Bodywork Hess

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Bodywork Hess

logo
legal form Corporation
founding 1882
Seat Bellach , Switzerland
Branch Automotive industry
Website www.hess-ag.ch

The Carrosserie Hess AG , based in Bellach in Canton Solothurn in Switzerland is a medium-sized manufacturer of buses , trolley buses , passenger trailer , bus kits and commercial vehicles . Since the dissolution of NAW Nutzfahrzeuge AG at the beginning of 2003, Hess is the last remaining Swiss bus manufacturer.

For a long time, the Hess company, founded in 1882, was mainly a manufacturer of bus bodies, while the chassis was mostly made by other manufacturers. After the merger of the well-known Swiss manufacturers Franz Brozincevic & Cie (FBW) and Saurer in the commercial vehicle company Arbon & Wetzikon (NAW) founded in 1982 and the end of the bus division of many Swiss bodywork manufacturers, Hess actually became the exclusive supplier of bodies for NAW in the early 1990s. Vehicles. After Daimler AG , which was involved in NAW, decided in 2002 to liquidate NAW, Hess increasingly took over the production of complete buses, which are mainly distributed within Switzerland due to the relatively high production costs.

As a not publicly traded, family-owned corporation, Carrosserie Hess publishes only a few business figures. According to the company's website, the group's turnover is CHF 120 million.

history

Carrosserie Hess AG was founded in May 1882 by Heinrich Hess in Solothurn . The Wagner - and locksmith Hess took mainly at the start of maintenance work on horses and oxen drive a cart before. The company ran well and by 1900 Hess was able to employ eight blacksmiths and Wagner as employees. In 1919 Heinrich Hess handed over the workshops to his two sons Arnold and Emil. The two - one Wagner, the other car painter - converted the company into a body shop, firmly convinced that the future lay with the automobile .

Passenger cars

From 1919 the first bodies for passenger cars were produced. After the First World War , foreign chassis were initially in short supply, and so the first automobile bodies were built on chassis from Martini from St. Blaise and chassis from the manufacturer Piccard-Pictet from Geneva, which had to file for bankruptcy in 1920 . Chassis from FIAT as well as from French and American manufacturers were quickly added. The first bodies were still very much like those of carriages , and bodywork was often done by body shops. In the mid-1920s, however, more and more complete vehicles with bodies off the conveyor belt were offered, but Hess was still able to sell bodies for customers with individual requirements. At the beginning of the 1930s, people increasingly began to replace the previously common wooden frames with those made of aluminum profiles. After the global economic crisis had also hit Switzerland, the Hess car body shop stopped building car bodies in 1933.

An exception to this withdrawal was made in 1956 when the local engineer Willy Ernst Salzmann had his prototype of a small car manufactured by Hess. This vehicle was the so-called Soletta 750 with a plastic body. Although the car received a lot of attention at the time, it never went into series production.

Buses and trolley buses

1919 to 1945: Car Alpin and the first aluminum bodies

At the same time as automobile body production began in 1919, the manufacture of the first bodies for buses began. The first vehicles went to companies in the area and were built in the style customary at the time. Based on a steel chassis from third-party manufacturers, a wooden frame was built, which was then clad with sheet steel. As early as 1920, however, Hess began to use steel instead of wood for the framework construction. While closed buses were preferred for urban areas right from the start, in the 1920s it was still believed that buses should be open for excursion traffic. Accordingly, the Swiss Alpine Post procured open Car Alpin with canvas covers . It quickly became clear, however, that this did not quite correspond to the climatic conditions in Switzerland, and so at the end of the 1920s an all-weather car was developed that could be driven in the sun with the top down and was also winter-proof. Hess developed an electric drive for these folding tops, which was patented both in Germany and in the USA . Since these tops meant extra weight even without a drive, they began using the lighter material aluminum for certain parts.

Hess quickly achieved a leading role in this type of bus construction with aluminum. In 1930, essential parts of the body were made of aluminum for the first time, with aluminum side panels being attached over the shaping steel frame. Since the welding time still caused problems, was mainly riveted . Despite additional costs in production, the long-term costs could be reduced thanks to higher corrosion resistance and lower vehicle weight. In 1933, Hess was able to deliver a bus with a complete aluminum body to PTT for the first time . This vehicle was a former 13-seater Car alpin from 1926, which - as was customary at the time - had a new body. Hess fitted the bus with an all-weather body that had 19 seats. After that, it became common practice at Hess to make both the body frame and the paneling in aluminum. Saurer's own workshop followed a similar path, while other body manufacturers stuck to steel bodies.

Hess entered the trolleybus business in 1939 when the population of Biel decided to replace their tram network with the trolleybus . A year later, the six vehicles on Berna chassis with electrical equipment were delivered by BBC . This was soon followed by an order from Basel for diesel-electric forward control buses on FBW chassis. These vehicles were already equipped with pantographs at Hess and were thus two- vehicle vehicles . The Lucerne Tramway also ordered such duo buses , albeit with an SWS body. As early as 1942, however, the people of Lucerne ordered four normal trolleybuses again, which were bodied by Hess.

