trailer

What is a trailer?

A trailer or semi-trailer - in Flemish also remork or remorque - is a non-powered vehicle with a certain load capacity intended to be moved by another powered vehicle via the tow bar.

For small trailers with a maximum permissible mass of 750 kg - i.e. trailer weight plus load weight - the driver of the car does not need a separate driving licence.

What is an autonomous trailer?

The autonomous trailer - also called a drawbar trailer - is a trailer that has one or more axles at both ends of the trailer. This allows it to remain stable on its own (autonomously), regardless of the distribution of the load.

The trailer is coupled to a towing vehicle (motor vehicle/box truck) with a drawbar coupling or, for trailers up to 3500 kg, with a ball coupling.

A towing eye is connected to the front axle(s) via a triangle, these axles rotate with a turntable under the trailer and are thus steered.

When reversing with an autonomous trailer, two pivot points must be taken into account: the towing eye in the drawbar coupling and the turntable can pivot.

The load capacity of an autonomous trailer is determined by the number of axles and the load capacity per axle. Because the front and rear axles are far apart, the trailer is very stable and because the triangle or drawbar can change height without the trailer tipping, the pressure on the coupling remains constant. This makes the legal load capacity much higher than with a centre axle trailer with equal axles.