Ackermann-Fahrzeugbau

Ackermann-Fahrzeugbau is a German manufacturer of trailers, semi-trailers and vehicle bodies with roots going back to 1850, when C. W. Ackermann founded a workshop for agricultural equipment in Vohwinkel, today part of Wuppertal. The company soon specialised in horse-drawn goods transport and later moved into motorised commercial vehicles, building truck bodies, buses and trailers. In the post-war period it became known for lightweight aluminium cell construction and for the AWL interchangeable-body system introduced in 1965. Through the Ackermann-Fruehauf joint venture and later the European Ackermann-Fruehauf group, it was for a time one of Europe's leading semi-trailer producers. After restructuring in the 1990s, the business continued as Ackermann Fahrzeugbau Oschersleben GmbH, based in Oschersleben in Saxony-Anhalt. The company today builds interchangeable trailer systems, box bodies, platform bodies and bulk-material trailers, and offers used vehicles, service, repairs, spare parts and certification. Its product range includes BDF and AWL swap systems, box bodies for furniture, heavy/light, textile, fresh-food and deep-freeze transport, open and sliding-tarp platform bodies, and construction-material trailers. The brand is a specialist commercial-vehicle body and trailer maker rather than a mass-market vehicle manufacturer.

Ackermann Fahrzeugbau was founded in 1850 by C. W. Ackermann in Vohwinkel, today a district of Wuppertal, initially as a workshop for agricultural equipment. The young company soon specialised in horse-drawn goods vehicles, and in 1894 it built a plateau wagon with a 100-tonne payload. With motorisation, Ackermann expanded into the truck sector in the mid-1920s, offering trailers and truck bodies. Its newly developed furniture van was designed to be carried on a Deutsche Reichsbahn goods wagon, and the rounded edges of its roof became a trademark. Ackermann's furniture vans and buses were built in a complex timber-frame construction, which also made other bodies and truck trailers suitable for transporting various goods. Before the Second World War the company experimented with the much lighter and production-revolutionary aluminium cell construction. In 1948 Carl Wilhelm Kölker and Bernd Thiele developed the first trailer in aluminium cell construction; for the company's centenary in 1950, a patent (number 804159) was granted for this construction method. The first vehicles in aluminium cell construction were Ackermann Pullman furniture vans, mounted on trucks from various manufacturers such as Daimler-Benz, MAN, Büssing, Borgward or Magirus-Deutz. Ackermann built a chassis with a furniture box body and mounted it on the supplied truck frames; these bodies carried the winged logo at the front upper side edge of the box. For the production of so-called Thermos vans, Ackermann experimented in the 1960s together with refrigerated-transport hauliers, which later led to today's refrigerated vehicles for the commercial-vehicle sector. Ackermann also built semi-trailers for the Deutsche Bundesbahn container service. For transporting pa containers or medium containers, Ackermann developed a special semi-trailer for road feeder vehicles; this trailer, an Ackermann B 900, could carry one container, was fully hydraulic and had a height-adjustable swivel frame. In 1965 Ackermann presented the AWL system (Ackermann-Wechsel-Lader), with which a truck driver could pick up and set down an interchangeable body without outside help; this swap system was further developed by various manufacturers. In 1966 Ackermann acquired a new production site in Wolfhagen near Kassel, where composite plastic elements for box bodies, such as for food and refrigerated transport, were produced. From about 1970 insulated box bodies were added to the programme, with the necessary composite plastic elements pre-produced in Wolfhagen and assembled in Wuppertal. Through this production technology Ackermann became one of the leading manufacturers of closed box bodies in Germany in the following years. In 1972 Ackermann-Fruehauf GmbH was founded, consisting of five plants at Wuppertal-Vohwinkel, Treis an der Mosel, Wolfhagen, Schierling (Upper Palatinate) and Hamburg, and led until 1992 by Karl-Martin Bensch. One goal of Ackermann-Fruehauf GmbH was to increase truck load volume while keeping the same road-train length. In 1979 the first series-produced 'large-capacity road train' was developed at the Wuppertal site. The inspiration came in 1977 at the IAA from an MAN X90 pilot project, where the exhibited truck had an additional sleeping-cabin compartment mounted on top. Ackermann developed a sleeping cabin mounted on a truck cab; this Ackermann creation attracted much attention in specialist circles as the so-called 'Topsleeper'. Long-distance drivers generally rejected this sleeping option because the driver had to climb through a small hole to reach the plastic sleeping cabin mounted on the cab, and the roof-top cabin was poorly ventilated. For these reasons the truck jumbo train was also delivered without the 'Topsleeper'. The sleeping cabin on the cab gained about 600 mm of load area, and with the very short drawbar the total gain was 1,500 mm. In 1986 Ackermann presented the EZ 70 type with a central-axle trailer for the first time. It was coupled to a small fifth-wheel coupling mounted low under the towing vehicle body, thus reducing the distance from towing vehicle to trailer in straight running to as little as 750 mm in a simple, robust way. With the Waggonfabrik Talbot, a system was developed with which the semi-trailer could be moved on rails in train compositions as a kind of goods wagon using railway undercarriages pushed under it at the front and rear. Modern deep-freeze semi-trailers were also further developed, which were to revolutionise the market. In 1987 production and administration were moved from Wuppertal to Kerpen-Sindorf near Cologne. In 1987 the Fruehauf Corporation spun off its European plants, which in early 1988 were merged in Paris into the new European 'Ackermann-Fruehauf Group'. This European company for the construction of semi-trailers produced in France, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Germany. The Ackermann-Fruehauf Group had a market share of 25%. In 1991 the Karosserie- und Fahrzeugbau GmbH in Oschersleben was acquired. In 1992 the competing 'Kombitrailer' and 'Semirail' systems were merged into the uniform European 'Kombirail' system. After the boom that followed, the company continued under the name Ackermann Fahrzeugbau Oschersleben GmbH, based at Ackermannstr. 1-5 in Oschersleben, where it manufactures and services trailers, bodies and swap systems.