1945 to 1967: Self-supporting all-aluminum buses

After the Second World War , both bus operators and freight forwarders had an increased need for vehicles for the purpose of fleet renewal. Since engines and chassis were only allowed to be procured from abroad in exceptional cases, production for the body manufacturers started rather slowly, as the chassis manufacturers quickly reached their capacity limit. Carrosserie Hess itself invested in a new workshop in Bellach in 1947 and was thus able to handle larger orders.

After Kässbohrer presented its first self-supporting Setra bus in 1951 , the Autokurs Solothurn-Wasseramt cooperative approached Hess in 1954 with the desire to produce a self-supporting bus. At Hess, a riveted aluminum vehicle was subsequently developed; the chassis components and the engine of this bus were supplied by FBW. After numerous load tests that proved the strength and deformation resistance of the body, the first self-supporting bus in aluminum construction was delivered.

In 1957, Hess was able to deliver twelve trolleybuses and four Saurer-based buses to the St. Gallen transport company (VBSG). The VBSG attached great importance to durable car bodies for the trolleybuses, so Hess manufactured an aluminum substructure for the trolleybuses, while the buses received a steel chassis of the Saurer 5DUP type. The body - an aluminum construction that was visually the same for both vehicle types - was equipped with steel components for the front and rear as well as the wheel arch brackets. This type of mixed construction turned out to be disadvantageous in retrospect, because corrosion damage mainly occurred at the transition points between steel and aluminum. However, it was also found that the aluminum frames were comparatively corrosion-free, so the trolleybus series mentioned was also used in St. Gallen until 1992. Since they were satisfied with the vehicles, another 18 trolleybuses and 21 fully aluminum buses were put out to tender by the VBSG in 1967 and then procured by Saurer and Hess. This time the construction for the trolleybuses was identical to that of the diesel buses.

At the end of the 1950s, PostBus was looking for a way to replace the remaining Alpenwagen I and II with car lengths of less than eight meters. Since they wanted to keep the external dimensions, but wanted to offer more seats similar to the larger Alpenwagen III, it was decided to use a medium underfloor engine . Hess received the order to design the chassis and body for the cars. This resulted in two technically different prototypes of the Alpine Car III-U, which were handed over to the PTT management in February 1961. In contrast to the snout vehicle, the same number of seats could be offered with around a ton less empty weight and around 1.5 meters shorter. The twenty production cars, which were put into service from 1962 to 1965, had components from both prototypes in addition to a chassis from FBW. However, Hess only delivered three of the series vehicles, the rest were manufactured by Frech-Hoch and Gangloff .

1967 to 1984: Price wars lead to innovations

From January 1, 1967, the EFTA states committed themselves to publicly tendering state contracts and not to privilege the national industry, but only to allow price and quality as criteria. Accordingly, Swiss manufacturers had to adjust to remaining competitive with foreign manufacturers. While the competitor Ramseier + Jenzer resorted to a modular construction with steel, Hess took a different approach. From 1961 Hess was able to offer welded aluminum constructions, which have now been further developed. In order to produce more efficiently, they wanted to reduce the number of frame parts and welds. This is how the aluminum large-profile construction came about, with the construction of roof and side wall parts being greatly simplified. Hess received a patent in 1972 for this construction method, recognized worldwide as a novelty, and Alusuisse was commissioned to manufacture corresponding large profiles.

However, the welded construction made of large profiles proved to be very rigid, which resulted in local overloads and cracks, especially in the area of ​​the central doors. After extensive analyzes, repair methods were found that made the vehicles fully usable again, but still looked for ways to eliminate the weak points in the construction. Structures made of welded aluminum were relatively expensive and the welding itself was conceived - this was not only a problem for Hess, but also for Volvo , which wanted to sell aluminum buses in the United States. In addition, expensive protective devices against the ozone released when welding aluminum were necessary, so there was great interest in a screwed construction. Therefore, in the years that followed, Carrosserie Hess developed a vehicle construction made of screwed special aluminum profiles, which significantly simplified the work processes and became known under the name CO-BOLT .

After Hess was not involved in the development of the APG trolleybuses due to the choice of materials, among other things, the company took part in the development of the VST standard trolleybuses between 1974 and 1977. The aluminum bodies of these vehicles were made in a joint venture between Hess, Ramseier + Jenzer, Gangloff and Tüscher and had the front of the Hess buses that was common at the time. A total of 101 articulated buses went to the cities of Basel, Bern, Geneva, Neuchâtel and Zurich. Technically, the vehicles from Bern and Zurich differed from the other vehicles in that they had a steered trailer, while the vehicles for Basel and Zurich differed visually with their smaller front windows. The Zurich car also lacked the typical bulge above the headlights. In contrast to the other cities, Lausanne procured 18 solo trolleybuses on the basis of the VST proposals, as they continued to rely on trailer operation . Other Swiss trolleybus companies also procured vehicles during the production time of the VST standard trolleybuses, but for various reasons did not want to choose the solution proposed by the VST. Since Hess supplied the bodies for all of these companies, the impression could quickly arise that significantly more companies had taken part in the ordering of standard trolleybuses. From an electrical point of view, Lugano was unable to take part in the VST order - the unusual operating voltage of 1000 volts required a different electrical system. Volvo B58-55 chassis served as the basis for the four solo and four articulated cars. Lucerne wanted, on the one hand, a uniform chassis with the articulated buses procured at the same time, so a Volvo B58-55 chassis was also used; on the other hand, the electrical equipment was to largely match the articulated trolleybus series from 1965, which led to electrical equipment from Siemens . Schaffhausen joined the Lucerne order with a vehicle. The intention in Winterthur was to continue using the traction motors of the decommissioned two-axle trolleybuses. That is why a prototype with a new control system from Strömberg was built on a Volvo chassis in 1974. In 1978 a second prototype followed with a Saurer chassis and a new engine.

