Freight equipment

Curtainsider

A curtainsider is a trailer with a rigid frame and roof whose sides are tensioned fabric curtains. The curtains exist to open the vehicle up, not to hold the load in.

Mode: Road
Published figures: 15, each with a named publisher

A curtainsider semi-trailer with the curtain drawn fully back along one side, showing the empty deck and the load-restraint battens down its length.

What a curtainsider actually is

A curtainsider has a fixed roof, a rigid frame with corner posts, doors at the rear, and sides made of heavy tensioned fabric that slides back along a rail. Structurally it sits between a flatbed and a box trailer: it gives weather protection like a box, and it gives access like a flat.

It is the default trailer for general palletised freight across European road haulage, and the reason is access rather than anything else.

Access is the whole point

Pull the curtain back and the entire side of the trailer is open. A forklift can load and unload from the side, in a yard, without a dock. Long items can go in sideways instead of being pushed the length of the deck from the rear. Roof-mounted arrangements on some units allow loading from above by crane, though that depends on the specification of the individual trailer.

Compare that with a box trailer, where everything goes in and comes out through the back doors. For a delivery round with several drops, side access means the driver can reach the consignment that is due next without shifting everything in front of it.

What the curtains do not do

This is the point most often misunderstood, and it is a safety point rather than a preference. A standard curtain is weather protection. It is not a load-restraint device, and cargo that leans on it is cargo that is not secured.

Some curtainsiders are built and certified as load-securing structures, with reinforced curtains, additional posts and documentation stating what the body can restrain. That is a specific specification, not a general property of the trailer type, and whether a given vehicle has it must be confirmed for the shipment rather than assumed from the silhouette.

Either way, restraint comes from straps, load bars, blocking, and packing the deck so the load cannot move. The curtain closes afterwards.

Security and exposure

A fabric side can be cut. A box trailer cannot, at least not quietly. For high-value or easily resold goods, the difference matters — and it matters at parking places on a long run, not at the two ends where everyone is watching.

It is a factor to weigh rather than a prohibition. It sits alongside the value of the load, the route, whether the vehicle stops overnight, and what any cargo insurance policy requires. Where the goods are attractive to theft, the trailer type is part of the risk conversation and should be raised at quotation stage.

Suited to

What this equipment is for.

General palletised freight, which is what most European road consignments consist of
Multi-drop runs where side access saves rehandling everything in front of the next delivery
Sites that load by forklift in a yard rather than across a loading dock
Long or awkward items that cannot be pushed the length of the deck from the rear
Manufacturing and distribution flows where the same trailer type is used at both ends, so handling equipment matches
Loads that need weather protection but not the sealed, secure body of a box trailer

Specifications

Published figures, and who publishes them.

These are not industry constants. Each figure below is one named publisher’s statement about its own equipment on the date it was checked, and where publishers disagree the row says so. For a specific shipment, the specification that matters is the one for the actual vehicle or container being used.

