Phantom Mark:
Lol, the funny thing is that everyone is making valid points, which to me just shows that each load should be treated with its own virtue, an un-strapped tall pallet load in a box is just as dangerous to sudden weight transfers as it is on a curtain, just shows how inflexible and draconian the approach by vosa currently is, more money making schemes.
I am all for vosa clamping down on cowboys but ffs apply some common sense eh ?
Common sense and VOSA - bloody impossible. So on this subject could someone please tell me how you are meant to “secure” the countless pallets, boxes, packages etc… etc… found in a groupage load. And before any clever ■■■■ says use a box, how do you load the odd size stuff ie: 3.9m long x 2.2m wide which wont go through the back doors?
I dont think I would have liked to pull some of the sawdust ones that travel the A76 going to Egger’s odd ones could just about need wide load marker boards they put a lot of faith in the wee runners along the tops of the curtains rather them than me.
Eddie.
Saaamon:
Even for the most simple driver, containment provide by a load bearing curtain and a secured load are two totally different things.
Dude, your sounding like a real ‘boyscout there’, you’re clearly taking the VOSA ‘hype’ far too seriously.
Ask yourself a question, when you see a truck driver using a hand held mobile phone, do you think;
A, Lawbreaker, I hope the police catch him & throw the book at him.
B, Nothing.
I bet it’s A!!!
I used to load filter papers for brandy distillery’s in Spain, it was palletised & used to just fit into a 4m trailer on it’s pallets, I didn’t use anti slip mats, straps, shrinkwrap or stretchwrap & often took them from Blackburn to Seville without a single accident. Was that good luck, good driving or just that a curtain ir plenty strong enough to hold some loads? Especially a load that didn’t move at all over 1,800km & a 5 hr ferry crossing!!!
Phantom Mark:
So the curtainsider I had the other week clearly stated in big letters LOAD BEARING curtains, how are vosa treating those ■■ Sorry if someone asked this before, read a couple of pages then got bored
these curtains will approximately take a tonne per pallet as long as the load is attached to the pallet in a secure manner (shrink wrap if light enough or banding) so the curtains will hold in about 26 tonne, just make sure your straps are tight, if in doubt strap it. Simples
I have just been reading the recently published guide - “Transport Safety → An operators guide to safe loading and transport” published by The Health & Safety Laboratory (A4 size with 59 pages priced at £30 !!! ISBN 978-0-9561228-3-4)
Section C - FAQ has a question regarding ‘XL’ trailers
Answer - These are trailers that have passed the higher standard of testing and are therefore considered load bearing. These are built to the standard EN 12642 ‘XL’. The guide explains these trailers will be issued a certificate explaining the conditions for using them and will be stickered/signed accordingly.
It goes on the say an ‘XL’ trailer can generally be used to contain 40% of the rated payload to the side without lashing, as long as the load packs out the load bed.
As an example - For a palletised load type, this works out as 24 pallets each weighing no more than 400kg.
Heavy loads and loads that don’t fill the load bed or meet other conditions of the test certificate, will still need securing inside the trailer.
It then goes on to say that anything attached to the weather-protection structure of a standard curtain-sider is not load securing and that includes the buckle straps.
The back cover of the book has this information.
“Driving a commercial vehicle is one of the most dangerous occupations in the UK, but many serious injuries and deaths that happen as a result of load shifts are entirely preventable”
They have also just published a drivers version of this guide called “Load Safe Road Safe → A professional driver’s guide to safe loading and transport”. (A5 sized with 46 pages and priced at £15 - ISBN 978-0-9561228-4-1).
Saaamon:
Even for the most simple driver, containment provide by a load bearing curtain and a secured load are two totally different things.
Dude, your sounding like a real ‘boyscout there’, you’re clearly taking the VOSA ‘hype’ far too seriously.
Ask yourself a question, when you see a truck driver using a hand held mobile phone, do you think;
A, Lawbreaker, I hope the police catch him & throw the book at him.
B, Nothing.
I bet it’s A!!!
