Modification of the Upper Deck of Car Carrier Trailer

Mah, Choon Sing (2016) Modification of the Upper Deck of Car Carrier Trailer. Final Year Project (Bachelor), Tunku Abdul Rahman University College.

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Abstract

In this dissertation, a design improvement and modification will be done on the structure of the car carrier trailer to increase the car carrying capacity. The shipment fees per vehicle is increased when the car trailer is limited by carrying capacity and needed to travel more round in order to deliver to its location. The current commercial car carrier presented in Malaysia’s road drive typically fits between 5 to 8 cars depending on the car size and trailer model (road vehicle is subject to Malaysia’s road laws (Road Transport Act). There is a national road safety rules statement constraint the car carrier trailer not to exceed the dimension limit and weight limit. A design of car trailer with 3 or 4 layer height of trailer platform only present in US or China because they have many long highway road outside the urban area with no restriction on footbridge and a wider road compare to our country. Our country highway road are more on city area and a bumpy road may cause those design of trailer to loss control while driving and cause accident to happen. The compact design of car carrier structure is important in order to carry higher possible units of commercial car that comply with road rules and regulation. Some design criteria likes sizing and material chosen to build the framework of the trailer is crucial to come out a remarkable conceptual design. Brainstorming is the idea of modification or improvement made on current market car carrier trailer and study on the patent of car carrier trailer working mechanism is important to start up the project. An appropriate calculation for structure’s stress and bending moment is needed to prove that the design is workable. A 2D & 3D design drawing by using computer software design tools will shows more detail about the structure of the trailer in terms of its scale and working mechanism. By looking to the potential investment at the future, the car carrier market faces both challenges and opportunities as a result of regulatory and market developments. It sees difficulties ahead for road hauliers because of shorter automotive production cycles, low market confidence and an uncertain business environment, as well as continued pressures on pricing and margins. (Andrew Williams, 2013) Trailer designs available today are considerably different. People are constantly looking at ways to improve the design and achieve greater versatility for the operators as they load vehicles of different sizes. The new design car-carrying ships may get larger and innovative but unless highway regulations change, auto-transport trailers aren't likely to grow in size. The new design also will become more even safer for the operators.