Wabash National showed the next step in its composite trailer body technology this week at ATA’s Technology & Maintenance Council (TMC) Annual Meeting in Atlanta.
After showing its first composite reefer in 2017, the company doubled its display this year with its new DuraPlate Cell Core dry van and DuraPlate Honeycomb Core truck body.
Mark Ehrlich, director, Vans Product Line at Wabash National, says the Cell Core product is 350 lb. lighter than its conventional DuraPlate product, yet features comparable durability for withstanding abusive freight environments. These advantages are significant for weight and efficiency-focused fleets.
Additionally, Ehrlich says the Honeycomb Core is a uniquely developed proprietary product that also is as strong as the company’s convention truck body but an incredible 22 percent lighter. In the case of product the Cell Core and Honeycomb Core products, Ehrlich and Dustin Smith, group president, Commercial Trailer Products, say the production and assembly lines for these units are ramping up now with the hope of releasing the products industry wide next year.
