Double Deck Trailers

Good Evening All
Can I ask if anyone regularly pulls a double deck box trailer that they have to do multi drops in,the reason I ask is I work for a particular parcel company delivering & collecting pallets but the design of their trailers means there are no steps whatsoever & to access the back of the trailer onto the lowered top deck,you have to either be 8 ft tall or an Olympic High Jumper,being vertically challenged & not an Olympic High Jumper i was just curious to know if this is common & what tricks you use to get in & out with no steps & no fixed handle,bar carrying a trampoline with me I find myself crawling onto the bottom deck & then take my life in my hands gripping for dear life getting onto the next deck without falling out

You don’t do it and take the trailer back and ask for a standard one
Play them at their own H&S game

Sent from my truck

If it hasn’t got steps you don’t get on. You shouldn’t even climb into the trailer if it doesn’t have steps as if you fell and hurt yourself your on your own.

I’m curious to know why you want to climb to access that area.
If its pallets then they should be taken off and put on via a forklift.

Daani:
I’m curious to know why you want to climb to access that area.
If its pallets then they should be taken off and put on via a forklift.

Theyre box trailers so you have to get in to get the pallet

blue estate:
You don’t do it and take the trailer back and ask for a standard one
Play them at their own H&S game

Sent from my truck

Unfortunately all of their trailers are the same,they do have a fabric strap but its at the same height as the load level on the top deck so you have to have climbed on the deck to reach it,i used to do single deck work for 3 years & now theyve changed my run,i have questioned it as i think these trailers are designed for loading bays only but so far theyre not backing down

AAMAR:

blue estate:
You don’t do it and take the trailer back and ask for a standard one
Play them at their own H&S game

Sent from my truck

Unfortunately all of their trailers are the same,they do have a fabric strap but its at the same height as the load level on the top deck so you have to have climbed on the deck to reach it,i used to do single deck work for 3 years & now theyve changed my run,i have questioned it as i think these trailers are designed for loading bays only but so far theyre not backing down

Yep definitely designed for bays. They are taking the p with you mate. Ask them that you want it in writing that they expect you to climb up there. Bet they won’t do it. Also it might be worth you writing an email to the transport manager and maybe copy HR into it. They will soon change their tone

Ask for a little step ladder you can put in your cab or you can bungie tie to the back of your unit?

I’ve never had this issue. Sometimes you can stand on the bar below the brake lights or just stand on the lights themselves.
Either that or a good run up. Ask the forklift driver to give you a lift up.

Many ways to get up.
That being said. Put the ball in the employers court if you dont like it. If they refuse get it in writing. Wait a month. ‘Fall by mistake’. Then take them to the cleaners.

adam277:
Ask for a little step ladder you can put in your cab or you can bungie tie to the back of your unit?

I’ve never had this issue. Sometimes you can stand on the bar below the brake lights or just stand on the lights themselves.
Either that or a good run up. Ask the forklift driver to give you a lift up.

Many ways to get up.
That being said. Put the ball in the employers court if you dont like it. If they refuse get it in writing. Wait a month. ‘Fall by mistake’. Then take them to the cleaners.

I think it doesn’t help being so short ,but ironically I bought a 3 step folding step ladder & went to put it in the back of the trailer & the H & S manager saw it & said i couldn’t use it as its not safe!!

Falls from vehicles

Accidents caused by moving lorries at the workplace caused 2 deaths, 79 major injuries and 249 over-3-day injuries to employees in the ‘freight by road’ industry, in the 2009/10 work year. Accidents included drivers being crushed whilst coupling trailers to trucks, being hit by other vehicles (particularly fork trucks) while out of their cabs, and people being crushed by reversing vehicles.

Measures to reduce the risk of falls include:

avoiding the need for climbing onto trailers where possible;
providing steps and handholds where access is still required;
looking for safety features when buying a new vehicle;
trying out different types of footwear to see which provides most slip-resistance for the environment employees will be working in;
workers should never have their back to the edge of the trailer if they are within 1 metre of it. Never walk backwards on a trailer;
don’t jump from a truck cab or trailer;
regularly check the condition of hand-holds to detect deterioration in load-bearing capacity.

HSE started a specific campaign to reduce injuries caused by falls from vehicles in October 2007.

Remember that HSE is your friend and they will shut the company down if you fall.