Hess achieved its first export success in the trolleybus sector in 1978, when four solo trolleybuses on a Volvo B58 chassis with electrical equipment were supplied by Sécheron for the Bergen trolleybus .

1984 to 1995: Introduction of CO-BOLT and Swisstrolley

In 1984 the first Volvo prototype on a B10M chassis in CO-BOLT design was handed over to Volvo, which subsequently led to 300 more articulated buses under license. After the prototype for Volvo, the Swiss market gradually switched from welded to bolted constructions. Carrosserie Tüscher recognized the advantages of this construction and in the same year took over a building license as a partner of Hess.

The construction of CO-BOLT was based on the following main features: All frame connections are screwed with clamping elements and cast corners. These screws are treated with a two-component screw locking agent, whereby the hardener is enclosed in micro-capsules, which are destroyed when the screw is screwed in and thus secure the screw. Thus, in contrast to the welded construction, this new construction could be assembled without much experience - and since it no longer had to be straightened and sanded, the process went faster. With the CO-BOLT, Hess was also able to present a construction based on the modular principle for the first time, which also allowed vehicles to be individually adapted to the customer. Furthermore, flaps could be installed along the entire length of the vehicle, with which the maintenance personnel had easy access to the wheels and assemblies. A city and an intercity version were offered on chassis from MAN, Daimler-Benz, NAW, Scania and Volvo, with Volvo and NAW chassis making up the majority of the CO-BOLT I.

Between 1988 and 1989, after the two-motor vehicles of 1941, Hess was again able to build duo buses, this time for Friborg . The twelve articulated cars had a front end powered by a diesel engine, which largely corresponded to a normal Volvo B10M, as well as an electrically driven trailer. For weight reasons, it was decided not to attach an intermediate coupling for the electric motor, which also ran in diesel mode; under catenary which was ZF - gear brought the diesel engine in the neutral position, whereby the transmission also without motor marched with. In emergency mode, it was also possible to operate both drives simultaneously up to a speed of 35 km / h, which, for example, made it possible to negotiate icy slopes.

At the end of the 1980s, the Switzerland-wide transport concept Bus + Bahn 2000 led to an increased demand for buses for a short time. Shortly afterwards, however, the disillusionment followed that the concept did not provide the right capacities in the right places. Together with the onset of the recession, this led to a surplus of buses and a stop in procurement for many transport companies. At the same time, from 1989 onwards, the PTT was subjected to a separation of the post, telephone, telegraph and post bus operations , which was completed in 1998. As a result, losses in the PostBus area could no longer be cushioned by more profitable areas. In addition, the Postbuses were also subject to the new Railway Act in 1995, which provides for compensation by the cantons and thus places Postbuses in competition with other bus companies. In this way, buses with a lower purchase price were increasingly being procured, while the service life costs took a back seat. These changes also meant that the former competitors Frech-Hoch Sissach and Ramseier + Jenzer stopped bus production.

In 1982, Berna, FBW, Saurer and Daimler-Benz decided to combine the production of commercial vehicles under the name of Commercial Vehicle Company Arbon & Wetzikon (NAW). In 1986 the last chassis were delivered under the old brand name, in the same year the trolleybus chassis BT 5-25 and in spring 1987 the articulated chassis BGT 5-25 were presented at the commercial vehicle salon in Geneva . On the one hand, this simplified the variety of types for Hess, on the other hand, many customers were skeptical of the new company under German management.

In the late summer of 1989, Hess, together with project partners NAW and ABB, was able to present the concept for a low-floor trolleybus. The most important points were the longevity of the body and the chassis, the possibility of installing drives from different manufacturers, the possibility of adapting the body and the use of existing mass-produced parts. With the low-floor chassis, which was subsequently developed, the main struggle was the lack of space for units and the necessary rigidity of the chassis. NAW's solution was that the platforms for the units were already installed in the chassis, which had a positive effect on strength, but did not allow any freedom in the positions of the units. In contrast to classic chassis, however, the new chassis could no longer absorb all the forces itself, so that the body had to take over some of the forces, which required close cooperation between NAW and Hess. For the first time, not all electrical components could be installed under the car floor. With the exception of the electric motors and the emergency drive unit, the components were located on the roof, which in turn required close cooperation between Hess and the electrical supplier. The prototype of the Swisstrolley was presented to the press on March 14, 1991 in Zurich before it was used on a test basis on twelve Swiss trolleybus networks. Before that, without having tested the prototype, TPG Genève ordered 13 Swisstrolleys. However, the budget cuts in the 1990s meant that the first generation of Swistrolleys was not widely used.

