Latest technologies from Goldhofer to revolutionize the Turkish transport industry

Group photo of the Turkish attendees – with new knowledge in their heads and smiles on their faces at the end of the two-day technology workshop at the Goldhofer headquarters in Memmingen.

Ağir Nakliyeciler Derneği (AND) is a Turkish association with a current membership of thirteen leading companies in the heavy haulage business. It was founded in November 2016 to represent the interests of the Turkish heavy haulage industry as a whole and to enable its members to speak with one voice in communicating its extensive demands for modernization to the Turkish government. In particular, the association has set its sights on “eliminating all legal and infrastructural obstacles to heavy haulage at the national and international levels so as to enable its members to develop more efficient and effective logistics processes.”

“Enormous growth potential lies dormant in the Turkish heavy haulage industry,” says Caglar Cuhadar, Sales Manager Crane and Trailer at Karun Makina Ltd., and he continues, “The current legal situation is such that only a few types of axles are permitted on Turkey’s roads. That means modern technologies like modules with pendular axles simply may not be used.” The Karun Makina company, which was founded in Ankara in 1989, specializes in sales and rentals of cranes and heavy haulage equipment and is all too familiar with the discrepancy between the state of technology and the restrictions imposed by the authorities. The company has been supplying the AND membership with high-grade transport equipment for many years now and is about to become a member itself. “For our customers’ heavy haulage requirements, our focus has long been on Goldhofer products. Unfortunately semitrailers with pendular axles, for example, are not permitted under the current regulations, and we have only been able to offer a limited number of transport solutions for use on Turkish roads. In collaboration with AND, we hope to be able to convince the Turkish Ministry of Transport of the advantages and long-term benefits of pendular axles and other heavy-duty transport technologies,” says Cuhadar.

In order to give individual AND members access to information on modern transport technologies and first-hand experience of various vehicles in action, Karun organized a two-day visit in autumn 2017 to the plant of the world market leader for heavy and special transport solutions. Caglar Cuhadar and Orkun Oztuna, General Manager at Karun, accompanied an AND delegation of 17 experts on their visit to the Goldhofer headquarters in Memmingen- After a warm welcome and guided tour of the works, the visitors were given a demonstration of various Goldhofer PST and THP modules. As there is a very big growth of the wind power industry in Turkey, the visitors showed keen interest in the FTV 300 and FTV 500 blade transport devices. The program also included intensive workshops and discussions to communicate and develop the necessary technological know-how of the AND membership.

“The feedback on the event from the participants was consistently positive,” says Cuhadar. “We need a minor revolution in the Turkish heavy haulage industry. The objective of our trip to Germany was to familiarize the AND delegation with the solutions available from a global technology leader. Thanks to Goldhofer, the AND’s officers now have meaningful knowledge of modern transport solutions. In the upcoming negotiations with the relevant government representatives, they will accordingly be able to put forward substantial arguments so as to convince the authorities of the need of a full overhaul of the existing Turkish regulations.”