Food trailer: What should you know? Trailers made of laminate and sheet metal.

Choosing the right trailer construction technology is very important for its durability, weight, and thermal insulation. Let’s take a look at two popular options: classic constructions made of sheet metal with styrofoam filling and modern XPS laminate constructions.

Find out which construction is better for you and what the main differences in their operation are.

There are mainly two types:

1. Sheet metal + Styrofoam or XPS (thickness:~4-5cm)

   
   

   It is a typical solution which thanks to it's stiffness and strength used to be better some time ago, but unfortunately at the expense of the weight. The wall consists of two metal sheets connected by the glue and the core of the styrofoam or XPS.

   
   

2. Laminate + XPS (thickness:~2,5-4cm)

   
   

   It is a kind of an innovative construction which has been on the market for many years. The biggest advantages of it are it's extremely powerful stiffness and strenght. We should also mention it's material lightness. The wall is made of two laminate sheets connected to each other by the glue and XPS core.

To best illustrate the differences between the construction technologies we present the most important details based on the trailers measuring: 300 cm x 200 cm x 220 cm and 600 cm x 250 cm x 220 cm (measurements of the trailer: length, wideness and hight).

Example I (trailer 300 cm x 200 cm x 220 cm)

Version 1. Sheet metal + styrofoam or XPS

(Basic information)

• Weight of the trailer ~ 580-650 kg

• Measurements of the workspace (292 cm x 192 cm)

• External and internal aesthetics of the walls: visible vertical or horizontal joints of the segments

Version 2. Laminate + XPS

• Weight of the trailer ~ 430-500 kg

• Measurements of the workspace (295 cm x 195 cm)

• External and internal aesthetics of the walls: smooth surface, no joints, wall made of one element

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Example II (trailer 600 cm x 250 cm x 220 cm)

Version 1. Sheet metal + styrofoam or XPS

(Basic information)

• Weight of the trailer ~ 1600-1700 kg

• Measurements of the workspace (592 cm x 242 cm)

• External and internal aesthetics of the walls: visible vertical or horizontal joints of segments

Version 2. Laminat + XPS

• Weight of the trailer~ 1200-1270 kg

• Measurements of the workspace (595 cm x 245 cm)

• External and internal aesthetics of the walls: smooth surface, no joints, wall made of one element

To sum up, trailers made of sheet metal can be 20-27% heavier. Their workspace is smaller but only about 3 cm compared to laminate trailers. When it comes to the aesthetics, better option is the laminate trailer, because even after many years,the surface shows very little change . Additionally, the joints of the plates in the sheet metal version are glued/sealed with silicone, which over time causes significant discoloration of the plates.

Which version is better?

We believe that the most important features are weight, aesthetics and also the price of a product.

Weight- it has a signifiant impact on the possibility of equipment expansion, both internal and external. Thanks to lower weight we are able to prepare and carry more products for events.

Aesthetics- thanks to it we have got the ability to develop our brand. It also influences the way our potential customers perceive us.

Price- business should earn money for us, not the other way around. The trailer should combine durability with price. It would be great if we could treat those valiues equally.

Our company has produced food trailers made of both sheet metal and laminate. After many years we were able to minimalize the costs of production of the trailers. Thanks to it the price of the laminate trailers in our company has the price similiar to the sheet metal ones.

Check out our offer and share your thoughts in the comments below!