Dear Sir or Madam, dear members,
As the year draws to a close we wish to greet you with some items of news. In any case, you should already make sure you keep the dates of 13th and 14th June free in your diaries – as we will then be convening a General Meeting once again, this time in Osnabrück/Münster at the premises of the Bohnenkamp company. We wish you a Happy Christmas and a good and successful conclusion to the year!
If you have any suggestions or topics that might be of interest to the members, please send them to us by e-mail through our contact form.
We wish you an enjoyable and informative read
Michael Jursch
Chairman of the Board
From the board
New board
With an international lineup
At the last General Meeting (14/15 June, Berlin), the Chairman of the Management Board Michael Jursch (STEMA Metalleichtbau GmbH) and the Management Board member Dr. Ing. Uwe Meyer (WM Meyer Fahrzeugbau AG) were confirmed in office. Przemyslav Kuś (SPP Steelpress Production, PL) and Henk Sturme (Drotech bv, NL) were elected into the board for the first time.
We would like to thank board member Gunnar Bregler who is leaving the board for his committed work on behalf of the association.
Make a note of the date!
Date of the next General Meeting: 13 and 14 June 2019
The board of TIV: top left Chief Executive Officer Michael Jursch (STEMA Metalleichtbau GmbH), top right Uwe Meyer (wm meyer Fahrzeugbau AG), bottom left Henk Sturme (Drotech by, NL), bottom right Przemyslav Kuś (SPP Steelpress Production, PL). Photography by: STEMA
Technology
Chassis and brakes
Wear adjustment system for O2 trailers
Matthias Kieslich, Chief Designer of STEMA, reported in the Automotive Technology Technical Committee (FKT) Special Committee on Brake Systems on the often hotly disputed debate on automated wear adjustment systems in O2 trailers at this year‘s Annual General Meeting of the TIV. While some manufacturers are increasingly switching to the new technology, others are still not convinced of its everyday usability and complain about excessive wear behaviour. Therefore no agreed upon statement on behalf of the association was forthcoming.
The Federal Ministry of Transport and Technical Infrastructure (BMVI) is requested by the FKT special committee for brake systems to ask FSD for data on possible abnormalities during the investigation of O2 trailer brakes. The market for trailer axles for O2 is more or less covered by two German manufacturers. The BMVI wants to avoid the suspicion of the promotion of its own national economy through the introduction of technical regulations and will continue to consult in-house on this matter.
The FKT Special Committee for Braking Systems favours, from a technical point of view, a prescribed introduction of automated wear adjustment systems for O2 trailers.
News from Brussels
European Union
EU Commission open towards the reform proposals of the TIV
Encouraging results from the first visit of the TIV Board to the European Commission: Brussels advocates a harmonisation of national individual operating permits throughout Europe, strives for a uniform EU-wide database for all type approval data according to Directive 2007/46/ EC, thus avoiding the costly maintenance of national databases in the medium term, and wants to subject the current driving licence law to a critical review in the next few years.
During their first exchange of views with the European Commission on 11 October 2018, the directors of the association Michael Jursch and Dr. Ing. Uwe Meyer, assisted by Matthias Kieslich, STEMA‘s chief designer, held talks with Antony Lagrange, Team Leader within the Directorate General for the Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (GD Grow), and with GD Move that is responsible for Mobility and Transport, represented by Wiebke Pankauke and Luis Escobar Guerrero from the Department of Traffic Safety.
The TIV team presented the association and outlined the most pressing issues that the trailer industry faces. The focus on the one hand was upon the vehicle acceptance and registration and on the other hand on driving licence law, which reveals numerous internal contradictions that confuse citizens and unnecessarily limits the use of trailers.
The talks in Brussels were held in a friendly and constructive atmosphere. The three representatives of the EU Commission welcomed the factual contribution of the TIV, but warned against exaggerated expectations that rapid changes could be realised in the light of some Member States‘ efforts to permit as little harmonisation as possible.
At the same time the discussion partners recognised the need to develop and improve existing directives and regulations in the interests of consumers. Furthermore, they informed the representatives of the TIV about the reform projects mentioned at the start. In order to establish a lasting dialogue between the TIV and Brussels, the association should be given the opportunity to participate in future EU Commission consultations.
Service for TIV members
New: Trailer registration figures from Austria listed on the association‘s homepage
In the protected members’ area of the association’s homepage, information from Austria is now also available in addition to the trailer registration figures of the German Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) and the Swiss authorities.
The manufacturers and their registration figures for the entire year of 2017 are recorded precisely in terms of the monthly, post code and weight categories. The respective market share can also be retrieved. As with all other registration figures, the data from Vienna are only intended for non-commercial use.
New members
Welcome!
We are delighted to be able to welcome the companies DROTECH BV, Eder GmbH - vehicle manufacturing and GOVI GmbH as new members.
Legislation/success
TIV Initiative “Harmonisation of coupling heights”
FKT prepares amendment of the EU directive ECE55
Two items on the agenda were important for the TIV members at the 193rd session of the Automotive Technology Technical Committee of the Federal Ministry of Transport and Technical Infrastructure (BMVI) in Klettwitz (host DEKRA) on 28 and 29 November 2018. The board of the TIV had introduced one of them to the FKT itself at the previous meeting in Dresden in April: the topic of coupling heights. The Chairman of the Management Board Michael Jursch also participated in the current meeting in Klettwitz und reports:
“Under agenda item 15, it was decided following the previous proposal made by the TIV that the Special Committee on Special Vehicle Issues should prepare an amendment to EU Directive ECE 55, which includes the harmonisation of the coupling heights of towing vehicles and trailers. The draft of the amended directive should be put up for discussion at the forthcoming FKT meeting in May 2019. As soon as a draft has been submitted to the TIV in advance, we will of course provide our members with the opportunity to comment. We are delighted that we have been able to make significant progress in relation to one of the key concerns of our members.
Agenda item 16 concerned Section 36 of the German Highway Code (StVZO) – the permissible maximum age of trailer tyres for 100 kph speed limit/car combinations. Here, the FKT decided following a brief discussion to recommend the removal of the age limit for tyres to six years – among other things, especially in view of the fact a pneumatic tyre after five years may still be sold as ‘brand new’, but above all from a technical point of view. Thus, the eligible tyres for speeds of 100 kph do still meet the legal requirements anyway, also a compelling connection between the age alone and degree of hardening, embrittlement or cracking cannot be proven. In the future, instead of the age limit, tyres will be assessed in terms of their safety and regularity during the main inspection by the respective TÜV inspectors and, if necessary, found fault with.
The FKT will relate this point of view to the legislator. We will inform our members in good time as soon as a draft bill has been submitted concerning this.”
PDF-Downloadpublished on 18.12.2018 - editorial office: blaurock markenkommunikation