New options for hauling freight have pushed the envelope of the old-school conventional trailer. Softside trailers—also known as curtainsides—have rapidly opened up a new world of flexibility to freight and logistics companies seeking ways to cover more bases with a single trailer. Profit opportunities previously left on the table because of the strictures imposed by a conventional box trailer are now exploitable with the diversity offered by softside trailers. Getting the job done is also more efficient and safer. Roland was a major driving force in the popularity of softside trailers in Europe. Beginning in 1986, Roland expanded to the U.S. as emerging demand for the flexibility and convenience of softsides swept across North America, as well.
Here are just a few bases of comparison to illustrate how softside trailers stack up against conventional box trailers.
Freedom Of Choice
A conventional van trailer is a conventional van trailer and will never be anything else. You're stuck with it. However, a softside trailer with retractable side curtains and a solid roof and rear door is a convertible hybrid that adapts to shifting freight demands and combines the three-side loading and unloading convenience of flatbeds with the full containment, security and protection from the environment of a van trailer.
Real World Adaptability
If only all freight came in uniform-sized brown boxes shipped or delivered at traditional back-up docks where space was always available... a conventional trailer would meet all your needs. But we all know that’s not reality. A softside easily accommodates large or irregular-shaped freight that can only be loaded/unloaded from the side. Where conventional docks aren’t existent—or are already occupied—for expedited loading/unloading a softside can pull up next to available side doors, or is easily and rapidly accessed from both sides by multiple forklifts on ground level.
Anytime On/Anytime Off
Freight entering a conventional trailer through its single rear door is necessarily loaded in a single fixed sequence. That means it leaves the trailer through the same door—but in exactly the reverse order. The tyranny of first on/last off loading complicates planning and, in a conventional trailer, often means hauling a single load where filling the trailer with multiple shipments instead would be more efficient and profitable. The side access of a Roland softside ends load order dependency. It gives you the freedom to load freight in whatever sequence fits your requirements and allows unloaders to locate and unload separate shipments anytime from anywhere in the entire length of the trailer.
Back-Haul Benefits
If you’re hauling freight on a one-way basis only in a conventional trailer, you’re probably bringing that trailer back to Point A totally empty. Potential profits from offering your shippers back-hauling service are equally void. Single-door access doesn’t permit adding back-haul freight to a trailer containing shipments yet to be delivered. The side-access of a softside, conversely, allows deliveries and back-hauls to coexist happily within the same trailer. Since you’re already paying fuel and maintenance expenses to bring that truck and trailer back to home base anyway, back-haul profits increase your revenue per haul and go almost entirely to improve your bottom line.
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