Why is it with all the amount of freight that is moved in N.America by boxvan/flat trailers that curtainsiders (Tauntliners) have never caught on 
Are they really that much suspicious of change
It.s because they are thirty years behind Europe and the UK
I worked in a garage selling Chrysler Jeep and the technology is Morris 1000 and A35 based
Very reliable and simple, but very basic 
They are rare, but do exist-most lumber around here is sent by curtainside.
The real reason why they haven’t caught on is that nearly every place you deliver to has a loading dock. Side loads are very rare here. Also, a metal-side trailer weighs less (or can weigh less).
Also, it’s rumored that several State DOTs count them as flatbeds for load securing rules despite the presence of sides… 
They have now been invented 
I see a few on my travels 
Another reason-many companies ship freight piggy-back by rail, and the curtainside trailers are not permitted by the rail companies, due to the fact that their clamping equipment is likely to tear the curtains.
BTW, Pat is correct-a curtainside trailer requires the same load strapping that a flatbed does.
So in effect then every “small” business new start that say only loads a semi truck once a week needs to build a loading dock (and have the room in their yard) before it can easily load a truck?
Alex is so right about the rail thingy Almost all the companies I visit on industrial estates have their own rail sidingsm this always involves going over a lot of ‘Very UN- level crossings’
Curtainsiders; in Canada at least; are used mostly for flat deck commodities that require protection from the weather.
img.photobucket.com/albums/v284/ … am_int.jpg
This picture (if the link works) is of a steel hauler that hauls specialty steels.
The question about loading docks: most businesses that ship locate in industrial malls. These are purpose built and include loading docks.
Most stores today are located in shopping malls. These also have unloading docks. A curtainsider is not used because of a lack of dock space.
I hope this helps explain it.
Happy New Years!
The load does have a bearing on this, but I rarely strap down a load in my curtainsider.
Most of the loads we carry are pretty low, for eg 1 tonne bags of gravel. These fill the trailer side to side and are packed in tightly 2 abreast down my trailer. They are then held in place by the tension of the straps which tension the curtains vertically. These straps are 2 tonne load straps and there are about 16 down each side, so I reckon that the load is fairly well strapped anyway.
That steel trailer has a sliding body I think Bluejaysfan. It looks like it has a fixed headboard and the whole of the curtain is held up by light weight metal hoops with rollers on the bottoms. To open it up, you undo a couple of tensioners at the back and roll every thing to the front. It finishes up looking like a flatbed, with a sheet bundled up on the headboard.
If I was using one of those, I would treat it as a flatbed with an easy sheet system.
We use them over here as well, usually they have a coil well and are mainly used for steel.
Big Truck:
So in effect then every “small” business new start that say only loads a semi truck once a week needs to build a loading dock (and have the room in their yard) before it can easily load a truck?
No, most new businesses start by renting space in an “industrial estate” as you would say over there, and those places come with a dock included as a matter of course. There is no shortage of commercial rental space with loading docks in the US, outside of maybe some places in and around NYC and San Francisco.
On the odd chance where somebody is having a load delivered and they don’t have a dock (like the load of boxes I once delivered to a letuce farm in Quebec), then you tailgate the load, using either a pallet jack or a chain/clamp unit.
AlexxInNY:
Another reason-many companies ship freight piggy-back by rail, and the curtainside trailers are not permitted by the rail companies, due to the fact that their clamping equipment is likely to tear the curtains.BTW, Pat is correct-a curtainside trailer requires the same load strapping that a flatbed does.
It wasn’t Pat, it was me.
I finally got a picture of a Curtainsider. I was going to say “on film” but shot it with my new digital camera. 
Anyways; I think this is the kind of trailer you are refering to.
It was delivering lumber to a HOME DEPOT store in west end Toronto.
That is pronounced “home deeepoe” even in Canada. 
I hope my link to the picture works.
These trailers aren’t at all common except for lumber delivery.
