Fixed double deck trailers offer the best means to carry increased volumes of mixed groceries on HGVs. Powered double deckers (with a hydraulically lifting second internal floor) carry the same volume of goods but – with the extra weight of their onboard hydraulics – can only operate with lightweight products.

Fixed double deckers offer up to 5 tonnes more payload than powered. In the words of a senior logistics director for one of the supermarkets, they ‘can only carry watercress’ on their powered double deckers.

Fixed double deckers, though, work for all mixed product loads. If the potential benefits of double deck trailers are to be widely realised in retail distribution, it must be through these vehicles.

They also cost 50% less than powered double deck trailers on average, offering the most economical double deck option in terms of capital expenditure.