Month: June 2026

Construction projects can take many forms and happen on various scales, but various tools, materials and plant equipment will always be needed. The key is to acquire the right type of trailer for each of these elements to help your project go smoothly.

The UK construction industry is a big business. According to the most recent government statistics, in 2024, the value of construction work in Britain was £140,684, while there were 370,770 registered companies operating in the sector and 1.4 million employees.

Anyone planning a construction project will know that it will take a lot of labour, materials, tools and equipment to complete the task. This means there is a lot of logistical work needed to ensure that the whole project goes smoothly, especially as you aim to deliver it on time.

At the same time, projects can vary widely in scope, with different scales, varied materials and, on occasions, some major technical challenges.

Examples of such differences include:

•       Projects based on revamping existing buildings, which have become increasingly popular as architects have focused on reducing embedded carbon
•       Some are based on Greenfield sites, whereas others are on brownfield, where significant site clearance work may be needed beforehand
•       Some involve extensive excavation of foundations, especially tall buildings
•       Some involve tunnelling.

 

What Are The Different Trailers You Can Use For Construction Projects?

This means there will be differences in the trailer requirements for each project, but Williams trailers can provide what you need in each and every circumstance.

For example, the trailer range includes:

•     Tiltbed trailers, which have low ground clearance and are therefore easy for onboarding and off-ramping heavy plant vehicles
•     Plant trailers, which are custom-designed for transporting plant equipment safely
•     Single axle tippers, which are smaller vehicles that are useful for transporting materials to a site
•       Double axle tippers are larger vehicles that are useful for filling up with waste material so that it can be taken away and deposited in an appropriate place

The use of tiltbed trailers and plant trailers is likely to be useful in most projects, as they can get plant material where it needs to be and easily unloaded to the ground where it will work.

Others may be used more in some cases than others, but also in different ways and quantities.

 

How Can You Deal With Large-Scale Remediation Tasks?

For instance, when remediation work takes place that could involve demolishing existing structures, cleaning up rubble or removing soil with toxic material, the size of the project will determine how many double axle trailers you need.

An example of this might include the upcoming project to construct a new stadium for Manchester United, with the club recently revealing it had concluded a deal to buy land close to its existing Old Trafford venue.

The land west of the stadium is all on the vast Trafford Park estate and has been used for industrial purposes since the 19th century, albeit with the exact uses of any particular plot of land changing over time. This means the land may require a lot of remediation work.

In addition, because the new stadium is set to be very large, it will require deep foundations, with parts of the structure likely to be built underground.

If this project will generate a lot of rubble and earth to be moved, the volume that needs to be taken away from sites is even greater when tunnels are involved.

Several current projects require large amounts of tunnelling, including the surviving section of the HS2 project between London and Birmingham, where 20 per cent of tunnelling work remains to be done, plus upcoming projects like the Lower Thames Crossing.

 

How Can You Deal With Soil Excavated In Construction Projects?

Some may ask where all the earth excavated from major tunnels goes. In some cases, it can be reused on site, for example, by building up embankments in the case of a railway.

However, when very large amounts are involved, some creative solutions can be found. A prime example of this happened during the construction of the Elizabeth line, when three million tonnes of earth were excavated from the tunnelled section under London.

This was taken to Wallasea Island on the Essex coast, where it was used to create a wetland habitat for birds on land owned by the RSPB. It is fair to say a lot of trailers would have been used in such a large undertaking.

Whether something similar will happen in the Lower Thames Crossing project is not stated in its nature plan, although it does pledge to create new landscaped areas and wetland habitats, which may suggest that the soil may be redistributed for these purposes.

Whatever you plan to do with excavated soil or remediated waste, double axel tippers will give you exactly what you need to take it away from the site, while different kinds of trailers can meet your other requirements.

Summer is here, and alongside the great farming and horse racing seasons, it is also the time to bring out beautiful luxury sports cars and take them out for a spin along the beautiful winding country roads of Yorkshire.

Whatever your chosen model, we can choose the perfect luxury car trailer for your needs. With Ifor Williams providing the gold standard in trailers, we have the right option for you whether you are travelling to a country road, a track day or a concours event.

Whilst most luxury cars tend to take the form of classic British sports cars such as the almighty Triumph Stag, a lot of luxury car collectors have started to add powerful electric cars to their collection as well.

With a greater interest in EVs more broadly, plus the announcement of electric supercars such as the Ferrari Luce, car trailers will need to accommodate for the needs of EVs as well as traditional petrol-powered sports cars.

How much do these needs differ? What additional equipment do you need? And what should you keep in mind if you want to use an EV to tow your EV? 

 

Why Do You Need A Car Trailer For Your Luxury Electric Car?

The first question to ask when it comes to EVs is whether you even need a trailer to tow them from location to location in the first place, and whilst in many cases it is not strictly necessary, there are some justifications for treating your luxury EVs carefully in a suitably sized Transporta.

One of them is the “horsebox theory”, rather succinctly described by motoring journalist Richard Hammond as a way to protect your favourite horses, bikes and cars that you would not want to or cannot legally drive on the road.

You load them into a trailer, and they are protected from the elements and are not having any additional mileage placed on them.

Another factor to bear in mind (and the real reason Mr Hammond used a trailer for his Rimac Concept One electric hypercar) is that the range of a lot of high-performance EVs is lower than their petrol-powered equivalents or requires lengthy periods of recharging.