1995 to 2006: CO-BOLT 2

In the 1990s, the low-floor design - as already offered by German manufacturers - became increasingly important. Disability associations demanded easily accessible buses, which was later anchored in the Disability Equality Act. For the bus builder, however, this low-floor trend was a challenge - mechanical components and chassis frames that had had their place and their justification for years now had to be completely redesigned. While the chassis and the body merged more closely due to the design, the customers only wanted one contact, and so from then on, Hess appeared on the market as a general contractor.

The introduction of the low-floor technology led to the construction of a new self-supporting car body at Hess, which could take more forces than previous bus bodies. The most important innovation in the CO-BOLT 2 from a technical point of view were the glued panes, which made the vehicle more stable, and a larger roof strap, which also served for stability. The lower edge of the window, the one-piece front and rear windows and the new front and rear design, which was created in collaboration with students in transport design, were of interest to bus users. One advantage of this design was that the vehicle widths between 2.3 and 2.5 meters that are common in Switzerland, as well as extra widths, could easily be implemented thanks to the modular design.

Transport companies repeatedly need midibuses ; However, since the numbers are not too large, these are treated neglectly by the large-scale manufacturers. Hess recognized a market niche and developed a midibus prototype, the so-called Swiss Midi , the prototype of which was presented in 1995. This was specially tailored to the needs of PostBus, on the steel frame from Vetter a high-floor overland line car with underfloor luggage compartments was built in CO-BOLT construction. The diesel engine and the front axle came from the Mercedes-Benz range, while the transmission and the rear axle came from ZF. What was unusual was that the car had a high-floor CO-BOLT-2 design. Another prototype followed in 1997, this time as a low-floor city bus version. The midibuses on Vetter chassis never went into series production due to bad trial runs at the post office and other transport companies.

After a few detours via bus kits and licensed buildings, Hess began to work with Scania , which was also expanded to the Swiss market. In 2001 Hess was able to deliver the first two buses on Scania L94UB chassis from Bellach production to Germany. In 2002, further solo buses and articulated buses on N94UA chassis followed for Swiss companies. For some companies, low-entry vehicles were also manufactured on the basis of this Scania chassis .

In 1998, Hess received the order to build seven midi trolley buses on MAN chassis for the French city of Lyon. As early as Whitsun 1999, the first 9.7 meter long and 2.4 meter wide MAN / Hess NMT 222 in low-entry design went into operation, with six more vehicles following in late summer. The collaboration with MAN was then continued in the trolleybus sector, Hess offered articulated trolleybuses on MAN chassis for Salzburg and Innsbruck. The fact that no NAW Swisstrolley chassis was offered was mainly due to the specification that required all entrances in the low-floor area, which the BGT-N chassis did not meet. Since the situation at NAW was uncertain, it was decided to offer a MAN chassis in addition to a NAW chassis for the tender from Friborg. The TPF opted for the MAN chassis and so in 2003/2004 nine Hess / MAN / Kiepe articulated double buses of the type NGT 204 F were delivered.

In mid-2002 Daimler-Benz announced that the NAW company was to be closed. This was not without problems for Hess, as the low-floor trolleybus chassis were the prerequisite for the continuation of the body shop. The BGT-N chassis, which has been in production for ten years, also urgently needed to be revised. The development by the technicians from Hess and NAW was about 60 to 70 percent complete by 2002 and it was intended to offer the revised chassis for Lucerne and La Chaux-de-Fonds. After negotiations, it was agreed on January 31, 2003 that Hess should take over the further development and the production rights for sale from NAW. All former NAW engineers continued to work on the chassis in an engineering office and so the new Swisstrolley 3 was successfully launched . The Lucerne public transport company first ordered eight vehicles, which went into operation in 2004.

In December 2002, work began on extending a Geneva Swistrolley 1 with a middle section. The resulting prototype should make it possible to test the reliability and availability of a double-articulated trolleybus in line use. In December 2003 the vehicle was transferred to Geneva, where it went into regular service. A similar path was followed in 2005 together with the St. Gallen public transport company, which decided to have a high-floor car from 1992 extended. In contrast to the Geneva car, this vehicle was supplemented by a steered low-floor trailer and went into passenger service at the beginning of 2006. At the end of 2005, the first of ten series light trams went into operation in Geneva .

2006 to date: CO-BOLT 3, mountain and hybrid buses

The demands on the appearance of the buses have increased over the years and so the design-related dividing line between the central belt profile and the side covers of the CO-BOLT 2 was found to be a nuisance, especially with full advertising. This is why Hess decided to glaze the window area including the central belt for the new design of CO-BOLT 3; this made it possible to visually enlarge the window area compared to the earlier version. For the front of the new design, designers Andrew Mc Geachy and David Thornley were brought in, who both contributed a draft. Individual parts were adopted from both proposals, so that no individual designer handwriting was recognizable in the finished design. The interior has also been completely redesigned with new roof cladding and calmer lines. With the CO-BOLT-3 design in the interior, seats from Hess' own production were definitely obsolete. Up to the first CO-BOLT-2 vehicles, the Heso type III seats with thick foam inserts were still used - as more and more units took up the space under the seats in low-floor vehicles, these would have had to be revised, which was omitted . The first vehicle in the CO-BOLT-3 design, a solo bus for the Bamert bus company, was presented at Suissetransport in Bern in September 2006 .

