“After 100 years, the walking beam no longer represents a single fixed design but an engineering foundation that continues to be adapted to new materials, powertrain options, and operating demands,” the company said in a press release.

Practical advantages for heavy haulers

For bulk transportation operations navigating challenging job sites, off-road mobility and equipment stability are critical requirements. Hendrickson’s walking beam-based suspensions are built around an equalizing beam that converts the core design into practical fleet benefits:

• Traction and load equalization: Axles articulate across uneven terrain, helping to maintain tire contact and distribute weight evenly between axles.
• Vibration control: Modern rubber and progressive springs isolate road inputs from the cab, body, and sensitive mounted bulk equipment.
• Weight efficiency: Fabricated components and higher-strength steels reduce overall weight, allowing for added payload capacity in weight-sensitive hauling applications.
• Configurability: Various spring types and layouts allow fleets to tailor setups based on load capacity, chassis packaging, and specific maintenance priorities.

“As vocational trucks evolve and fleets focus more closely on total cost of ownership, Hendrickson’s walking beam‑based suspensions remain centered on matching the suspension to the work the vehicle performs and ensuring that components around the beam are designed, validated, and supported to perform dependably over the long term,” Hendrickson concluded.