A full load,
one trip.

Fleet · 30 March 2026

The biggest vehicle on the fleet

An articulated lorry is a tractor unit pulling a separate trailer, and it sits at the top of the fleet for sheer capacity. Running up to around 44 tonnes gross and taking roughly 26 standard pallets, it is built for full loads, the kind of volume that simply cannot be split across smaller vehicles sensibly.

When the numbers reach this scale, an artic is not a luxury but the right tool. Trying to move a full trailer's worth of goods in a string of vans or rigid lorries would mean many trips, more handling and more cost. One dedicated articulated run keeps it all together on a single journey.

Curtain-sider versus box trailer

Articulated trailers come in different forms, and the two most common are the curtain-sider and the box. A curtain-sider has flexible sides that pull back, allowing a forklift to load from the side along the full length, which is ideal for pallets and for sites with their own lifting equipment.

A box trailer is fully rigid and enclosed, loading from the rear, and offers more security and weather protection for the journey. The choice comes down to access and load type: side-loading flexibility with a curtain-sider, or the sealed protection of a box. Either way the capacity is the same full-load scale.

When an artic is the right call

Reach for an articulated lorry when you genuinely have a full load: around 26 pallets, a large volume of a single consignment, or goods that need to travel together in one go. It is the natural choice for full-truckload work where consolidation into one dedicated trip is the whole point.

It is worth checking the destination can actually take a vehicle this size, as tight access can rule it out. These jobs are priced per job and on the route, with a fixed quote before the driver sets off. If your load sits just below this scale, our pallets and freight guide covers the step down.

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