Composites transforming refrigerated transport – MAXITRANS (VIC)

March 24, 2024

MaxiTRANS, renowned for its extensive portfolio of trailer brands including Freighter, Hamelex White, Maxi-CUBE, Lusty EMS, Trout River and AZMEB, stands as a foundational mainstay within Australia’s road transport history. These brands, each with its unique heritage tracing back to various decades last century, are united by their origins in the pioneering efforts of their founders who had a collective dedication to manufacturing in Australia.

Written by Kerryn Caulfield, Executive Director, Composites Australia Inc.

This diverse yet interconnected legacy underlines MaxiTRANS’ significant role in shaping the transport industry’s landscape.

Today, MaxiTRANS offers a wide range of heavy-duty trailers, including specialised tautliners, semi-trailers and more, engineered and manufactured for optimal load space and profitability. Maxi-CUBE – a brand within the MaxiTRANS family – was a company created by founding Composites Australia member, Jim Curtis, in the early 1970s when refrigerated freight was emerging in the road logistics industry.

Maxi-CUBE’s offering is an extensive range of thermally efficient refrigerated and dry freight vans, or ‘reefers’ that capitalise on composite technology for thermal performance with the ‘Classic Reefer’ built to perform at temperatures capable of carrying frozen goods. Components, including the roof, front wall, side walls and doors are made in-house using fibreglass and urethane foam insulation. This proprietary ‘cast to gauge’ construction technology ensures precision production of reefer walls that ensure stable thermodynamics and structural integrity. The technology reduces the tare weight and optimises payload capacity and manufacturing cost efficiency.

A ‘reefer’ in trucking refers to a refrigerated trailer equipped with a cooling system to transport perishable goods at specific temperatures. These trailers are essential for maintaining the freshness and quality of food products, pharmaceuticals and other temperature sensitive items during transportation.

In September 2021, the MaxiTRANS Trailer Business was purchased by a local private consortium, the Australian Trailer Solutions Group (ATSG).

The company has since consolidated its national production network, centralising the manufacture of its semi-trailer vehicles into the Ballarat operations, while continuing the manufacturing of its reefer product at the site under the Maxi-CUBE brand.

Since acquiring the company, ATSG has shown a heartening commitment to Australian manufacturing, particularly to the Ballarat region. It has invested substantially to upgrade the Ballarat site into a cutting edge industrial facility. This includes investing in, and installing new advanced manufacturing equipment to create further precision and production efficiencies, all of which will support its growth plans and enhance the nationwide distribution of its product offering.

“Expanding the overall footprint of the facility, and investing in state-of-the-art manufacturing equipment is transforming the Ballarat site into an agile modern manufacturing facility, providing greater flexibility to adjust our production output in line with market demand, that in turn, will ensure our business is well positioned to support the evolving needs of our customers,” said Greg L’Estrange MaxiTRANS Executive Chairman.

“It is an exciting project for MaxiTRANS, one that is completely transforming freight transport. What’s more, it will create a working environment that is much more advanced and more satisfying. We will continue to build a more diverse skilled workforce, develop a positive work environment and continue to promote the Ballarat facility as a preferred choice of employment in the region.”

In addition to the Ballarat upgrade, MaxiTRANS has also been investing significantly in its dealer network to better serve the needs of its customers, most recently moving to larger purpose-built sites in both South Australia and New South Wales.