With a production capacity of 20,000 trailers a year, Kässbohrer has been a leading international designer and manufacturer of trailers since it was founded in 1893. The company meets the needs of customers across more than 55 countries in sectors ranging from general cargo to cold chain, construction, liquid and bulk goods, and intermodal transport. The brand is known around the world for its unrivalled range and its products’ ability to transport heavy and abnormal goods. The firm boasts 96% product coverage for the transport sector with a portfolio of over 1,000 products, making it a unique contender in the European marketplace.
In all of these activities, the company is led by the value of “Enginuity”, a perfect combination of “engineering” and “ingenuity”. We first heard about this concept when we last profiled Kässbohrer two years ago, but since then the concept has seen life in a raft of new innovations and products.
As of 2022, the leading semi-trailer Kässbohrer is among the overall top three choices in the Netherlands and Sweden, and the brand also ranks in the top three among tanks and silos in Germany and platforms in France. What’s more, the brand is a market leader in low beds for heavy haulage in Poland. The company has doubled its sales in Italy and tripled them in Spain while continuing to operate the fourth-largest after-sales service network in Europe
But Kässbohrer not only offers innovations in its product and services offering, it is also flexible in its approach to payment options, coopering with leading leasing companies to provide competitive financing options under K-Finance in Germany, Spain, Italy, Poland and France.
Constant Innovation
Fundamentally, however, that concept of “Enginuity” & innovation remains at Kässbohrer’s heart. Collaborating with stakeholders including customers, associations, universities and research programmes as well as premium suppliers, Kässbohrer is at the centre of an R&D ecosystem that is constantly advancing trailer technology.
Since Kässbohrer’s R&D department was established in 2009 it has completed over 250 research and development projects while publishing 108 international academic articles and taking part in R&D projects backed by the European Commission. Last year alone, Kässbohrer launched 18 new vehicles showcasing more than 50 innovations.
Kässbohrer is the recepient of six Trailer Innovations awards in total, from category chassis to smart to safety, from body to component, demonstrating its expertise in trailer technology.
Over the years Kässbohrer has received many award for its work, most recently in 2021 the company won the Trailer Innovation Award 2021 in the “Components” category for its Multifunctional Rear Bumper RUPD-5K1 and received the second place award in the “Body” category for the 45-foot Rulo Swap Body Body. In the “Smart Trailer” sector the company was awarded for its Trailer Advanced Driver Assistance Systems and the Trailer Innovation Award 2023 in “Safety” category with Integrity Protection Device.
Kässbohrer has also delivered solutions such as its Multifunctional Rear Underrun Protection Device, a multi-dimensional solution that prevents damage to trailers during operations, especially in intermodal ferry and train loading. The device went on to win first place in the Trailer Innovation Awards’ component category in 2021.
Kässbohrer’s “swap body innovation”, devised for its unrivalled intermodal range, which received an award in the Trailer Innovation Awards’ body category in 2021.
Based on Kässbohrer’s lightest chassis structure, the 45-foot coil swap body was the first of its kind, allowing the firm to offer more intermodal transport solutions to customers.
Kässbohrers digital develop-ments started with DTC in 2014 and continue to develop with K-ADAS, for which we received an award in the smart category in 2021. K-ADAS featured 5 new innovations first time in all truck or trailer ADAS systems, contributing to the development of future autonomous operations.
This year, Kässbohrer won an innovation award in the “Safety” category for its Integrity Protection Device, a smart device developed by analyzing TAPA data on the risk of theft in international freight transportation, irregular migration, and human trafficking. Kässbohrer also conducted field intelligence based on interviews with companies of various sizes, associations, and general stakeholders. The new safety notification system provides inner area specified detection and immediate notification of unauthorized entries to a trailer by any means. A low-cost practical device with two years of battery life, the device can be installed on any general cargo trailer in aftersales workshops within the hour.
It all comes back to the concept of “Enginuity”.
“We take Enginuity to the maximum through the research carried out by over 150 competent engineers in our R&D operations,” says İffet Türken, Executive Board Member of Kässbohrer. “In our prototype centre, we test our vehicles from both component and all-vehicle perspectives for strength, acclimatization, vibration, fatigue, torsional, corrosion, rigidity, and pressurization, for hydraulic and pneumatic life tests accompanied by load and road test and data collection studies. This offers our customers the guarantee that our vehicles are the safest with the lowest TCO in compliance with all regulations. In addition, with our in-house heat test cabin, we carry out the ATP certification process of all kinds of vehicles, including refrigerated vehicles and tankers, with international standards.”
Greener Pastures
Türken is justifiably proud of the innovations the company has come up with even over the last couple of years, she is even more excited about the challenges Kässbohrer will be seeking to overcome next.
“As the transport sector welcomes the new European climate law, committed to at least 55% carbon emission reduction by 2030, an ambitious transition awaits our industry pending further legislation,” she says. “In this time of transforming the transport business, Kässbohrer is equally competent in all technologies and vehicle developments to work with our customers for their unique need for transition.”
Working closely with customers, stakeholders, associations and universities across an ecosystem of innovation, Kässbohrer is addressing multiple carbon emission-reducing solutions at the same 
time for the next generation of higher-capacity vehicles.
“Stemming from our extensive experience in longer and heavier vehicle permitting countries, we have developed K. SCS X+L, our 14.980 mm vehicle which offers dynamic wheelbase application to ensure manoeuvrability within existing infrastructure,” Türken says.
“Kässbohrer is able to meet all combinations in the LHV concept, from type 1 to 5. An example is our 32-meter combinations used in Scandinavian countries; 2 semi-trailers can be combined in a single truck with our 2-axle dolly vehicle. Our Super Eco Combi developments are recently tested in Netherlands with the attendance of ministers,” says Zeynep Nuhoğlu, Executive Board Member of Kässbohrer.
Kässbohrer is proudly unrivaled in the intermodal product range, with its vehicles.
“We are the most reliable manufacturer, especially when the new EU green deal imposes targets that 75% of all road traffic should switch to intermodal operations,” says Türken. “With the entire Kässbohrer container chassis family, swap bodies, and the most robust and long-lasting huckepack products developed with Enginuity, we offer our customers the highest quality, longest lifetime as well as low TCO solutions.”
There is no denying that there are many tough challenges ahead in that transition, but Kässbohrer is ready for them.
“The road ahead is a long one, that must be pursued with determination,” Türken explains. “Transformation to more sustainable operations will require a combination of many solutions. With our engineering excellence and innovation competence, Kässboher offers every solution to meet the unique transformational needs of our customers.”
