Can you drive with an extendable in loading position with a 20 foot empty box?
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sounds quite feasable, as long as the box is in the middle of the trailer ( assuming its loaded ) empty no prob…but if its loaded you will have to back on a bay and its difficult to off load…unless you have the right trailer that extends…retracts…or pushes the box to the back…its deffo illegal if its overloaded on the back end.
So I’m ok to drive with an empty 20 foot box pushed to the back?
Thanks.
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You need a rear lift unit or a lifting front axle skell. There’s something to do with the minimum distance from drive to lead axle on the floor in the turning circle c&u regs
OVLOV JAY:
You need a rear lift unit or a lifting front axle skell. There’s something to do with the minimum distance from drive to lead axle on the floor in the turning circle c&u regs
Surely axle distances dictate axle weights not turning circle, he is running with an empty 20ft so no weight to worry about, or turning circle.
I’m fairly sure that it’s illegal. You can’t run loaded with it closed up and vosa would class the empty container as the load. I never used to do it when I was on boxes, only takes a min to stretch it and it always felt a bit twitchy driving it closed up even with an empty box
I wouldn’t and apart from a short distance of a few hundred yards never have. Have a good look at the skelly some have a warning on the side about driving it in the closed ( unloading ) position. I really can’t see the point it only takes as minute or two to stretch even with the ancient old thing I’m dragging around at the moment.
I ended up going from stoke towards uttoxeter with it shrunk, it felt as though it was grabbing my steering because of the poor road on the a50 it was very bouncy. Never again lol.
I couldn’t extend it in the farm I tipped at so thought I’d try and get back with it closed.
Never again!
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I’ve asked vosa in the past about running positions on a slider and they are not interested unless it affects axle weights as in puts them over weight, an empty 20’ on a closed skelly isn’t going to overload any axles.
Company policy on sliders is more likely to affect how you can run a skelly more than the law will.
Yes…
Some companies have policies that don’t let you but there’s nothing illegal about running with a twenty at the back. I’m sure the old hands will remember twenty foot skellies on springs with no ABS, no air suspension and rubolites. If I recall P&O were still using them only a few years ago for lighter boxes.
I always lift the lead axle though, you can end up looking a right ■■■ doing tight turns with it down as your traction disapears and you grind slowly to a halt.
I always thought it was illegal to drive with them shrunk regardless weather the box is loaded or not. Plus they drive like a pig when shrunk.
No and a thousand times No. Trucking is all about bigger, longer the better… Driving round with a shrunk skelly is well gay.
Extend asap if your in a tight spot.
Driving round with a 20’ box on a shrunk sliding skelly is also known as the ‘Naked Otter’ position, no idea why will google image it later…
[Naked otter is not a safe google search term, don’t do it even if your curious]
I’m sure if you look on the side of the skelly, the manufactures say, not to drive more than 50mph in the closed position. 
steviebyday:
I’m sure if you look on the side of the skelly, the manufactures say, not to drive more than 50mph in the closed position.
There…
Are signs all over the country saying 30mph but many people ignore them.
There are sliders that don’t have signs saying do not exceed 50mph when closed.
Stuff all on one of the rental trailers we have, I often travel with it shortened up, never a problem…well so far!
Dipper_Dave:
No and a thousand times No. Trucking is all about bigger, longer the better… Driving round with a shrunk skelly is well gay.Extend asap if your in a tight spot.
Driving round with a 20’ box on a shrunk sliding skelly is also known as the ‘Naked Otter’ position, no idea why will google image it later…
[Naked otter is not a safe google search term, don’t do it even if your curious]
WTF LMAO [emoji23]
Ye it does look gay shrunk up but not as gay as that naked otter.
I’d post what came up but I’d probably be banned.
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No fella,it’s illegal, as I have been stopped doing the same thing, it’s still classed as a loaded skelly .
Many years ago, there was a case brought against ABELS REMOVALS, for running rigid trucks with excessively long rear overhangs.
The company’s defence was, that as the bodies were demountable, they were part of the load and not part of the vehicle, and as there was no maximum rear overhang prescribed in law which applied to a load, there was no case to answer.
This defence failed, as the court ruled that as the vehicle could not have carried the load unless it had been contained within the body, that the body was in fact , part of the vehicle , and not part of the load.
As far as I know, this ruling established a precedent which still applies to this day, and should apply equally to an ISO container mounted on a skeletal or any other trailer suitable for the purpose.
In short, if DVSA try to say that a container, whether loaded or empty, is part of a load, I’d take great pleasure in pointing this out to them.
ps. It was all a bit embarrassing at the time for ABELS , as I think their chairman, Steve Abel, was also at the time chair of the RHA.
alans123:
No fella,it’s illegal, as I have been stopped doing the same thing, it’s still classed as a loaded skelly .
Out of interest, who stopped you and what offence where you committing and what was the penalty?
weeto:
Out of interest, who stopped you and what offence where you committing and what was the penalty?
+1…
So it’s classed as a loaded vehicle, that’s not an offence. The gross won’t be over and the axle weights won’t be exceeded.
What offence was being commited?