Internal length: 13.62 / 15 mVerbatim from the S.CS UNIVERSAL technical-data table: 'Internal body length | 13.62 / 15 | m'. Two body lengths for one model. Krone independently publishes 13,620 mm ('Load compartment length', type SDP 27 eLB50-CS). 13.62 m is the common European figure because 96/53/EC Annex I 1.6 limits kingpin-to-rear to 12.00 m and 1.1 limits the articulated vehicle to 16.50 m; a 15 m body is usable only where national law permits a longer combination.Schmitz Cargobull — source, checked 2026-08-14
Internal width: 2,480 mmVerbatim 'Intenal body width | 2,480 | mm' (the typo is Schmitz's). Krone publishes the identical 2,480 mm as 'Load compartment width' for the Profi Liner, so this one is stable between the two largest builders — but it is NOT stable across body types: Schmitz's own box trailer is 2,490 mm and its reefers 2,460 or 2,490 mm. Ceiling is the 2.55 m external width in 96/53/EC Annex I 1.2(a).Schmitz Cargobull — source, checked 2026-08-14
Internal height: up to 3,050 mmThis is the widest-varying figure in the whole set and must never be published bare. Schmitz prints 'Internal body height* | up to 3,050 | mm' with its own footnote '* depending on the saddle height and the legal framework conditions' — it is a height-adjustable (VARIOS) body quoted at maximum. Krone's Profi Liner publishes a much lower 'Clear side height (lower edge of the external beam) 2600 - 2700 mm'. The binding constraint is the 4.00 m overall height in 96/53/EC Annex I 1.3, which several member states derogate from for national traffic under Article 4(2).Schmitz Cargobull — source, checked 2026-08-14
Internal height: 2,600 - 2,700 mmSecond manufacturer for the same field, deliberately: verbatim 'Clear side height (lower edge of the external beam) | 2600 - 2700 mm' for type SDP 27 eLB50-CS. Krone measures at the lower edge of the external beam, Schmitz quotes a maximum for an adjustable body — the two numbers are not measuring the same thing and neither is 'the' curtainsider height.Krone (Fahrzeugwerk Bernard Krone GmbH & Co. KG) — source, checked 2026-08-14
Payload: approx. 33,060 kgKrone's own label is 'Payload (technically possible) | approx. 33060 kg', alongside 'Permissible total weight 39000 kg' and 'Dead weight 5940 kg'. It is a trailer-design limit, NOT a bookable payload: 96/53/EC Annex I 2.2.2 caps the five/six-axle articulated combination at 40 tonnes, so the usable figure is 40 t minus tractor weight minus trailer tare, materially lower. Tare varies by builder and spec (Krone 5,940 kg here; Schmitz quotes 'from 5,600 kg' on its box trailer), so payload varies with it.Krone (Fahrzeugwerk Bernard Krone GmbH & Co. KG) — source, checked 2026-08-14
Euro pallet capacity: 34 (Euro pallets); 26 (ISO pallets) palletsHandle carefully. The table reads 'Pallet spaces | 34 / 37 / 40 | Euro pallets or 26 ISO pallets' but the length row above it reads only '13.62 / 15' — three pallet figures against two lengths, so Schmitz does not state the mapping 1:1. Only '34 against the 13.62 m body' is safely inferable, and it is a nominal figure that assumes a specific loading pattern; Krone's double-decker copy on the Profi Liner page refers to 'an additional 33 pallet spaces on the second level', i.e. a 33-per-deck assumption. Do not present a single industry-wide pallet count.Schmitz Cargobull — source, checked 2026-08-14
Floor load, forklift axle: 7,000 kgVerbatim from the Profi Liner data sheet (type SDP 27 eLP3-CS, issue 03/2020): '30 mm thick, phenolic coated plywood floor ... Strength acc. to DIN EN 283; for floor loadings up to 7,000 kg stacker-truck axle load; optionally also floor with 8,000 kg stacker axle load available'. It is an option-dependent figure — Schmitz's S.BO PACE page lists floors for 5,460 kg, 7,100 kg and 8,000 kg — so it must be written as 'typically specified around 7 t, builder- and option-dependent', never as a universal value.Krone (Fahrzeugwerk Bernard Krone GmbH & Co. KG) — source, checked 2026-08-14
Load securing, EN 12642 Code XL: Certified as standard by Schmitz and Krone on curtainsiders; optional on Kögel platform bodies certificationThree separate verbatim confirmations, and the difference between them matters: Schmitz — 'DIN EN 12642 Code XL. Certified structural rigidity as standard.'; Krone data sheet — 'load security certificate according EN 12642 Code XL'; Kögel platform page — 'Optionally with certification according to EN 12642 XL (VDI 2700)'. So XL is standard on mainstream curtainsiders but an ORDERED OPTION on platform bodies. A page must not state that any given trailer arriving on a job is XL-certified — that is a per-vehicle fact, and the EC guidelines say the load capability should be marked on the vehicle and that if no mark can be seen it must be assumed the curtain has no load-bearing function.Schmitz Cargobull / Krone / Kögel — source, checked 2026-08-14
Side wall strength, EN 12642 XL: 40 (0.4 P), distributed over the length and at least 75% of internal sidewall height % of payloadFrom the English PDF of 'Cargo securing for road transport — 2014 European best practices guidelines' (ISBN 978-92-79-43665-9) downloaded from this record, around pp. 16-18. Verbatim: 'If the side walls are built according to EN 12642 XL the side walls are tested to take up a force corresponding to 40 % of the payload (0.4 P) uniformly distributed over the length and at least 75% of internal height of the sidewall.' Companion values on the same pages: XL headboard 50 % (0.5 P), XL rear wall 30 % (0.3 P); the lower Code L grades are headboard 40 % max 5,000 daN, side walls 30 %, rear wall 25 % max 3,100 daN. Critically, the guidelines state that 'side walls in a curtainsider built according to EN 12642 L is regarded as a weather protection only'. The guidelines are not legally binding; the EN standard text itself is paywalled by CEN and was not consulted.European Commission, Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport — source, checked 2026-08-14
Lashing point placement (EN 12640): in pairs opposite each other; 0.7–1.2 m longitudinal spacing; max 0.25 m from the outer edge mVerbatim from the same 2014 EC publication (around p. 21): 'Lashing points in load carriers should be placed in pairs, opposite each other, along the long sides with a spacing of 0.7 – 1.2 m longitudinally and a maximum of 0.25 metres from the outer edge. Continuous lashing anchorage bars are preferable.' This is the answer to 'number of load securing points where standardised': the standard fixes SPACING and STRENGTH, not a count — so no count may be published as standardised. Builders differ within it (Krone's Multi Lock rave offers positions every 100 mm, far denser than the minimum).European Commission, Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport — source, checked 2026-08-14
Lashing point strength (EN 12640): 800 (3.5–7.5 t); 1,000 (above 7.5–12.0 t); 2,000 (above 12.0 t), 4,000 generally recommended daNTable 3 of the same publication, reproduced verbatim including its asterisk: 'Vehicle total mass in tonnes / Strength of lashing point in daN — 3.5 to 7.5 : 800; above 7.5 to 12.0 : 1.000; above 12.0 : 2.000* *(in general 4.000 daN is recommended)'. For any semi-trailer in scope here only the 'above 12.0 t' row applies. The guidelines add that 'Lashing points in sound condition on a vehicle in sound condition are considered to meet the requirements ... even if no certificates are available', which is a condition-dependent presumption, not a guarantee.European Commission, Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport — source, checked 2026-08-14