In 2007, two new products based on the CO-BOLT 3 were presented for different purposes. In the summer of this year, the Hess lighTram Hybrid, the world's first hybrid double articulated bus, was presented. With the vehicle, which was derived from the trolleybus variant and has a serial hybrid drive, the aim was to create an environmentally friendly way of transporting large crowds in cities without a catenary network. The newly launched mountain buses presented in November 2007 were not intended for large crowds . Similar to the Swiss Midi twelve years earlier, the aim was to create a midibus for use on mountainous routes. In addition to their width of 2.38 meters, the low-entry vehicles are also characterized by their small turning circles and series components from Scania twelve-meter buses, which are said to have advantages over normal midibuses in challenging terrain. Today the mountain buses, which are available in five lengths as well as in the standard width of 2.55 meters, are sold by Hess under the name SwissAlpin .

As early as 2003, Hess delivered two low-floor towing vehicles for trailers on Scania chassis to Zugerland Verkehrsbetriebe, but since these did not really prove themselves in trailer operation, there was no series order. Later on, a replacement had to be found for the aging trailer compositions with high-floor vehicles. For this purpose, Hess developed a new type of bus with a CO-BOLT-3 body on its own chassis. After an evaluation phase, the pre-series bus was able to start passenger service in Zug on April 1, 2011. The new type of towing vehicle that was created in this way was included in the Hess range under the name SwissDiesel . The experience from the trial operation led to some changes in the ten series vehicles that went into operation in early 2012. Such a trailer train has also been in operation for PostBus as a pilot test on the route from Düdingen to Bösingen since January 2013 .

Personal trailer

One of the Hess / Lanz + Marti trailers of the ZVB behind a NAW BU5-25 also body-built by Hess
Hess / Lanz + Marti trailer type APM5.6-13 in Lucerne

In 1943, the Hess body shop manufactured its first passenger trailer based on a Saurer chassis. The trailer delivered to Swiss Post had mechanical four-axle steering and the drawbar could be used on both sides, so that this trailer was a bidirectional vehicle. Three years later, in 1946, Hess built the first two self-supporting trailers. These vehicles, which also had four-wheel steering, had no chassis, but rather the wheels were suspended from the box-shaped structure with double swing arms. The two trailers were delivered to the Lucerne transport company , where they were in use until 1972. After the Second World War, E. Moser dominated the passenger trailer market. That is why it took eleven years before Hess was able to deliver another trailer in 1957. Since the Transport en commun de Neuchâtel were satisfied with the vehicle, a structurally identical vehicle for the local trolleybuses could be delivered in 1958. In 1958/1959, Hess was also able to bodywork Moser trailers for the first time. After these five cars for the Geneva public transport company , two more followed in 1960 for Auto AG Rothenburg and the Olten city bus . Although articulated buses appeared in the 1960s , between 1968 and 1970 twelve passenger trailers on Moser chassis were delivered to the St. Gallen public transport company .

In the years that followed, most companies gave up trailer operation in favor of articulated buses, and new vehicles were no longer procured. The Transports publics de la région lausannoise (TL) put an end to this trend in the mid-1980s when they decided to purchase trolleybus trailers as part of the fleet renewal and expansion. The older trailer designs no longer met the comfort requirements and caused problems in bad weather, so a new design had to be developed. As a result, Hess developed a low-floor trailer together with the companies Lanz + Marti from Sursee and Sterki from Wolfhausen from 1987 onwards . This prototype had a car floor height of 360 millimeters as well as air suspension, independent wheel suspension and an anti-lock braking system . While the front axle was steered mechanically, the rear wheels were steered hydraulically. After extensive test drives, another 20 series cars were delivered to TL by 1990. Ten similar trailers were also delivered to the Zugerland Verkehrsbetriebe (ZVB) between 1993 and 1996 , but in contrast to the TL trailers, the Zug vehicles had purely mechanical steering on both axles and a floor height of 522 millimeters ("half-low floor") better seating allowed.

In the 1990s, there was a capacity problem on Lucerne's trolleybus route 1 , despite articulated vehicles and frequent intervals. For this reason, the Lucerne Transport Authority (VBL) was looking for a quick solution to expand capacity. It turned out that towing a trailer was the best option. That is why the first seven Hess / Lanz + Marti APM5.6-13 trailers were delivered to VBL in 1998. The low-floor trailers with CO-BOLT-2 body had extensive measures for passenger safety and information. By 2005, nine more trailers had been delivered to Lucerne. In addition to the 16 wagons for Lucerne, ten trailers of this type were also delivered to TL in 2006. In 2003 Hess was able to sell a trailer train, which Hess carries under the product name BusZug31 , with such a trailer behind a diesel bus to Germany. This trailer train, which was delivered to the Behrendt company in Lehnin , received a great deal of attention; after all, from 1960 there was a ban on passenger trailers in the FRG . Another BusZug31 was delivered to Wolfsburg in 2004 , and Postbus has also been using six such trailers in Austria since 2005. The Weber Voyage company from Canach also uses a trailer of this type.

