Bulk haulage by walking floor trailer

What a walking floor trailer is

A walking floor (also called a moving floor; piso móvil in Spain, fond mouvant in France) is an enclosed trailer whose floor moves. It is made of lengthwise slats driven by a hydraulic system: they all move towards the rear door together, dragging the load, and return one at a time without moving it. As the cycle repeats, the goods work their way out until the trailer is empty.

It is Transcosur’s signature trailer. Our bulk fleet is equipped mainly with walking floors, and they are what we use for biomass, much of our agricultural bulk, light scrap and waste.

Advantages of a walking floor trailer

Unloads without tipping. The body is not raised, so the lorry can unload inside a building, under a low roof or a power line, without the height a tipper needs.

Safer. Because the centre of gravity does not rise, there is no risk of overturning on soft or sloping ground, one of the typical accidents when unloading a tipper.

High volume. These are tall, long trailers designed for bulky, light goods such as wood chip or aluminium, which fill the volume before they reach the weight limit.

Empties completely. The floor pushes right to the end and the trailer is left practically clean, which matters when alternating different products.

Versatile. As well as bulk, a walking floor can load and unload pallets without a forklift, which helps us fit in return loads.

How a walking floor unloads

1. The lorry positions itself with the rear door facing the unloading point: a building entrance, a pit, a hopper or an open yard.
2. The rear door is opened and, if the load needs it, the sheet or the top cover too.
3. The driver starts the floor from the lorry itself. The slats begin to move and the goods advance towards the exit.
4. The load comes out in a steady flow, with no jolts, and the floor can be stopped at any moment to meter the discharge or to make room at the unloading point.
5. At the end, the floor drags the last of the load to the door and the trailer is ready for the next load.

Because nothing has to be raised, the lorry can unload on a slight slope or on less firm ground, always with the normal precautions of any manoeuvre.

Walking floor, tipper or scrap tipper

Feature	Walking floor	Tipper	Scrap tipper
How it unloads	The floor pushes the load backwards	The body rises and the load slides out	The body rises and the load slides out
Headroom needed	The trailer’s own height	A lot, with the body raised	A lot, with the body raised
Typical goods	Bulky and light, pallets on the return leg	Dense and free-flowing	Scrap and heavy or irregular material
Unloading in a building	Yes	Only with enough headroom	Only with enough headroom

If you are not sure which suits you, tell us the product and what the unloading site is like. We decide with you before sending the lorry, which is cheaper than finding out at destination.

Which services we use it for

• Bulk haulage, agricultural and industrial.
• Biomass haulage: wood chip and forestry waste.
• Scrap metal haulage for light metals such as aluminium.
• Non-hazardous waste going to recycling or recovery.
• Organic grain, with the cleaning it requires.

What we need to know to send you a walking floor

• Product and, if you know it, its approximate density or tonnage.
• Loading point: by shovel, conveyor, hopper or crane.
• Unloading point: inside a building, in an open yard, into a pit.
• Dates, and whether it is a one-off or a regular load.

With that we can tell you whether it suits a walking floor or another trailer would be better, and send you a price.