• 1992

  Competing 'Kombitrailer' and 'Semirail' systems merged into the uniform European 'Kombirail' system.

• 1991

  Acquired Karosserie- und Fahrzeugbau GmbH in Oschersleben.

• 1988

  European plants merged in Paris into the new Ackermann-Fruehauf Group, with a 25% market share.

• 1987

  Moved production and administration from Wuppertal to Kerpen-Sindorf near Cologne; Fruehauf Corporation spun off its European plants.

• 1986

  Presented the EZ 70 type with a central-axle trailer.

• 1979

  Developed the first series-produced 'large-capacity road train' at the Wuppertal site.

• 1972

  Ackermann-Fruehauf GmbH founded with five plants; led by Karl-Martin Bensch until 1992.

• 1966

  Acquired a new production site in Wolfhagen near Kassel.

• 1965

  Presented the AWL system (Ackermann-Wechsel-Lader) for driver-operated interchangeable bodies.

• 1950

  Patent number 804159 granted for aluminium cell construction on the company's centenary.

• 1948

  Carl Wilhelm Kölker and Bernd Thiele developed the first trailer in aluminium cell construction.

• 1926

  Presented its first coach at the IAA in Berlin.

• 1894

  Built a plateau wagon with a 100-tonne payload.

• 1850

  C. W. Ackermann founded the C.W. Ackermann Fahrzeugfabrik in Vohwinkel (today Wuppertal) as a workshop for agricultural equipment.

Specialist German manufacturer of commercial-vehicle trailers, semi-trailers and bodies, with a long engineering heritage and a focus on interchangeable-body and transport solutions.

• AWL interchangeable-body system

  Introduced in 1965; allows a truck driver to pick up and set down an interchangeable body without outside help.

• BDF swap-body system

  Standardised interchangeable trailer system offered by the company.

• Box bodies

  Closed box bodies for furniture, heavy/light, textile, fresh-food and deep-freeze transport.

• Platform bodies

  Open, drop-side and sliding-tarp platform bodies.

• Construction-material trailers

  Trailers for building materials, including HeavyLight variants.

• Ackermann B 900 semi-trailer

  Fully hydraulic semi-trailer for pa containers with height-adjustable swivel frame.

• EZ 70 central-axle trailer

  Presented in 1986; coupled to a low-mounted small fifth-wheel coupling to reduce the gap to the towing vehicle.

1. 1Ackermann Fahrzeugbau Oschersleben GmbH – Homeaf-oc.de
2. 2Ackermann Fahrzeugbau Oschersleben GmbH – Historieaf-oc.de
3. 3Ackermann-Fahrzeugbau – Wikidatawikidata.org
4. 4Ackermann Fahrzeugbau – Wikipedia (German)de.wikipedia.org