South African transport, heavy lifting and installation specialist Vanguard is rewriting the rulebook on heavy-lift logistics. In an exclusive interview, Director Laura Hodgkinson reveals how their wind blade shunt trailer introduction tackled quayside constraints, how rigorous training ensures zero-incident delivery, expansion to Asia and investments in electric equipment.
Vanguard introduced a new wind blade shunt trailer to the South African market in March 2025 to address logistics challenges in wind blade transportation. Could you walk us through your team’s development process, what the key engineering challenges were, and how you overcame them to arrive at today’s design?
When shipped via heavy lift vessel, wind turbine blades are typically loaded in an alternating root-to-tip and tip-to-root configuration, requiring them to be offloaded in the same orientation. Conventional blade transport trailers in the market can only receive blades in a single orientation (root to tip).
Ordinarily, these trailers are turned on the quayside after loading or reversed off the quay to a nearby turning area to reorient the blade for onward transport.
At Richards Bay port, neither of these options was available. The quayside lacked sufficient space to turn a loaded trailer, and the route away from the quay could not safely be navigated in reverse.
Additionally, there was no space to establish a turning area suitable for 94-meter blades.
To address these constraints, Bryan Hodgkinson (Managing Director) developed a concept internally referred to as “shunt trailers.” These specialised trailers allow offloading of blades in either orientation, supporting both forward and backward overhang. Each trailer is equipped with two drawbar connections, enabling it to be pulled from either end. In scenarios where a blade is offloaded with a forward overhang, the loaded trailer can travel directly from the quayside to a designated recoupling area (an identified T-junction en route allowing a 90-degree turn). There, the horse is unhooked and recoupled to the root end of the blade, enabling transport to continue in the correct orientation without additional rehandling.
Since their inception, these trailers have been further developed to reconfigure into shorter seven-axle configurations, enabling the offloading and transport of other components such as nacelles. This flexibility removes the need for additional trailer types, streamlining operations and reducing overall port handling requirements.
“The introduction of the new shunt trailers has changed the way we approach these offloading operations, reducing the pressure on large-scale mobilisations of equipment and personnel.”
Laura Hodgkinson, Vanguard
In June 2025, you oversaw two simultaneous wind blade offloads at the Port of Richards Bay and the Port of Coega. What were the biggest logistical hurdles in orchestrating these back-to-back operations, and what lessons did you take away for future multi-site projects?
Our main takeaway was the reinforcement of a key value at Vanguard – the positioning of the correct tools and personnel is key to the success of any operation.
The introduction of the new shunt trailers has changed the way we approach these offloading operations, reducing the pressure on large-scale mobilisations of equipment and personnel, maximising the efficiency of the equipment on site and ensuring a swifter, more suitable solution. This approach enables us to expedite operations simultaneously across multiple sites, supporting our commitment to safe, efficient project delivery.
How does the Hong Kong office opened last year, fit into Vanguard’s long-term regional growth strategy, and what opportunities do you see emerging in the Asian heavy lift market?
Vanguard has a long-established history of delivering projects between Asia and Africa. Originating in the automotive industry, we have for many years offered clients a full turnkey service for the relocation and installation of heavy plant and machinery from Asia to Africa and key destinations worldwide.
Having been actively involved in this industry and witnessed its growth firsthand, we see significant opportunities emerging in the market. The opening of Vanguard Pacific Trading is a step towards further strengthening this support, ensuring our clients benefit from a dedicated, on-the-ground service from the initial FEED stages through to project completion.
As Vanguard celebrated its 50th year in July 2024, which fleet additions are you most excited about, and how will they enhance Vanguard’s service capabilities in the next five years?
Our ability to operate across a range of services and sectors simultaneously, along with our continuous reinvestment in our equipment fleet, means it’s quite difficult to pick which developments we’re most excited about, because all of them are set to play a key role in our future service offerings.
We’ve most recently invested in 32 lines of Cometto SPMTs (Self‑Propelled Modular Transporters) and PPUs (Power Pack Units). This addition to our growing transport fleet will be utilised across a range of projects and provides an effective solution for continuing to transport abnormal loads through tight and restrictive sites.
The new Vanguard wind blade shunt trailers, along with our Scheuerle Rotor Blade Transportation System (RBTS) trailers, can work in tandem to provide a unique solution for offloading and transporting wind blades to the site at a highly efficient rate. This solution is expected to support a range of future projects across Africa.
How is Vanguard adapting its broader service portfolio to meet the evolving needs of the renewable energy projects worldwide?
Vanguard is a multi-service provider within the industry, working across a range of sectors to support a variety of projects. Many of these sectors are consciously shifting towards green energy initiatives, and we have invested in a fleet of electric pick and carry cranes, specifically designed for in-plant work. We own and operate electric hydraulic gantry services and a number of electric tools designed for use in the heavy lift industry. We remain committed to the provision of excellent service and embrace technological advances that support efficient operation and best practice in all aspects.
Complex lifts in constrained port environments demand rigorous safety protocols. How does Vanguard train and prepare its on-site teams to ensure both efficiency and zero incident performance when handling oversized loads?
Vanguard ensures efficient, zero-incident delivery through rigorous, structured training and preparation of on-site teams, including competency-based rigging and heavy transport certifications. We conduct detailed method statements, risk assessments, and toolbox talks before each project to align teams on safety and operational plans.
Through our internal integrated quality management system, we embed protocols across all stages of our projects, ensuring consistency and continual improvement. Route surveys, equipment checks, and, where needed, dry-run simulations further prepare teams for site conditions, allowing Vanguard to deliver oversized loads safely and efficiently every time.
Vanguard plans to roll out its wind blade shunt trailers to additional ports. What criteria do you use to select new deployment locations, and what challenges do you anticipate in scaling this solution across diverse port infrastructures?
The unique versatility of these trailers means they are highly adaptable and can be effectively deployed across multiple locations, which is particularly valuable as blade lengths continue to increase over time.
In scaling this solution, we anticipate challenges such as variations in port infrastructure, including quayside conditions, access roads, and turning areas, all of which require tailored route surveys and detailed operational planning. Additionally, maintaining consistent operator training and equipment maintenance standards across different regions will be essential to sustaining the efficiency and zero-incident performance these trailers deliver.
Despite these challenges, we are confident that Vanguard’s engineering-led approach and the expertise of our internal planning teams position us well to address and overcome these complexities, ensuring the successful rollout of this solution to support our clients globally.