Click on Link and scroll down to 7.4 - Accessing the Load Bed

This is a completely understandable dilemma. The one place I have been at that loaded / unloaded these without a bay, there was a set of steps of the large metal wheeled variety. Of course lowering the suspension may bring the lowered top deck down to about the height of the deck of a single decker, which may help, but I am unaware if the strap is in a suitable position to get up safely or not.

While being sympathetic to your plight, I’d say you’ve got two courses to take: 1: get on with it, or 2: don’t take it out if it’s not being loaded/unloaded on a dock/bay. I certainly wouldn’t have bought steps or anything else!

Ask the manager or the H&S guru to show you how to safely acess the trailer before you take it out . If they can’t - you don’t (take it out ). If they insist make them put it in writing that you have not been shown a safe method of work for the type of trailer your pulling and refuse to get into it at the other depots . The load may well be rejected or refused so take it back - quickest way to solve a problem like that.

Taking the micky comes to mind or something like that.
NO tail-lift to the top deck,forget about not having steps, for me its NO deliveries

AAMAR:
0

adam277:
Ask for a little step ladder you can put in your cab or you can bungie tie to the back of your unit?

I’ve never had this issue. Sometimes you can stand on the bar below the brake lights or just stand on the lights themselves.
Either that or a good run up. Ask the forklift driver to give you a lift up.

Many ways to get up.
That being said. Put the ball in the employers court if you dont like it. If they refuse get it in writing. Wait a month. ‘Fall by mistake’. Then take them to the cleaners.

I think it doesn’t help being so short ,but ironically I bought a 3 step folding step ladder & went to put it in the back of the trailer & the H & S manager saw it & said i couldn’t use it as its not safe!!

That would appear…

To me, to be a DPD trailer. That’s how the fleet is numbered.

I just can’t see DPD asking a driver to do any of this. The firm has buried itself under a raft of H&S legislation.

Not multidrop, but I do a regular double-decker trunk run to another depot where it has to be tipped by forklift. There is a small folding stepladder at the depot for this purpose (and also for accessing the back of any other trailer that has no built-in steps). You should not be getting into the back without proper steps/handholds. Not just because you could fall but also because over time you will wreck your knees by repeatedly jumping down from a height.

If I am reading this correctly you have been an employee for three years with this company and they have now changed your duties so that you have to use boxvan DD trailers and climb onto the lowered upper deck?

If you have been there three years they can’t just make up some excuse to get rid of you, nor can they discriminate against you because of your height, it is up to them to provide the means for you to carry out your daily tasks safely. There should be a risk assessment for getting in and out of trailers, if this is a large organisation then there almost certainly is one but it has either failed to take into account DD trailers or that some employees may find it more difficult, or it would appear to be a local issue with the particular depot you work from rather than the company itself. Although the trailer appears to be on small wheels with a comparatively low bottom deck height there is nothing visible for you to use as a step because the under run bar is either not needed or it is, like the lights, recessed under the body and hidden by them.

I think the politest and simplest thing to do is to request H&R on site for training to get into the back of such a trailer explaining that you are havind a problem. This would then mean that someone has to demonstrate to you how to do it and more importantly satisfy themselves that they have seen you carry it out safely, which by the sound of it they are going to be unable to do without making suitable provision for the difficulty you are having. The solution may be as simple as a grab handle bolted to one of the rear corner posts and a step under the light bar or a two rung ladder which slots into the rear lower deck outside the shutter. They may get away with one ladder for you (with means of stowing it on your unit) and handles and slots in all the trailers. UNless you have only just started on the company then this is their problem, not yours.

I am of reasonably normal height but I cannot get into the back of one particular standard height trailer because the under run bar is tucked under the back of the trailer by about six inches to a foot. I have to open the curtains (you can’t) and use the ladder on the side of the trailer. I find getting out more of an issue with dodgy knees.

Just get someone to give you a piggyback ffs

I do trunking with D Deckers for a parcel company, and often have a collection or 2 to do before the trunk,
These are the lifting deck type (Cartwright/Don Bur/Gray & Adams)
they have a fabric ■■■■■■■■ each deck, and pull out steps underneath, next to the number plate
Many of these are busted/wedged in, so don’t tend to use them,
I usually manage by lowering the suspension & pulling myself up with the strap
It is getting harder as i get older.
Obviously easier to get on the bottom deck, when the top deck is raised,
When the deck is down, I step onto bottom deck, whilst holding the strap, then onto the top deck
As said before, if there are no steps available, and it is too much of a climb, don’t take it