In 2002 Zugerland Verkehrsbetriebe had the problem on a local bus route with narrow streets that capacity was insufficient at peak times. Since only minibuses could be used on the line due to the lack of space, it was decided to purchase a small passenger trailer. The Hess body shop designed one in cooperation with the vehicle construction company Zbinden from Posieux . According to the total train weight , this trailer train was given the product name BusZug 7 . From 2003 onwards, similar trailer trains were also delivered to other companies, for example to the Pinneberger Verkehrsgesellschaft , the Meier company from Regensdorf and Hüttebräuker in Leichlingen .

To match the new trailer trains for Zugerland Verkehrsbetriebe, the trailers were also brought up to date in terms of design in 2011. The resulting trailers with CO-BOLT-3 body are still based on a Lanz + Marti chassis.

commercial vehicles

At Hess, the term commercial vehicles includes vehicles for normal freight transport, but also special vehicles of all kinds for the transport of people and goods. At the beginning of the company's history, ox carts, horse-drawn carts and hand-drawn wagons were part of the scope of production. Over the years, commercial vehicles have become more and more individual, so gradually even simple loading bridges have been adapted to the transported goods. Until about 1956, Hess was able to design all kinds of truck bodies, especially dock levellers for 3.5 tonne vans were an important pillar of the company, and medium-weight trucks with roller blinds were also successful. As the first manufacturer in Switzerland, Hess also offered plastic bodies for refrigerated transport from 1962 , but around ten years later this sector was left to specialized companies.

As a result, the focus of commercial vehicles was increasingly placed on all-aluminum truck bridges, which were produced using a modular system . Today several hundred such bridge kits are sold each year and produced by the Hess subsidiary FBT. These bridge structures are mainly found in Switzerland, where they are relatively common.

Special constructions

In the course of time, Hess in Bellach has implemented various special designs, primarily from aluminum. These included, for example, a buoyant snow groomer with a snow blower from Rolba , which was delivered to Alaska. Around 60 specimens of the aluminum speedboats for inboard and outboard motors were manufactured, and around 2000 pairs of aluminum water skis were also manufactured. All types of boat shells are still in the Hess range today.

For a while, bodies and extensions were offered for ambulances and fire-fighting vehicles, but this special area was later given up in view of the great amount of clarification required. Starting in 1959, numerous cabins for the VW Transporter were converted into double cabins before this type of cab was available from the factory. Double cabs for trucks from Bedford were also in the Hess portfolio. Hess manufactured a small articulated bus for the Lido-Bus Weggis . A semitrailer was also built in 2006 in collaboration with the Biel University of Applied Sciences. This vehicle, in which the students participated, can be used as an exhibition and laboratory measuring vehicle.

Occasionally, Hess also manufactured rail vehicles. In 1947, four Swiss standard cars for the Lucerne tram were fitted with bodies by Hess . In 1999 a saloon car for the Chemins de fer du Jura was built on a chassis from 1947. This also included shunting locomotive superstructures for the Kronenberg company from Ebikon and later Stadler in Bussang . Today, Hess can once again supply Stadler Rail with shunting locomotive bodies in the shell.

Another special construction in 1967 included an aluminum transmitter booth for the Swiss Post for use on antennas in narrow valleys. The prefabricated parts could be transported to the assembly site by road or helicopter.

Large orders

Swiss Army

Two Duros with a command structure
Duro with team structure

Hess was able to supply vehicle bodies for the Swiss Army at an early stage, for example trucks and radio vehicles were built as early as the 1930s. The cooperation continued and over the years trucks, mainly from Swiss manufacturers, have been equipped with bridges again and again. Workshop superstructures such as the Steyr 680M were also manufactured by Hess for the army.

In the mid-1970s, the army tendered an international tender for an all-terrain and light vehicle with a payload of up to 2.2 tons. As a result, Saurer, Mowag and Bucher-Guyer applied for the production of prototypes. However, Saurer was eliminated in the preliminary phase. Hess received an inquiry from Mowag for the construction and delivery of bridge superstructures in aluminum, three days later Bucher followed suit with the same inquiry. As a delivery to both companies was not considered constructive and honest, Bucher was canceled because they were already working with Mowag. A bridge trough was then designed for the Mowag prototype, with Hess contributing his knowledge of large-profile construction with CO-BOLT connection technology. In an initial comparison, including extensive test drives, the Mowag vehicle with the Hess body was eliminated. But in contrast to the chassis from Mowag, the bridge structure had convinced the experts and so it came to a collaboration with Bucher. The components were optimized and improved with the findings from the test drives. In 1992 the German Unimog U 140 L was presented to the armaments experts by NAW in Arbon and it was possible to ensure that it also had to be evaluated. On September 1, the security policy commission headed by Federal Councilor Kaspar Villiger made the type decision in favor of the Bucher Duro . The 1993 order comprised 1,800 crew vehicles and 200 command vehicles, as well as an option for 1,000 additional vehicles. The first ten vehicles were delivered on schedule in September 1994. In 1998 a follow-up order for 550 crew cars and 350 command cars followed. Hess was also involved in the 150 vehicles for the Venezuelan army. The military vehicles division of the Bucher Group was transferred to Mowag in January, and this also ended the Duro chapter for Hess.

In recent times, in addition to bodies for the transport of people and goods, special bodies for the medical service for the army have also been implemented for the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter . Normal truck bridges are also still being made for the army.

