Stronger, lighter Freighter skels suit Victorian hauler

Owner/manager Bob Potton first purchased a skel trailer from Freighter back in 1980, when AMK Containers was established.

"I like to keep things pretty simple in my line of work," Potton says. "We do just enough for our company to prosper and we're happy with where we stand. That's why you won't find us with a flashy website, or fancy business cards and we don't advertise. We have about four clients that we freight for, which is mostly container cartage for exports and that's more than enough for us.

"To remain a leading force in that segment requires a diverse fleet that's strong and durable enough to handle big payloads. Hence, we operate a small fleet of 13 skel trailers, all built by Freighter."

In 2000, Potton purchased his second trailer from Freighter; a choice based on the brand's high-strength steel frame, which is engineered to provide low tare weight and maximum payload capacity.

"In fact, the Freighter skel I bought in 2000 is still running extremely well today and I have gradually added more skels since," Potton said. "The steel in the chassis and airbag suspension on that trailer have exceeded all my expectations considering the amount of loads it has had to carry over the years. That alone was enough for me to contact Freighter once more."

More recently, Potton purchased four single Freighter tri-axle skel trailers, built specifically to accommodate more than 30 tonnes of payload. This brings the AMK fleet up to 12 trailers.

"Over the years hay quality and density has increased, which means containers have gradually become heavier. It got to a stage where we had to get skels capable of achieving in excess of 30.5 tonnes of payload capacity," Potton says. "The lightweight model [also] gives us a real advantage when carting heavy containers to and from the ports we deliver to."

Each lightweight Freighter skel has a tare weight of just 3.8 tonnes, combined with airbag suspension, drum brakes, aluminium wheels, low-profile tyres and LED lights. According to Potton, each Freighter skel also comes designed with four 40-foot twist locks, enabling a stress-free locking mechanism for each container that's loaded.