A trailer gets around this issue, and ensures that your luxury car is in the best possible condition once you reach your destination.

 

What Do You Need To Include With Your Luxury EV Trailer?

If you are using a trailer, particularly if you have a covered trailer, it is worth bringing with you everything you need to make the most of your luxury car.

Choosing the right trailer is especially important; luxury cars with low ground clearances and advanced technology should ideally not make any contact with the road at all, which makes a flatbed such as the Beavertail perfect for transportation.

As well as this, you need to ensure that the straps and padding you use are optimal to avoid inadvertently scratching or damaging the bodywork. Whilst not ideal with any car, luxury cars can be particularly expensive to fix.

Padded straps and hooks, as well as car blankets, help to protect your luxury car from the bumps and unusual handling characteristics that come from driving on uneven terrain and roads of varying quality.

As well as this, making sure you have a backup for every situation can be beneficial. Much like you should bring fluids and fuel in case your car has a fault, taking a portable power station with you can be very useful to provide a top-up in emergencies.

Finally, make sure you have all the cables you need to charge your EV, particularly if it has an unusual proprietary connector.

 

Can You Tow A Trailer With An Electric Car?

You absolutely can tow a trailer with an EV, and some models are particularly effective at handling a trailer thanks to their more predictable acceleration and huge amounts of torque.

Not every EV is approved for towing, so you need to check its towing limits as you would any other car, and bear in mind that some EVs can only tow a vehicle using certain dedicated settings.

Range is another factor to bear in mind; due to the additional weight, a car’s range is typically halved. Whilst a petrol or diesel towing vehicle will also use more fuel, the additional recharge time can lead to greater range anxiety.

On the other hand, this is often offset by extra traction and more advanced four-wheel-drive systems, which can help improve handling and traction whilst carrying a heavy load such as another EV.

It is always important to check that your trailer is in good condition and get any damaged parts repaired or replaced, especially before a DVSA check. We can help ensure it is in good condition with repairs and replacement parts to keep it roadworthy.

Summer is a time when some trailer owners might slip into a sense of complacency. After all, with warmer and (at least sometimes) drier weather, plus longer daylight hours, it is one of the better times of year to be driving.

However, you should be vigilant. In the first instance, there are some perils involved in summer driving. Secondly, wear and tear can take its toll at any time and you should regularly check your trailer to make sure it is in good shape.

The second of these issues is that if you have a DVSA check coming up, you will need to pay particular attention to the state of your trailer to ensure it will pass. Otherwise, your operations could be disrupted as it will not be allowed on the road until the issues are fixed.

 

What Are The Risks Of Summer Driving With A Trailer?

According to the AA, summer can bring a few perils for motorists. Among those you may want to watch out for are:

•       An increased risk of tyres bursting if they have damage or the pressure levels are incorrect
•       An increased risk of collisions if you are in heavy traffic, which is more frequent in summer
•       A higher risk of accidents caused by glare

The first of these may be the most obvious risk, as a puncture could lead to further damage to the trailer if it becomes unstable or the deflated tyre leads to the wheel axle scraping along the road until you stop.

In the other instances, the trailer and the truck towing it could both be at risk of damage from collisions.

A major crash could write off whole vehicles and trailers, but a more minor bump or wear and tear could still leave significant damage that needs repairing.

We can provide trailer repairs if this is required, as well as supplying spare parts if something is so damaged that it needs to be fully replaced.

 

Can A Faulty Trailer Cause You To Fail The DVSA Test?

The DVSA Test is one point at which such flaws and accumulated damage could be exposed, and anything sufficiently significant to cause you to fail is something you need to address before that test.

When preparing for a DVSA test, drivers will be chiefly focused on the basic points of the test, which include:

•       Demonstrating that you can reverse the car and trailer safely
•       Demonstrating general driving ability
•       An independent driving segment
•       A demonstration that you can couple and decouple the trailer

In this regard, the test is similar to a standard driving test when a motorist first gets their licence.

However, just as in a driving test, you need your car to be fully roadworthy (something that is often taken care of by the instructor). In the DVSA test, you can fail it if the trailer has faults.

This would not happen as a result of nitpicking over minor scratches and scrapes, but if the trailer is damaged or has missing parts serious enough to render it not roadworthy, which would mean it is illegal.

Section 1.1 in the government guidance on the issue of roadworthiness states: “Where this document refers to a “vehicle”, this terminology equally applies to a trailer.”

An example given is that of ensuring that the brakes work adequately. The National Trailer and Towing Association has published advice on what trailers need to have functioning brakes in the UK.

 

When Should You Check That Your Trailer Is Roadworthy?

The government guidance on roadworthiness recommends that checks be carried out to ensure the roadworthiness of vehicles, including trailers. This includes:

•       Checking when you acquire a new vehicle or trailer
•       Carrying out ‘intermediate’ checks when certain components are placed under regular strain, such as the brakes if you frequently drive through heavy traffic or in hilly areas
•       Daily walk-around checks to see if there are any obvious problems

That DVSA guidance acknowledged that operators “will not get everything right all the time.” However, it added: “We do want you to be vigilant and responsible.”

In the worst case, this could mean trailer owners are prosecuted and fined for driving an unworthy vehicle. But it will always mean the trailer is forced to stay off the road until the issues rendering it un-roadworthy are fixed.

By supplying replacement parts when needed, as well as maintenance, we can ensure that you take the trailer out on the road with full confidence that it is legally compliant.