Haishan Design Animals inspired dump truck’s “legs.”

When Guangzhou, China-based industrial designer Haishan Deng looks for inspiration, he dreams of mammals that carry precious cargo and lizards that morph. Then, he takes those visions and applies them to heavy equipment that not only looks cool but is incredibly versatile.

Enter the “Super Tipper Truck,” which Deng recently designed in Munich for Germany-based F.X. Meiller GmbH, a large producer of dump bodies. Deng says he drew on four-legged animals to create a suspended chassis that can squat, stand up and bounce to allow its underbelly to pour off or scoop up materials from any side of the vehicle. The cockpit “can be lifted up or down just like animals,” adds Deng, allowing drivers to pour rocks or soil from the front and watch loads as they navigate the controls.

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Power comes from electric motors at each pair of wheels. Because the body is suspended from above, rather than on today’s trucks, which ride on the chassis, the independent suspension arms provide a level of maneuverability that would take this beast across surfaces most trucks wouldn’t dare explore, and it can dump on uneven terrain, a no-no today.

Though the award-winning concept is just that—a dream on paper—Deng says he is getting lots of inquiries. “Some transportation companies want to buy it,” he says. “It is encouraging.”