Goldhofer News - April 2009

American transport specialist consistently opts for German quality

"What is better than owning the only self-driving heavy-load transporter available in the US from Goldhofer? Having even more of them!" That is what it says on the website of Berard Transportation Inc., based in New Iberia, Louisiana. When it comes to transportation, the heavy-load specialist from the United States of America places its trust exclusively in the German quality manufacturer Goldhofer AG from Memmingen. During its 60-year company history, Berard has safely conveyed more than 2,000 houses and industrial goods to their destinations. In order to remain equipped for the broad range of challenges on the market, company boss Johnny Berard ordered 20 additional axle lines with two power packs of type PST/ES-E. With the investment in the new self-driving heavy-load transporters, Berard Transportation Inc. also secures its leading market position in the heavy-load sector in America.

"Our daily business comprises the transportation of extremely heavy goods. The appropriate equipment and superbly trained employees are therefore an absolute must for us. The foundations for our success are the Goldhofer axle lines, with which we are able to complete our difficult work with ease. Only with the aid of top quality materials can we fulfil our promise, to offer the best and most reliable service. And with our Goldhofer vehicles we succeed in doing so with every order" explains Johnny Berard.

The spectrum of unusual XXL cargo transported by the Americans ranges from offshore platforms and huge industrial goods, e.g. for the chemical industry, through to orders from shipyards. "We want to inspire our customers. To do this however, we must possess the perfect fleet of vehicles. That is why we opt consistently for Goldhofer. There, we receive precisely what we need for our success; namely flexible and completely safe products" says Berard.

Berard's most recent special transportation took place in Freeport, Texas. A 487 ton fractionator, which looks like a section of a space shuttle, was transported from the production site in the town across a route spanning many kilometres to the port, where it was loaded onto a waiting barge. The dimensions were gigantic: The colossus was over 67 metres long, almost six metres in diameter and a total of 9.5 metres in transportation height. Thanks then to the self-driving Goldhofer type PST/ES-E heavy-load transporters; the parallel coupling of two 6-axle and 10-axle units respectively as a long-load hauler paved the way for transporting the monstrous container. On route the heavy load crossed multiple level crossings. A particular challenge on the route was a 90 degree hair-pin bend. "We attracted a lot of spectators on the way. No one had seen anything that big for a long time. But the Goldhofer-PST axle lines mastered the difficult challenge faultlessly" lauds company boss Berard.

Berard Transporting Inc. offers its customers a complete package of turn-key transport solutions, in other words everything from a one-stop-shop. Berard provides the vehicle fleet, plans the safe process sequence and undertakes all transportation activities right to the destination. Company boss Johnny Berard came in contact with the heavy-load transport industry right back in his early youth. When the company was still very young, his father Roy Berard senior, together with his two brothers, moved some of the largest houses in all of southern Louisiana. The fact that the company had to be innovative and open to new things was always a corporate credo: "The key to success was and remains being innovative.

We have developed constantly, in order to be able to efficiently overcome a whole range of tasks. We have always made use of new technologies in the heavy-load industry" says Berard.

With its most recent procurement, Berard Transportation Inc. possesses over 52 type PST/SL-E axle lines with five drive units as well as 32 type PST/ES-E axle lines with four drive units. The fleet also has twelve axle lines from the THP compact system. All told, Berard thus possesses a transportation capacity of around 4,000 tons.
"We are naturally delighted that Berard, as the heavy-load transporter in the USA, places its full trust in Goldhofer quality. It is our aim to equip customers such as Berard Transporting Inc. optimally for their daily business. The clear commitment to Goldhofer spurs us on everyday anew"; the words of Stefan Fuchs, chairman of the board of Goldhofer AG.