Post and SBB

In addition to numerous orders for Postbuses, the PTT at the time also repeatedly ordered other vehicles in larger series from Hess. In the mid-1980s, for example, 600  VW Caddies were built with a GRP body .

For the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB), double cabins were built on various chassis for assembly teams. On the basis of the Iveco Eurocargo , vehicles with a Hess body were procured for the service personnel from the mid-noughties.

Current products

The most important segment for the Hess body shop are buses and trolleybuses as well as matching passenger trailers . We also offer conversions and extensions for minibuses for regular service, as a school bus and as a vehicle for transporting the disabled. For goods transport, superstructures for trucks as well as trailers are offered based on the CO-BOLT modular system. Hess also offers a repair service for vehicles of all kinds at various locations.

Buses

  • SwissDiesel 4 / Scania NUB: low-floor midibus with a length of 9.5 meters and a width of 2.48 meters
  • SwissDiesel 4 BD-N1A: low-floor solo bus 10.5 or 12 meters long and 2.55 meters wide
  • SwissDiesel 4 BGD-N1A: low-floor articulated bus 18 or 18.7 meters long and 2.55 meters wide
  • SwissAlpin : Low-entry buses for use on mountainous routes with a length of 9.7, 10.1, 10.9, 12 or 13.5 meters and a width of 2.38 to 2.55 meters

The range also includes low-floor buses with lengths of 9.5, 10.3, 12 and 13.2 meters, although these do not have a brand name.

Hybrid buses

  • SwissHybrid 4 BGH-N1A: 18 m low-floor articulated bus with serial hybrid drive
  • lighTram Hybrid BGGH-N2C: Low-floor double articulated bus with serial hybrid drive (24.7 m length)

Bus trailer

  • BusZug31 : low-floor passenger trailer for twelve-meter-long car or trolley buses
  • BusZug7 : small low-floor passenger trailer behind the minibus

Trolleybuses

  • Eurotrolley : low-floor solo trolleybus; not yet produced, theoretically combinable with trailer
  • Swisstrolley : low-floor articulated trolleybus with a length of 18.0 or 18.7 meters
  • lighTram Trolley : low-floor double-articulated trolleybus

License construction

As early as 1927, accessories for buses were offered under the name Heso . The offer included window lifters, line selectors and driver's seats, some of these parts were even mandatory standard components for company cars in Switzerland at times. Even then, not only were attempts to sell the accessories abroad, but also partner companies were sought to install the parts in buses. After the Second World War, Hess mainly exchanged views with Scandinavian partners, as vehicle taxes were levied in these countries based on weight and so there was interest in light aluminum bodies. In 1957, Hess was able to build a bus abroad for the first time. This prototype in Portugal resulted in a collaboration with the Portuguese company before they stopped producing buses. So Hess began to work with Salvador-Caetano, who is still an important partner of Hess today, for the Portuguese market. Based on these experiences in Portugal, the license philosophy of Hess was developed: The aluminum profiles should enable buses to be built anywhere in the world with a minimum of infrastructure.

In 1978 the first bus kits were delivered to the Australian company Grenda Bus from Melbourne and the New Zealand company NZ Motorbodies. The Australians founded the subsidiary Volgren to produce buses and three Hess employees went to Australia to help build the first vehicles. At that time the aluminum construction was still welded, which was relatively complicated for the construction. For this reason, the development of the screwed CO-BOLT system was also promoted, especially for licensed construction. In 1984 the first articulated bus in CO-BOLT design was handed over as a demo vehicle to Volvo, who made demonstration drives with it in the USA. The CO-BOLT concept later convinced other manufacturers, since 1998 the US manufacturer GILLIG has been producing under a Hess license. Also since 1998, the company Baltcoach in Estonian Tartu ago buses with CO-BOLT-construction. In 2004 the Romanian manufacturer Grivita followed , in 2005 the Israeli manufacturer Haargaz and Max Truck & Bus .

For the Irish manufacturer Wrightbus , which produces aluminum bodies itself, Hess was able to supply chassis for the hybrid version of the Wright StreetCar for the American market from 2008.

Cobus

Second to fourth generation
Cobusse in Varna

In the early summer of 1976, airport buses were put out to tender from Zurich Airport . Since Hess had to act as general contractor according to the tender specifications, the chassis and the mechanical part also had to be represented. The idea of ​​a suitable chassis was sketched out by Hess before the chassis manufacturers FBW and Saurer were asked whether they would produce it. While Saurer canceled, FBW assured their support. The concept that the two companies submitted in August 1976 comprised a chassis with a Ford gasoline engine that was placed in front and acted on the front axle. Accordingly, the chassis consisted of a powered end car and a tow bar. A full aluminum body with large profiles served as the body. In 1978, Hess presented its airport bus at the Geneva Motor Show before the two buses on order were handed over to the airport. The airport bus concept proved its worth, only the Ford engine was replaced by a diesel engine from Daimler-Benz, and so further orders from Zurich followed.