EU legal maximum

Maximum height: 4.00 mAnnex I, point 1.3, applying to any vehicle. This is the ceiling that produces the mega-trailer design: 4.00 m overall minus tyres, chassis and roof leaves the ~3.00 m internal height Krone quotes. National derogations exist — Article 4(2) permits member states to allow vehicles in NATIONAL transport that deviate from point 1.3 among others, which is why higher combinations run lawfully in some states and not across borders. EUR-Lex consolidated texts are documentation tools with no legal effect; only the Official Journal versions are authentic.European Union — Directive 96/53/EC, consolidated text (EUR-Lex) — source, checked 2026-08-14
Maximum width: 2.55 (general); 2.60 (conditioned vehicles) mAnnex I, point 1.2: (a) all vehicles except conditioned vehicles 2.55 m; (b) superstructures of conditioned vehicles or conditioned containers/swap bodies 2.60 m. The extra 50 mm for conditioned bodies is precisely what allows a reefer to reach 2,490 mm internally despite insulated walls, and explains Schmitz's '2,460 or 2,490 mm'. Consolidated text — see the authenticity caveat above.European Union — Directive 96/53/EC, consolidated text (EUR-Lex) — source, checked 2026-08-14
Maximum length, articulated vehicle: 16.50 mAnnex I, point 1.1 (articulated vehicle); a road train is 18.75 m. Together with point 1.6 — maximum distance from the fifth-wheel kingpin axis to the rear of a semi-trailer, 12.00 m — this is why 13.62 m is the near-universal European internal length. Point 1.5 additionally requires the combination to turn within a swept circle of 12.50 m outer / 5.30 m inner radius. Consolidated text; national derogations under Article 4.European Union — Directive 96/53/EC, consolidated text (EUR-Lex) — source, checked 2026-08-14
Maximum weight, combination: 40 t (five/six-axle articulated); 44 t (three-axle tractor + two/three-axle semi-trailer in intermodal transport with containers/swap bodies up to 45 ft); 42 t (two-axle tractor + three-axle semi-trailer, same intermodal case) tonnesAnnex I, point 2.2.2 (a)-(d). This is the number that makes every manufacturer payload figure above non-bookable, and it is the one regulatory fact an equipment page cannot omit: the 40 t covers tractor + trailer + load. The 44 t and 42 t figures apply ONLY to the intermodal container/swap-body case described in the text and must not be quoted as a general road limit. Member states may permit deviations in national transport under Article 4(2), so cross-border and domestic limits differ.European Union — Directive 96/53/EC, consolidated text (EUR-Lex) — source, checked 2026-08-14

Considerations

What constrains it.

Curtains are weather protection; the load must be secured with proper restraint regardless of what the sides look like
Certified load-securing bodies exist but are a specific specification — confirm it for the vehicle actually assigned
A fabric side is more exposed to interference than a rigid one, which matters for attractive cargo on long runs
Side loading needs space alongside the vehicle, and not every site has it
Opening the curtains in bad weather exposes the load, so sensitive goods may need protection at the point of handling
Whether the roof can be opened for crane loading depends on the individual trailer, not on the type
Availability, permitted configurations and weight limits vary by country and operator and are confirmed per movement

From equipment to load plan

Confirm the unit against the actual cargo.

Suitability depends on the goods, loading method and the specification of the equipment that will actually be used.

European road freight