Pat Hasler: I saw a picture of A.DUIE PYLE with a trailer that appreaed to be a Curtainsider.
Are these used for general freight work on your side of The Pond?
What is the advantage of them?
Cheers!
Bluejaysfan:
Are these used for general freight work on your side of The Pond?
What is the advantage of them?
Cheers!
We use them a lot over here they are far more versitile than a box. You don’t need a dock just some firm ground and a forklift, some wagons carry there own forklifts.you can get to any part of your load without getting every thing off. If you wind the roof back you can put tractors on them, pipes that are too long to load on boxes ect ect and you can deliver to all customers.
Yup, you’d see a lot more of them if it wasn’t for picky DOT inspectors insisting that they were glorified flatties…
They are dead handy. Side loading/tipping sorts out a huge number of problems if your route gets reorganised mid-trip. And it makes double stacking much easier 
If I ever go O/O up here, I’ll get a curtainsider. Thieves haven’t caught on to the slashing the curtains trick yet since they’re so rare. Back home they’re treated a lot like a box for load restraint rules, since most of them the curtain is waranteed to hold half the gross load of the trailer at a 30 degree sideways tilt. (or at least the good ones are anyway) Load restraint is easy, since you can pull the curtain, and hitch the strap under the bed each side, and just close the curtain round them. Even if the strap gets a little loose, the curtain’s clips will hold it in place moderately well. Brilliant things, and FAR easier than roping and sheeting (or tarping as you guys insist on calling it) 
allikat:
since most of them the curtain is waranteed to hold half the gross load of the trailer at a 30 degree sideways tilt. (or at least the good ones are anyway) Load restraint is easy, since you can pull the curtain, and hitch the strap under the bed each side, and just close the curtain round them. Even if the strap gets a little loose, the curtain’s clips will hold it in place moderately well.
I spy someone who’s going to come a cropper when she first loads plywood…or drums on pallets…or aluminium scrap…or…
Always remember the golden rule, Alli - don’t ever try and fasten something down with anything you wouldn’t pick it up with…and be very careful what you rely on those curtains to hold!!! 
You only have to look at the construction of a curtainsider to see its load retention qualities.
The cant rails are fastened at each end with 4 or 5 rivets or bolts. The curtains are suspended from these cant rails with nylon or steel swivels. centre posts to support the weight of the curtains are fastened with simple clips.
The curtains are pvc or similar, they do not have any load retention properties.
No one in the right mind would load a flat trailer with steel, timber, chipboard or paper without ropes or straps. Why is a covered flat any different?
The only load retention system a curtainsider can offer is a design like a bulkliner which is designed to carry sawdust or grain. although we have some aluminium poles stitched into the curtains to support one type of load we carry.
You will see the load bulging out if you pass us, it looks like a fatman in a designer suit
Isn’t it Dennison who promises every truck curtain can carry the weight of the load just on a curtain? One of the curtain makers promises that I know. It’s been in T&D so it must be true
allikat:
Isn’t it Dennison who promises every truck curtain can carry the weight of the load just on a curtain? One of the curtain makers promises that I know. It’s been in T&D so it must be true
That’s s maybe…but it’s not as simple as that. Some loads will move about and come straight through…others may be heavier but not move an inch. At the end of the day, all the press releases is the world won’t teach you that…only experience will…
Lucy:
allikat:
Isn’t it Dennison who promises every truck curtain can carry the weight of the load just on a curtain? One of the curtain makers promises that I know. It’s been in T&D so it must be trueThat’s s maybe…but it’s not as simple as that. Some loads will move about and come straight through…others may be heavier but not move an inch. At the end of the day, all the press releases is the world won’t teach you that…only experience will…
That’s so true Lucy, has no-one ever seen a load of steel that wasn’t hard against it demolish a reinforced headboard?
Anything on the move can destroy anything given the right conditions.
Best rule with curtains is to treat them as flats for securing purposes.
Salut, David.