Don-Bur (Bodies & Trailers) Ltd

25/09/2026

🦺 | Sometimes the simplest ideas make a big difference.

A curtain retention strap isn't particularly complicated. It's simply a webbing strap positioned at the front or rear of a curtainsider, allowing the opened curtain to be secured and kept under control.

But on a large curtainsider – particularly a double deck trailer – that's a lot of curtain to contend with when the wind gets up.

🌬️ In exposed locations or strong, gusty conditions, an unsecured curtain can quickly become difficult for a driver to control, creating an unnecessary risk during loading and unloading.

The retention strap provides a quick and simple way to keep the curtain gathered and captive against the pillar while it's open.

✔️ Simple
✔️ Low cost
✔️ Easy to use
✔️ A genuine safety benefit

Proof that improving safety doesn't always have to involve a complicated solution.

🔗 Explore our safety features: https://donbur.co.uk/features/safety/

24/09/2026

– Going back around 30 years…

This week's find from the Don-Bur archives has taken a little more digging than usual!

Dating from around 30 years ago, this Coverhaul was built for TIP and is believed to have been an early steel coil carrier.

For those unfamiliar with the Coverhaul, the design used a flexible cover supported by a series of frames, with wheels running in specialist tracks along the sides of the trailer. Release the over-centre locking mechanism and the complete structure could be rolled along the trailer, concertinaing together at the front or rear to provide open access for loading.

Once extended, the over-centre mechanism tensioned the cover and locked it securely into position.

This particular trailer appears to pre-date much of our digital archive, so some of its history has unfortunately been lost to time. Even our long-serving engineering team can only put it at approximately 30 years old.

The photograph provides a few clues of its own, though, including the old TIP – “A GE Capital Company” branding and Don-Bur's equally period “Our Business is helping yours…” slogan.

So perhaps our followers can help us fill in the gaps…

Does anyone remember this trailer, or TIP Coverhauls like it? Maybe you drove one, loaded one, maintained one – or even helped us build one.

We'd love to hear what you remember.

23/09/2026

21/09/2026

🔥 hashtag – A little heat and persuasion...

During manufacture of a step-frame chassis, the fl**ge needs to follow the changing profile of the pre-cut web.

Here, controlled heat allows the steel fl**ge to be progressively shaped to follow the web, before being temporarily tack-welded to hold everything accurately in position.

This is just one stage of the process. The completed chassis sections are subsequently precision welded using our beam welding equipment, producing a consistent and durable finished joint.

Just one of the many hands-on fabrication processes that go into building a Don-Bur trailer chassis.

Follow hashtag for more glimpses behind the scenes at how we build our trailers.

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18/09/2026

🔧 – Shutter Retention Catch

Sometimes it's the smallest features that make a difference.

A shutter retention catch helps secure an open roller shutter door, reducing the risk of it moving or dropping unexpectedly while loading or unloading.

It's a simple addition, but one designed with everyday operation and safety in mind – particularly where rear shutters are being opened and closed repeatedly throughout a working day.

Just one of the many practical features that can be incorporated into Don-Bur bodywork and trailers.

🔗 https://donbur.co.uk/features/safety/shutter-retention-catch.html

17/09/2026

– a quarter of a century ago!

Back to 2001 with this ratchet deck trailer, manufactured by Don-Bur for Contract Vehicles and leased for operation by Target Express.

The adjustable ratchet deck system provided a practical way of increasing load capacity while retaining flexibility for different load heights – a principle that remains very familiar in double-deck trailer design today.

25 years later, we’d love to hear from anyone who remembers these trailers. Perhaps you were involved in building them at Don-Bur, worked with Contract Vehicles, drove or loaded them for Target Express, or simply remember seeing them out on the road.

If you recognise the design or have any memories of the fleet, let us know in the comments. We’d particularly love to hear any stories – or even discover whether any survived!

Learn more about Ratchet Deck trailers at https://donbur.co.uk/products/trailers/ratchet-deck-trailers.html

15/09/2026

Diesel up 33%. Who actually pays? ⛽

For a typical 44-tonne articulated vehicle, the difference between June and September wholesale diesel prices could represent around £15,800 a year in additional fuel cost.

But if that increase is passed on to the customer, has the problem been solved — or has the cost simply moved?

And who has the incentive to reduce the amount of fuel being used in the first place?

We explore the numbers — and why mpg may not tell the whole story.

Read: https://donbur.co.uk/news/diesel-price-volatility-who-pays-and-how-to-reduce-costs.html

10/09/2026

— who remembers this one? 👀

Another photograph from the Don-Bur archives, taking us back to the 1980s and a Marks and Spencer box van trailer in the unmistakable green St Michael livery.

Look a little closer and there's some interesting Don-Bur history here too. This appears to be one of our early chassis-less trailer builds, with the rear under-run structure seemingly incorporated as an extension of the rear frame.

Trailer design and construction have evolved considerably since then, and today's Don-Bur box vans are built very differently.

We don't have much more information about this particular build, though — so perhaps some of our longer-serving or former colleagues can help us out?

Did you work on these? What can you remember about them?

09/09/2026

Of all the hundreds of pages on the Don-Bur website, can you guess which is the third most viewed?

🥇 Our home page — no great surprise there.
🥈 Double-deck trailers — again, perhaps unsurprising given Don-Bur’s long manufacturing heritage and specialism in this field.
🥉 HGV trailer couplings.... That one surprised us!

Our guide to HGV trailer couplings attracts thousands of views every year — clearly there’s an appetite for straightforward technical information about this essential part of an articulated vehicle.

So, given the interest, we’d like to make it even more useful.

What would you like to know about HGV trailer couplings?

Drop your question in the comments 👇 and we’ll consider adding the most useful to a new FAQ section — with a credit to the person who asked it.

🔗 Read the guide: https://donbur.co.uk/faqs/product-knowledge/what-are-hgv-trailer-couplings.html

08/09/2026

🏆 Independent recognition for Don-Bur Service

We're delighted to announce that our Stoke-on-Trent workshop has achieved IRTE Workshop Accreditation for the first time, alongside a Platinum MPRS rating — the highest level available under the Maintenance Provision Rating Scheme.

Both recognitions followed an independent audit of our workshop, providing customers with additional reassurance that our facilities, people, procedures and working practices have been assessed against recognised industry standards.

We're particularly proud that our existing systems, policies and procedures were already in place, with accreditation awarded without the need for remedial work.

A great result — and a credit to everyone at Don-Bur Service who worked hard to compile the evidence and support the assessment. 👏

Find out what the accreditations mean and why they matter to commercial vehicle operators:

Read the full story: https://donbur.co.uk/news/don-bur-service-irte-workshop-accreditation-mprs-platinum.html

Special thanks go to David Cooper at Prestige Transport Compliance & Training for guidance and the audit.