Carbis Loadtec engineers road tanker, rail car, and LNG loading arms from its UK base at Chatham Maritime, Kent, supplying refineries, chemical plants, and bulk liquid terminals across more than 50 countries. The company’s flagship Autoload® system — a fully automatic tanker loading arm — removes personnel from hazardous loading positions at high-throughput terminals where manual arm connection carries measurable injury risk.
Company Overview
Carbis Loadtec Group Ltd was formed on 1 September 2019 through the merger of two established businesses: Loadtec Engineered Systems, founded in Hythe, Kent in 1996, and Sam Carbis Solutions Group, headquartered in Florence, South Carolina. The two companies had worked in close partnership for 22 years prior to the merger — Loadtec served as Carbis’s exclusive global sales and engineering representative, giving both parties an unusually deep operational relationship before formalising as a single entity.
The combined group is registered as Company No. 12063644 and is led by Managing Director Alec Keeler, who joined from the Loadtec side of the business. With approximately 13 specialist staff, Carbis Loadtec operates as a focused engineering company rather than a volume manufacturer. Loading arm fabrication is carried out in partnership with Zipfluid Srl in Italy; Carbis Loadtec handles engineering design, sales, and on-site commissioning globally.
Loading Arms & Tanker Access Products
The Carbis Loadtec product range covers the full spectrum of road and rail tanker loading — top-loading arms for petroleum and chemicals, bottom-loading arms for cleaner-product applications, and dedicated vapour recovery arms that capture displaced vapour during the filling cycle. LNG loading is addressed by the CLGLA713 bottom loading arm, deployed at tanker loading stations handling liquefied natural gas where cryogenic service demands purpose-engineered materials and seal technology.
The Autoload® system is the company’s most technically differentiated product. It automates the connection and disconnection cycle between loading arm and tanker dome, eliminating the need for an operator to climb the vehicle or manually handle the arm under load. For terminals processing large tanker volumes, the system reduces both cycle time and the manual handling risk that drives the majority of loading rack incidents.
Beyond loading arms, Carbis Loadtec manufactures a wider range of terminal access and fluid transfer equipment: fall-prevention gangways for safe top-of-tanker access, meter skids, blending skids, earthing and bonding systems to manage static discharge risk during loading, and dry-disconnect and breakaway couplings designed to prevent spills in the event of drive-away incidents. Floating suction systems for storage tank drawoff round out the product portfolio. The company is an approved supplier to major global engineering houses and blue-chip terminal operators.
For a broader view of the loading arm market, see the Top 10 Loading Arm Manufacturers 2026 ranked by market presence and product range.
Terminal & Chemical Plant Applications
Carbis Loadtec equipment operates across petroleum, chemical, LNG, and bitumen and asphalt applications — product categories that each impose distinct engineering requirements on loading arm materials, seals, and thermal performance. The chemical sector in particular demands compatibility evidence across a wide range of aggressive products, and the company maintains approvals for a spectrum of chemical service arms used at solvent, acid, and base loading facilities.
Confirmed reference installations include Horizon Terminals Limited, where Asset Integrity Manager Chris Eyre has worked with Carbis Loadtec on terminal loading infrastructure. In the chemicals sector, the company received a Partnership Award at the Chemicals Northwest Annual Awards for its work at Lanxess Solutions’ Trafford Park site — a recognition of sustained supply and service performance rather than a single-project engagement. Four LNG tanker loading stations in the Caribbean are equipped with the CLGLA713 LNG bottom loading arm, demonstrating deployment in a cryogenic marine-adjacent environment.
Carbis Loadtec’s peer in the loading systems sector, OPW Engineered Systems, addresses a partially overlapping market focused on bottom loading and vapour recovery; the two companies serve different geographies and product emphases within the broader tank equipment manufacturing sector.
Carbis Loadtec in 2026
The company is exhibiting at Expoquimia 2026 in Barcelona (June 2026), one of Europe’s principal chemical industry trade events, and at CHEMUK 2026, reflecting a deliberate focus on the European chemical terminal and process plant market. Carbis Loadtec has attended StocExpo — the global benchmark event for the tank storage sector — 19 times as of 2024, making it one of the longer-standing exhibitors at that event.
The company’s distribution and commissioning network spans more than 50 countries, supported by regional agents and approved installation partners. While its manufacturing base is firmly European, its project footprint covers the Middle East, Caribbean, and Asian markets where petroleum and chemical terminal investment has been concentrated in recent years. The marine arm division — formerly part of the Loadtec business — was sold to Woodfield Systems Ltd of Whitstable, UK, allowing the current entity to focus exclusively on road, rail, and fixed terminal loading applications.
Company Snapshot
| Founded | 2019 (merger of Loadtec Engineered Systems est. 1996, and Sam Carbis Solutions Group) |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Chatham Maritime, Kent, UK |
| Managing Director | Alec Keeler |
| Company Registration | No. 12063644 (England & Wales) |
| Employees | ~13 (specialist engineering) |
| Core Products | Road & rail loading arms, Autoload® system, vapour recovery arms, LNG loading arms, gangways, metering skids, earthing systems |
| Key Markets | Petroleum, chemicals, LNG, bitumen & asphalt |
| Manufacturing Partner | Zipfluid Srl (Italy) |
| Global Reach | 50+ countries via agent and distribution network |
| Website | carbisloadtec.com |
What does Carbis Loadtec specialise in?
Carbis Loadtec specialises in road and rail tanker loading arms, fall-prevention gangways, vapour recovery systems, LNG loading arms, and associated terminal access equipment. The company’s Autoload® system automates the loading arm connection cycle to remove operators from hazardous positions during tanker filling.
Where is Carbis Loadtec based and who owns it?
Carbis Loadtec Group Ltd is headquartered at Chatham Maritime, Kent, UK (Company No. 12063644). It was formed in 2019 through the merger of Loadtec Engineered Systems (UK) and Sam Carbis Solutions Group (Florence, South Carolina, USA) and is led by Managing Director Alec Keeler.
What is the Carbis Loadtec Autoload® system?
Autoload® is Carbis Loadtec’s fully automatic tanker loading arm system for road, rail, IBC, and drum loading applications. It automates the connection and disconnection sequence between the loading arm and the tanker dome, eliminating manual handling at the loading rack and reducing both cycle time and injury risk for terminal operators
Does Carbis Loadtec manufacture marine loading arms?
No. The marine arm division was sold to Woodfield Systems Ltd, based in Whitstable, UK. Carbis Loadtec now focuses exclusively on road tanker, rail car, and fixed terminal loading applications, including LNG bottom loading arms for land-based tanker stations.
What industries does Carbis Loadtec serve?
Carbis Loadtec serves petroleum, chemical, LNG, and bitumen and asphalt terminal operators. Reference customers include Horizon Terminals Limited and Lanxess Solutions (Trafford Park), with LNG loading arm installations operating at Caribbean tanker loading stations.