Customer case

The Hidroamerica flatbed trailer weighs 36% less when made in 100% Strenx® steel

August 23, 2023 6 min read

Case details

Product Strenx® 700MC D/E

Country Colombia

Company Hidroamerica

Industry Trailers and body builders

Brand program My Inner Strenx®

With an ultralight version, Colombian company Hidroamerica has completely redesigned its trailers. Thanks to Strenx® 700 they can make a much lighter chassis, increase payload and boost profitability.

Case details

Product Strenx® 700MC D/E

Country Colombia

Company Hidroamerica

Industry Trailers and body builders

Brand program My Inner Strenx®

Today, one of the biggest challenges faced by the transportation industry is reducing equipment weight and keeping operational costs down. To solve this challenge, Hidroamerica used Strenx^® 700 to manufacture the frame of its flatbed trailer, reducing the weight by 36% compared to the same semitrailer variant using ASTM A36.

For ten years, the company has worked exclusively with Strenx^® and Hardox^® steels from SSAB, considered to be some of the strongest in the world. The steels have helped to advance the evolution of equipment manufacture over the past decade. “Today, these materials are our standard,” says Felipe Guerrero, general manager of Hidroamerica. “They have a very large repertoire, which we have used throughout our entire portfolio of semitrailers (flatbeds, tippers, cement hoppers, lowbeds, etc.) and chassis equipment, and to develop boom cranes and rescue cranes.”

An optimized solution to reduce weight

According to the general manager of Hidroamerica, the need to innovate within the company was recognized in 2011. That’s when production focused on manufacturing equipment for oversized loads (beds), which, though incredibly robust, were also very heavy. “We visited factories in the United States and learned about T1. We started looking for this type of material, and in 2013 we found SSAB, who we knew would be able to supply special steels in Colombia.”

Lighter equipment for increased payload capacity

In its quest to reduce weight while offering customers vehicles with improved performance, Hidroamerica produced a prototype in 2014: a 60-ton low bed with detachable gooseneck. The idea was to make the trailer much lighter and increase the payload capacity. “That was what I was looking for, and when we started working with SSAB, everyone wanted the same thing: to make every trip more profitable,” Guerrero says.

Standard for Hidroamerica, optional for the competition

2014 and 2015 saw the market trending towards a search for lightweight equipment. Electric vehicles also proved to be a future trend. “We wanted to stand out from the competition, and today I think that we have the sense that, for us, our standard is to manufacture with special steels, and for our competitors this is optional. This sets us apart, because today we are positioned as the only Colombian company to use 100% Strenx^® in our production and the only Colombian company with My Inner Strenx^® certification.”

Customer and user benefits

Redesigned trailer frame weighs 36% less than when using ASTM A36
Trailers made lighter while increasing payload capacity
Floor weight reductions on par with weight of aluminum
Tare weight savings plus increased capacity quickly recoup trailer costs
Membership benefits of My Inner Strenx^® including market differentiation

The result: an ultralight flatbed trailer in high-strength steel

Hidroamerica uses Strenx^® steel in the design of its ultralight three-axle flatbed trailer. “Our flatbed frame is made of 100% Strenx^® 700 from SSAB. The main beams are I-shaped and joined via submerged arc welding. All structural components of the trailer are made using this steel. Strenx^® is even used in the stamped steel floor, which was developed by Hidroamerica and has a crosshatched surface, reducing the weight by 300 kg (661 lbs.) as if the floor were made of aluminum,” Guerrero adds.

“And going back to the topic of weight: When that trailer was first made, it weighed 7,500 kg (16,535 lbs.). Today, this same trailer weighs 4,800 kg (10,582 lbs.) and has all the benefits of being made of high-strength steel. It is more economical and easier to manufacture, and future maintenance will be less costly compared to a trailer of the same weight made in aluminum and steel.”

Strength-to-weight benefits of Strenx® steel

For Hidroamerica’s general manager, the benefit of using Strenx^® steel is in the customer’s profitability. “If you need a robust frame, we offer a higher strength steel that adds durability without increasing the weight. Conversely, if the customer wants a lighter frame, they will get a lighter rig without sacrificing on the frame’s strength,” he adds. Hidroamerica did the math, and, in approximately five years, the increased payload capacity alone pays for the entire cost of the trailer because of this additional tare weight.

"There are interesting savings here from a manufacturing point of view. By reducing the thickness, we lowered our production costs for cutting, welding, and necessary machinery compared to grade 50 steel or A36 steel."

Felipe Guerrero, General Manager of Hidroamerica

Fabrication and production changes for successful outcomes

To work with SSAB steel, Hidroamerica made investments as Strenx^® became standard. “We converted our entire manufacturing process to CNC plasma cutting, submerged arc welding for chassis beams. Last year we took the next step and purchased new laser cutting machines, wanting to make our manufacturing process more sophisticated,” Guerrero says.

The development process using Strenx® steel

When production of the flatbed trailer first began, only the two main beams of the chassis were made of high-strength steel. “With the first few units, it took us about a year and a half, two years, to get over the learning curve for using Strenx^® 700 compared with traditional steel and start perfecting these trailers,” Guerrero says. Today, Strenx^® steel is used in more than just the main beams. It’s in the entire frame –, every beam, strut, even the floor, is manufactured in Strenx^® 700.

Adjust thickness or redesign

To make the semitrailer out of Strenx^® steel, a new design had to be created for each part as part of the structural calculation process to reduce its thickness. “Every element of the structure had to be redesigned, because it wasn’t only necessary to adjust the thickness. We also had to start changing geometries, the inertia of the profiles, almost redesigning the entire trailer to meet the requirements for using Strenx^® successfully in manufacturing.”