Tieman bitumen tankers are lighter, warmer

Tieman stainless steel bitumen tankers' significantly lower tare weights, superior heat retention and lower whole-of-life costs, have prompted Boral to take delivery of its seventh.

Boral's Merv Rowlands says although the initial outlay was greater, it was the best long term economic decision because, the company expects the tankers to last more than 20 years.

Designers used a sophisticated finite element analysis program to ensure no loss of strength.

Ten external and four internal structural stiffeners, offer superior control of stress from the weight of the payload, and the constant expansion and contraction that affects all bitumen tankers. The stiffeners, plus the corrosion resistance of stainless steel, allowed a thinner wall too.

Tieman's strong, chassis-free trailer design, also plays an important part in improved thermal performance, because it allows full wrap-around insulation and cladding. Even the trailer belly plate and ribs are insulated. And there is no conventional chassis to act as two long cooling fins for the hot payload.

“We are getting fantastic results from improved heat retention,” Rowlands says. “We're saving money in gas and in drivers' time sitting by the side of the road waiting for the load to re-heat after travel.”

Boral's drive for higher productivity also led it to specify aluminium external cladding, rather than the stainless steel cladding used by other Tieman customers. That saved an additional 230kg per tri-axle trailer.

Tieman had been designing and building stainless steel tankers for 50 years when it turned its attention to a new generation bitumen tanker. That unparalleled experience – there are more than 3000 milk product, wine, petrol and chemical tankers on Australian roads – allowed it to solve many long-standing problems faced by bitumen tanker operators.

Further information: Hymie Jechilevsky, Tieman Industries 03 9460 5111, hymiej@tieman.com.au