has never been healthier.

"We can't claim to be the only company in Australia producing the side tippers, but our designs seem to have established their superiority because of a combination of durability, reliability and stability," he said.

"They can be built in single, double, triple or special road train configurations and their major appeal to users is that they provide a quick, clean discharge on the move so that you get more trips or cycles per day."

The low centre of gravity provided by the side tipping configuration is particularly important on jobs where ground conditions are marginal and the risk of tipping over is real.

The need to cope with these same rough conditions has also brought trailer and water and fuel tanker customers to Tristar Industries.

"Many of our tipper, trailer and tanker customers have tried other lighter materials, but they realise there is a trade off between maximising your payload and having equipment which resists fatigue cracks," Frank Spiegel said. "Fatigue cracks can be welded, but the downtime and loss of productivity is what owners won't tolerate."

Much of the equipment built by Tristar Industries is used at mine sites where the road conditions can be very tough on trucks, tippers and tanker bodies. Regular haulroad usage on mine sites will quickly uncover any material weaknesses.

"You have to use the best materials when you design a side tipper or a 50,000 litre water or fuel tanker that will routinely be subjected to those conditions," Frank Spiegel said. "We use 250 Grade and 350 Grade XLERPLATE® steel for chassis rails and we also use 5mm and 6mm XLERPLATE® steel for the tipper bodies and water tanks."

The company also uses XLERPLATE® steel for trailer and body alterations and repairs. XLERPLATE® is a brand of high quality hot rolled plate steel from BlueScope Steel, Australia's largest steel company.

"We have a very good relationship with XLERPLATE® distributor OneSteel," Frank Spiegel said. "They keep us informed of grades and availability. Business is so strong that we are in the healthy position of being able to order steel to keep it on hand for work which we know will be coming up.

"We haven't really needed to make use of the technical support services of BlueScope Steel, but it's good to know that it is there if we need it. That's another benefit of dealing with an Australian company."