A trailer construction for developing countries has been developed by Used and Carry Freedom. One trailer is donated for every bicycle trailer sold.

Construction

The construction set consists of two wheels, hubs for attaching the wheels, a trailer coupling and tension ropes. In combination with local materials such as bamboo or scrap, these elements provide the base for building a trailer. The construction plans are freely distributed, and are purposely made easy to copy.

The construction plan provides an efficient relationship between the amount of material employed and the strength achieved. Six tubes are used for the square frame, the longer sides are doubled to fix the wheels in-between. This parallelogram is stiffened by placing a central pole in the middle from which spokes and the tension ropes, run toward the four corners of the square.

Attaching two sets of spokes, one underneath and one on top of the frame, prevents the frame from bending. In order to couple the trailer to a “vehicle”, one parallel pair of tubes on one side of the square is longer and exceeds the square so that on its tip, the tube that is the the connection hub can be fixed. The surface of the trailer can be covered with a board, tubes or anything to provide a platform for attaching goods.

This construction method doesn’t require any sophisticated tools or techniques, but provides great stability even if the trailer is loaded with heavy weight or bouncing on uneven terrain.

Effectiveness

The flexibility of the trailer allows its attachment to different types of vehicles, such as, bicycles, motorbikes and camels. Providing means of transportation to enhance mobility can play an important part in the development or recovery from a disaster for a community. It enlarges the capacity of transport and the area in which people can be active. Produced goods can be transported to local markets for sale to earn an income, thus the trailer can be an incentive for local economy. Time for transporting goods is saved and can be used for other important activities, e.g., enabling children to attend school. The trailer can also be used as an ambulance, thus supporting the local health system.

The project is supported by World Bicycle Relief, a NGO that is active in donating bicycles to disaster affected communities.