If a car transporter brakes down and u need to get to the engine do u have to empty it? Must be a pain for the garage to have all the cars park up as it worked on if u do empty it.
Can’t they just drop the trailer and unload them off the unit ? Or is the trailer the part of the rampage system
Trouble is the PTO runs off the engine in 99.9% of cases so unloading whilst theoretically possible via the hand pump would be probably a days job.
The lorry in the pic would require all but the three cars on the trailer top deck to be removed to get the car off the peak.
It might be possible in some cases to reverse another transporter up to the peak and to drive the peak car off if the peak car is flat, if its flipped up wth another under it as in the pic then nope unless it happened to be an off roader with very good approach angles.
I’ll recount one of the most terrifying hours of my life.
I used to do night trunks with transporters and one night the bloody FL10 i had packed up fully freighted, managed to get it down the slip orad at M1jct 9 northbound and onto that run off at the roundabout.
Anyway an hour later the mechanic turns up, he jacks the cab up about a foot jamming it into the deck above, then forces his body under the cab with no means of cab support save the cab hydraulics.
I begged him not to go there until i’d found a tree branch or something to block the cab up even suggested i go upstairs and sling a couple of mobile ratchet straps down to hook under the cab, but he wouldn’t hear of it insisting it would be ok…so there i am at 2am the only bloody sane bloke in sight with a lunatic whos put himself in a place of certain death should anything fail even a seal.
As it turned out nothing failed except for my nervous system, though i’m sure i turned bloody grey as i stood there wondering just what the hell i was going to say to his widow at the inquest.
Another time with a failed starter on an artic transporter with peak i suggested we jack knife the vehicle before stopping so as he could tilt the cab, this back at the garage…no the lad knew best and told me in no uncertain terms to switch the bloody thing off so i did, low and behold it wouldn’t jump start which i’d already told him, so, i buggered off home leaving him to do it the hard way and saw out the corner of me eye one of the old hand mechanics who i knew well doubled up ■■■■■■ hissen having watched and listened to this exchange… 
generally if you break down with a transporter you’re about as popular as a ■■■■ in a spacesuit, i often wonder if the mechanics draw straws to see which poor bugger has to attend.
wot he said although on the lohr transporters it is possible to lift peak deck when loaded however you still need engine to run to power hydralics quite often you will be dragged to nearest depot and pipes hooked up from another truck to work decks
That an EHR Tubbs?
Never used one meself but i had heard you could do that, Eurolohr the same possibility? thank for posting the pic, interesting to see the facility in use.
Spooky that this question should arise as a couple of hours ago I passed one broken down n/b M18 stuck in lane 1.
Just a quick hijack as there’s some experienced drivers here.
Why when you only have a few cars do you travel with them on the top deck of the trailer but with it raised halfway. Surely centre of gravity would make it more stable to lower the deck fully. Or is it something to do with keeping rigidity of the trailer?
m1cks:
Just a quick hijack as there’s some experienced drivers here.Why when you only have a few cars do you travel with them on the top deck of the trailer but with it raised halfway. Surely centre of gravity would make it more stable to lower the deck fully. Or is it something to do with keeping rigidity of the trailer?
On a multi drop i would have usually lowered them to as practical a height as possible, taking into account where i was going next combined with C of G as you correctly point out, i might only be going 2 miles but having the deck a bit higher so i could see through the framework if there was nasty blind sider involved might have a reason for higher than half mast.
In practice transporters are stable as the chassis is very heavy and majority of the weight of that loaded top deck is normally in the deck itself and about 18" up the height of the load, a good driver would use his loaf if he had 4 Discoveries @ 2.7 ton apiece strung along the top and would lower those as much as possible.
Instability comes into play when generally but not always there is little weight bearing down on the towing hitch, coupled with a heavily loaded (esp rear end bias) trailer and a lightly loaded tractor weighted forward…watch that tail wag the dog.
To be fair the vast majority of transporter drivers are pretty switched on when it comes to this sort of thing.
Thank you for answer.
Sorry to hijack this topic
A friend today saws 3 czech plated Walon transporter fully loaded with new cars
There a long way from home,
I saw a stobarts unit pulling a old style trailer today (although it was brand new)
I did wonder when they went into the transporter business if they’d stop using the drawbar type of transporter in favour of tractor trailer combination.
m1cks:
I saw a stobarts unit pulling a old style trailer today (although it was brand new)I did wonder when they went into the transporter business if they’d stop using the drawbar type of transporter in favour of tractor trailer combination.
