A new vehicle is being offered to the aviation community, one that offers a range of interesting applications relevant to the airside business and that is based on a very novel design
The Dropboxx design is based on a Fiat Ducato chassis cab, but the fully demountable system can be employed in conjunction with any front-wheeled van chassis cab, including Fiats, Renaults and Peugeots; the Dropboxx rear payload-carrying section can be lowered to ground level in six to 10 seconds – allowing for easy loading and unloading of difficult cargo. Moreover, the same rear section can also be ‘dropped’, leaving the cab to move off – perhaps to pick up a second rear section and payload – while leaving the initial cargo behind.A number of Dropboxx variants are available, including one of 3.5 tonnes that can handle a payload of up to a tonne, and a much larger 5-tonne vehicle capable of carrying up to 3 tonnes. Its versatility is one of its strong points; it has already been converted to a specialised ambulance configuration in one of its forms. The system continues to be improved; for example, the Dropboxx – initially fitted with hydraulic suspension – is now available with the option of air suspension.
The company is itself part of a larger concern called Alfa Taillifts, which services and repairs vehicles’ tail lifts and roller shuttles across the UK. The unit in its current form is little more than 18 months old – although, as Dropboxx’s Keith Jones explains, the concept dates back to pre-2010 days. The U-shaped demountable unit, the unique aspect of the system, has already been offered to various gateways in a number of guises that make it suitable for airside work. In its ambulance configuration, it can be used to drop off small medical units where required (before later pick-ups), while London Gatwick has already shown interest in regard to its trolley handling capacity (the Dropboxx system has been demonstrated at the south London gateway, and the company has quoted for a number of vehicles to work between the airport’s terminals).
It is ideally suited to moving passenger baggage, Jones says, while it is also more than capable of being used to move aircraft wheels from off-airport to maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facilities, allowing easy loading and unloading of these heavy, outsize payloads – an application for which Air Canada has shown interest, he notes.
In fact, the system can be used for just about anything you can imagine, Jones adds. The vehicles can be either purchased or leased by customers and, if returned at the end of a lease period, the van can be quickly modified for any new client into a new configuration as required. Alfa Taillift can provide the maintenance and repair work, while the company has “all the spares on the shelf”, Jones insists.
The value of Dropboxx lies in its flexibility, he observes. Having just one van chassis cab with a number of back-end configurations that can be quickly attached and detached as needed for any given role on a particular day allows an operator to maintain a small vehicle fleet with an extensive capability, Jones argues. Not expensive in itself, it also therefore offers excellent value for money.