A new chapter in the field of airport buses began in the summer of 1989, when a representative of the Contrac company, a German subsidiary of the Portuguese bus manufacturer Salvador-Caetano (Caetano Bus), visited Hess to learn more about airport buses. A little later, on November 30, 1989, a license agreement was signed for the worldwide distribution and assembly of delivered bus kits. With the handover of the first vehicle, the brand name COBUS was introduced, which is derived from the CO-BOLT system used in the body. Contrac now operates as Cobus Industries and is the market leader in airport apron buses with a market share of over 75%.

Subsidiaries

FBT Fahrzeug- und Maschinenbau AG

In November 1972, Hess took over the then factory machine and sawmill manufacturer Bögli in Thörigen . In the following years own products such as sawmill equipment were given up. However, the parent company received orders for production-specific vehicle parts such as external and internal pivoting doors for buses or line selectors for roll-up displays . Today, one third of the orders from the FBT company are processed by Hess; the remaining orders come from third-party companies. Today, door assemblies and special external pivoting sliding doors for buses and trains are developed and marketed by FBT as an independent product. In addition, customers have access to a CNC machine park for the production of components.

Carrosserie Tüscher AG

As early as 1982, Hess was working increasingly with the Tüscher car body shop, which at that time was still based on Hardtturmstrasse in Zurich. The basis for the deepened cooperation was that both companies produced bus bodies from aluminum. When the then owner Adi Tüscher decided to sell his company in April 1984, it was decided that Hess should take over Tüscher's body department in a new building. In June 1984 Carrosserie Tüscher AG in Dällikon was entered in the commercial register as a subsidiary of Carrosserie Hess AG . Today, in addition to commercial vehicle repairs for Eastern Switzerland , the Dällikon site also offers expansions for school and VIP buses.

Bodywork Lauber SA

The body shop Lauber et fils SA , based in Nyon belonged in the 1980s as a subsidiary of body work Ramseier + Jenzer from Bern or Biel still among the competitors in the construction of bus bodies. Since the Carrosserie Ramseier + Jenzer had to reposition itself as a subsidiary of the Rey group of companies in the mid-1990s, the Lauber company was forced to sell. After lengthy negotiations, Carrosserie Hess took over Carrosserie Lauber SA in October 1996. On January 1, 2000, they moved into a new building in which, in addition to conversions of commercial vehicles, school buses and buses for the disabled, repairs and services for vehicles of all kinds are offered.

Car body work Muster & Müller AG

On January 1, 2013, Carrosserie Hess AG took over Carrosserie Muster & Müller AG in Oberbuchsiten . As before the takeover by Hess, repairs for cars, trucks and buses are to be offered at this location.

Grenchen location

In addition, Carrosserie Hess AG also had a branch in Grenchen between 1963 and 1999 , which specialized in car repairs. From 1982, extensions for vehicles suitable for the disabled were also offered at this location under the name Nufatech .

literature

Web links

Commons : Hess vehicles  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ End of the line for orange trolleybuses in Neue Zürcher Zeitung from January 5, 2005
  2. Media release from the Hess CO-BOLT3® body shop at Suissetransport (PDF; 14 kB) from June 15, 2006
  3. Media release of the Hess bodywork world premiere: lightram® Hybrid (PDF; 117 kB) from July 11, 2007
  4. Media release by the Hess body shop The new HESS mountain bus (PDF; 48 kB) from November 7, 2007
  5. a b Uphill into the low-floor age in ÖV Panorama No. 4 (spring 2013), p. 11, ISSN  2296-4797
  6. Durchzug Nr. 8 page no longer available , search in web archives: New trailer bus (PDF; 4.1 MB) page 12@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.zvb.ch
  7. Zuger Woche New ZVB trailer bus (PDF; 494 kB) from April 6, 2011
  8. a b c d e f model overview of line buses at www.hess-ag.ch
  9. Press release from Zugerland Verkehrsbetriebe Ten new trailer buses for Zugerland Verkehrsbetriebe AG (PDF; 49 kB) from April 27, 2012
  10. Berner Zeitung Das Postbus in XXL format (PDF; 554 kB) from January 14, 2013
  11. ^ Paul F. Schneeberger: Verkehrsbetriebe der Stadt Luzern, 100 years of trams, buses and trolley buses . Minirex, Luzern 1999, ISBN 3-907014-12-X , p. 200
  12. News March 2004 on www.stadtbus.de
  13. Vehicles on the Lucerne tram at www.pospichal.net
  14. Army vehicles, technical data and rail transport: WB L Verdeck 1.6 t 16 Pl Hess ( Memento of the original from October 22, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.adbgst-c2-prod.vbs.admin.ch
  15. Pioneer vehicle SO 1062 (blue) on http://www.bwsbbolten.lodur-so.ch/
  16. Low-Entry at www.hess-ag.ch
  17. Bus trains at www.hess-ag.ch
  18. StreetCar RTV on http://wrightbus.com/ ( Memento from July 2, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) (English)
  19. Company portrait Contract GmbH ( Memento from December 16, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) (2008; PDF; 112 kB)
  20. Handelszeitung: Swiss Idea Conquers Airports ( Memento from January 20, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) , February 18, 2016, accessed on January 20, 2017 (pdf)
  21. Carrosserie Hess has arrived in the logistics valley of Switzerland . ( Memento from September 22, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) On: www.solothurnerzeitung.ch