They’re trialling the old style transporter trailers (peak trailers possibly?) so that if the cars stuff slows down they can put the units on general haulage…
lankyphil:
m1cks:
I saw a stobarts unit pulling a old style trailer today (although it was brand new)I did wonder when they went into the transporter business if they’d stop using the drawbar type of transporter in favour of tractor trailer combination.
They’re trialling the old style transporter trailers (peak trailers possibly?) so that if the cars stuff slows down they can put the units on general haulage…
Yes peak trailers. (Didn’t know the correct term for them)
Next question is if they are using these, how long before any driver is tasked with moving cars about.
m1cks:
lankyphil:
m1cks:
I saw a stobarts unit pulling a old style trailer today (although it was brand new)I did wonder when they went into the transporter business if they’d stop using the drawbar type of transporter in favour of tractor trailer combination.
They’re trialling the old style transporter trailers (peak trailers possibly?) so that if the cars stuff slows down they can put the units on general haulage…
Yes peak trailers. (Didn’t know the correct term for them)
Next question is if they are using these, how long before any driver is tasked with moving cars about.
Jesus wept, if they’re sending untrained general haulage drivers out with artics with a peak over the cab i for one will be giving them a very wide berth… 
in practice they wouldn’t be able to use their standard tractor units as they would be too high for running with cars over the top unless flat on a fixed body deck, so i suspect the trailers being discussed are fairly straightforward 7/8 car carriers with nothing over the cab.
I’m told they are trialling these trailers without peaks so as able to use less intensively trained drivers as well to utilise standard fleet high cab tractors, apparently on a completely different T&C contract to the majority existing ex Autologic drivers so i’m told, i wonder if they’ll use them on trunking work with untrained drivers chauffering and trained shunter/loaders tipping loading and strapping the loads…that’ll be fascinating how they decide who to point the finger at should something go wrong.
Interesting times in the transporter game, wonder how long Stobbies will keep it, they sold the PDI and import centre stuff on (to Paragon i believe) almost immediately.
Who else could afford to take it on?
Is there a lot of training involved before you can drive the car transporters then?
I look up in awe at them seeing as I’m just driving a car trailer with one on the back.
Also, since we’re talking about breakdowns, is there an arctic version of the RAC you can subscribe to, or is each breakdown something you have to figure out with local garages on your own?
Pendaric:
Is there a lot of training involved before you can drive the car transporters then?I look up in awe at them seeing as I’m just driving a car trailer with one on the back.
Also, since we’re talking about breakdowns, is there an arctic version of the RAC you can subscribe to, or is each breakdown something you have to figure out with local garages on your own?
The TV programme will have you believe it takes 6 weeks of intensive training!
With regards the peak, the one I saw today was not a peak but a standard trailer pulled by a normal height unit. (Sorry if I confused you by not knowing the different terms used for the types available)
Training is still done by Autologic driver trainers.
Peak trailers will replace the wag and drag vehicles one for one, so it’ll be normal car transporter boys on it apparently.
lankyphil:
Training is still done by Autologic driver trainers.Peak trailers will replace the wag and drag vehicles one for one, so it’ll be normal car transporter boys on it apparently.
I always wondered if the plan would be to do away with the wagon a drag as soon as news came out of the auto logic buyout.
It just seems mad that the brought W&D vehicles in the first place (unless they had already been ordered. I’m sure I’ve seen a few with iffy paint jobs - I.e. blue side supports on the inside)
Back in 1989, Autocar had some new daf 95’s, which apparently if there was a fault it would shut down, they were Hoyner 11 car 5 on the front 6 on the trailer, there was a hand pump for getting the cars off a very laborious task I might add, the driver jack all the cars off, in the Dartford tunnel!!! the bridge for the younger drivers on here was being built.
On Stobart i’ve heard that he is way behind on deliveries out of LRJ.
m1cks:
lankyphil:
Training is still done by Autologic driver trainers.Peak trailers will replace the wag and drag vehicles one for one, so it’ll be normal car transporter boys on it apparently.
I always wondered if the plan would be to do away with the wagon a drag as soon as news came out of the auto logic buyout.
It just seems mad that the brought W&D vehicles in the first place (unless they had already been ordered. I’m sure I’ve seen a few with iffy paint jobs - I.e. blue side supports on the inside)
The fact that they’ve been buying new W+D, I can’t see them keeping them for 6 months then binning them, not even Stobart fleet is that daft. Guess it’d be a mix of the two types depending on the contract?