I used to load filter papers for brandy distillery’s in Spain, it was palletised & used to just fit into a 4m trailer on it’s pallets, I didn’t use anti slip mats, straps, shrinkwrap or stretchwrap & often took them from Blackburn to Seville without a single accident. Was that good luck, good driving or just that a curtain ir plenty strong enough to hold some loads? Especially a load that didn’t move at all over 1,800km & a 5 hr ferry crossing!!!
Ross.
Are you saying im wrong to be securing my loads then?
Saaamon:
Even for the most simple driver, containment provide by a load bearing curtain and a secured load are two totally different things.
Dude, your sounding like a real ‘boyscout there’, you’re clearly taking the VOSA ‘hype’ far too seriously.
Ask yourself a question, when you see a truck driver using a hand held mobile phone, do you think;
A, Lawbreaker, I hope the police catch him & throw the book at him.
B, Nothing.
I bet it’s A!!!
I used to load filter papers for brandy distillery’s in Spain, it was palletised & used to just fit into a 4m trailer on it’s pallets, I didn’t use anti slip mats, straps, shrinkwrap or stretchwrap & often took them from Blackburn to Seville without a single accident. Was that good luck, good driving or just that a curtain ir plenty strong enough to hold some loads? Especially a load that didn’t move at all over 1,800km & a 5 hr ferry crossing!!!
Ross.
Are you saying im wrong to be securing my loads then?
No, & if you read every word I’ve written on the subject you’ll find I’ve not said anything to that effect.
There was mention of the headboard withstanding 100% of the load and mention of curtains holding 26tonne on well secured pallets. I have done both. Well we all have.
Sam mentioned the stillages moved when he braked hard.
What is rarely mentioned is inertia. You place a uniform load tight up to the headboard and drive in a straight line, anchor up and the load will still be sat behind you, even on a flat trailer.
Throw a cyclist into the mix and the driver swerves for him but this time the load is abutted to the head board and the curtains are tight.
In the majority of cases the load wont have moved sideways or forwards, the biggest problem with an unsecured uniform load is the back two or three pallets shuffling backwards. One single strap round them, pulling forward will prevent that.
Remember the old drivers who carried blocks, dunnage, baulks of timber and back scotches, their load was generally secure before they even put the sheet on.
Unfortunately many of the old hands have gone, along with the old skills.
Gerald Broadbent was a genius, but he has shifted the problem elsewhere, it is like coastal erosion, you can stop something happening at one point, and it will move further down the coast.
This is what I was told, the problem with VOSA is, individually, their agents have absolutely no interest whatsoever in safety (whatever their mission statement protests) & it’s a nice subject to ‘hide behind’ when all (most of them) they’re after is to find something to ‘knick’ you for!!!
I was actually told that they couldn’t ask you to ‘open up’ a curtainsider unless they had a reason to believe the load was unsafe, ie, leaning on the curtain.
The older guys seem genuinely interested in making vehicles safer, and often offer sensible ‘advice’ which is actually based on knowledge and experience…while still being anxious to nail the P-takers.
The younger ones are box-tickers, essentially looking for easy targets. This may be the classic case of bluster to hide ignorance OR that they have to get a certain number of tickets/prosecutions under their belt to progress up the ladder.
Still, however harshly they treat you, remember that at least you are not condemned to spending your working life driving around in a Ford Galaxy with nylon seats! When VOSA die they’ll go to heaven because they’ve served their time in hell.
i got stopped at the blackwall tunnel yesterday morning and fined £60 for an insecure load of concrete blocks, i had a net over them ( the way i have always done it ) but no straps the police officer took great pleasure in telling me that the net was not load rated and that they should be straped every pack also using edge pads and loaded against the headboard , when i told him that loading against the headboard would put me overweight in the unit he told me that my company would have to fix a false headboard .
i now have the choice of paying £60 or loosing a days wage and argue the point in court .
there is no law stating you have to use straps ,only that the load has to be secure , who decides weather a load is secure or not? , i have never lost a block and i know that even if i had to brake sharply the load would stay on the trailer , the only reason loads are lost is some unexperienced drivers go too fast around bends and roundabouts .
your company will not pay the fine or back you up if you go to court , but still expect you to do the job without the propper equipment .
the RHA should fight a test case to decide once and for all what is an unsecure load
ISBN 978-0-9561228-3-4)
i still have my £60 ,movable headboard in progress!looks better the right way up!