The mega trailer is a type of which was developed in the 90s by logistics company in collaboration with the European automotive industry. The purpose of this innovation was to create a trailer which could load up to 100 cubic meters, a growth of approximately 25% compared to the conventional trailers in at the time.
The predecessor of the mega trailer was the so-called swan-neck trailer (1989). This trailer was designed to ship chassis parts of the The swan-neck trailer enabled shippers to load five crates instead of three because of its lowered floors which allowed the crates to be stacked.
Next to the need for additional loading capacity, another constraint was that the industry was looking for an alternative to the '' (a truck with an attached and a trailer behind it). A very efficient and much used form of is (Roll on-Roll off). Ro-Ro basically means that the trailer is pulled onto a ship and pulled off at the unloading port. The truck and do not accompany the trailer during the sailing which obviously is far more efficient as they have no function then anyway. A shipping line on which this form of transport is used a lot is for example the .
Both the need for additional loading space and the unaccompanied short-sea shipping demanded a new solution which was found in the mega trailer. In this new design, the internal loading height was increased to 3 meters by creating a thinner roof and chassis and lowering the floor. This also meant that a new truck had to be designed with a lower suspension, clutch and power train.