TruckTollo joins the fight against snow and sheets of ice
Sheets of ice are a hazard every winter if they’re left where they are. And every year, drivers have plenty of excuses for failing to clear the accumulated snow and ice off their vehicles.
By now you’d think everyone would know that drivers and vehicle owners are expected to keep their vehicles roadworthy. Apparently not.
The prevailing view
A poorly researched report I heard recently on WDR radio suggested there was nothing you could do about sheets of ice on top of a lorry.
As usual, several listeners rang in with all sorts of ideas. One asked us drivers to defrost the whole lorry before setting off so that sheets of ice couldn’t fall from the roof.
A caller named Dirk, who drives a rigid lorry with a drawbar trailer, echoed a widespread view among drivers who haven’t looked into it: there’s nothing we can do, we can’t get the ice off, and we’re not allowed on the roof.
Nobody says you have to climb onto the roof. Regular readers will know there are several solutions , all of which let you stay off it. He’s right on one point, though. You can’t go onto the roof without proper fall protection.
TruckTollo
Two relatively new options have come onto the market to deal with snow and sheets of ice: the TruckTollo Breaker and the TruckTollo Dozer.
TruckTollo Breaker | 
TruckTollo Dozer |
|---|---|
| Source: https://trucktollo.com | |
| The picture on the left shows a design that’s already been on the market for years. An inflatable tube under the roof is familiar to anyone who knows the Roof Safety Airbag (RSAB for short) or Austria’s AirPipe system . The difference is that the TruckTollo Breaker is portable. You can move it from one vehicle to another. |
The picture on the right shows a new design that looks like an inflatable wet razor.
The TruckTollo Dozer is meant to clear snow and ice from the top of a vehicle without too much effort. It also has a hard plastic edge that’s supposed to break up ice on the roof before you remove it.
When I rang the manufacturer, they couldn’t yet tell me how thick a sheet of ice the Dozer could break. The system is new, so there is no long-term evidence from everyday use yet. The manufacturer’s website links to a video with some information about the two systems.
I haven’t had a chance to test either one yet. I’ve asked the developers and hope they’ll lend me a Dozer to try.
What I know so far, including prices
As I said above, the TruckTollo Breaker is essentially the same idea as the RSAB, with a few small differences.
Unlike the RSAB, the Breaker isn’t permanently fitted under the curtain-sided body’s roof. As the video shows, you can move it between vehicles and inflate it from outside, which strikes me as a drawback. Otherwise, like the RSAB, it’s a preventive system.
The Dozer is something new. The only comparable option I know of is a ladder with a scraper. You’re still insured when you climb the ladder.
The Dozer weighs around 4–5 kg and looks a little awkward to handle. I can imagine pulling snow and ice off the roof with it, but breaking up thicker sheets of ice is another question. I’d have to try it to see what it can manage.
So how much does all this cost?
It isn’t cheap.
The Breaker currently costs €1,500 before fitting, which apparently is easy enough to do yourself.
The Dozer comes in at €1,750. At the moment there’s an offer to buy both systems for €2,999.
De minimis funding
There’s no funding yet, but they’re working on it.
My verdict so far
The prices are quite steep, particularly as the systems still don’t qualify for de minimis funding . They’re new, and not many people know about them yet. I hope this article goes some way towards changing that.
I can’t say much more about either system until I’ve tried them. I hope I get the chance.
If you’d like to try one yourself, at the Strohofer family’s site in Geiselwind you can hire the Dozer from the nearby Mercedes workshop . I don’t know the hire charge yet.
The TruckTollo Breaker is portable and can be moved between vehicles, but it doesn’t appear to be adjustable to fit different bodies. If your fleet includes both semi-trailers and rigid lorry-and-trailer combinations, you’ll only be able to use the same Breaker on one or the other.
I’d be better off with the RSAB in that respect. I can’t swap it between vehicles, but once it’s fitted, it’s always there under the roof. Either tube, whether it’s the RSAB or the Breaker, could come in handy if I get stuck in Spain on a rainy weekend. That rainwater has to come off the roof somehow, preferably without soaking anyone…
The Dozer looks like a sensible alternative to a ladder. It should help drivers who, er, struggle with heights (and yes, that does happen) get the mess off the roof.
Finally, there’s the price. If the RSAB tube under the roof fabric fails, a replacement costs about €450 plus fitting. I don’t know whether there’s a repair kit for the Breaker, but I’d like to find out. I doubt anyone would spend another €1,500 on a new one just because the tube failed.
There are still a few questions about the Breaker and Dozer that I can’t go into here.
I’ll put them to the right people and update this article.
About the manufacturer, according to its website
The manufacturer is a partnership between two companies with decades of experience in developing inflatable products and sourcing and manufacturing high-quality materials.
