Can anyone else give me some pointers on driving double deckers… drove one for the first time at the weekend, couple of things, i know bout taking it steady round corners and roundabouts and not going fast when it’s really windy. Anything else? Oh and i also know bout the steering rear axle… had it locked, but had i not how would it have been different?
Is there anything else■■?
Cheers for your help in advance ■■
Marie
Our company run double deck solid bodies Marie,with a height of 16’2",just about as big as you can get.We also have some at 15’10" and some at 15’7",as well as some single deck trailers.
In our experience,if you have a 3 axle tractor unit,run with the mid axle down when windy,even when empty,to give you a little more stability,but the most important thing is KNOW THE HEIGHT OF THE TRAILER!!! I can’t emphasise this enough,and wherever you can,plan your route in advance.
Hope this helps.
Ken.
Watch the weights 
I used to pull DD’s for Tesco and they were often over the top. I collected one from Middleton for my home depot in MK once and it was 5 tone over on the scales so i put it back on the dock and found they had put cages of potatoe crisps on the bottom and almost double the amount of cages filled with booze on the top, it would have flipped at the first roundabout no matter what speed i did. 
You were brave taking one out in the wind over the weekend. especially down here, well it was saturday night anyway 
P.S never noticed a blind bit of difference when taking one out with a 6x2 unit compared to a 4x2, but thats just me 
P.P.S just realised you said you are taking one out THIS weekend, who is it for just of interest? only deckers ive seen round here are, ours (woolworths) and comet.
A lot of DD trailers have a long swan neck,and this makes the combination more prone to roll when going around corners.If the trailer is at the maximum length of 45’ and as big as ours in height,then this is very noticeable,however,we had some 40’ tandem DD trailers at 14’1",and they were fine when running on 2 axles.
Ken.
I was told when I passed my hgv …way back when…
that
“the bigger the lorry …bigger the [zb] that drives it” 
That had to go. K
usually its the top deck that gets tipped at your first drop,if not make sure you drop it down because being top heavy is not much fun.
as you say take your time and have fun.
jon
Gurner:
You were brave taking one out in the wind over the weekend. especially down here, well it was saturday night anywayP.S never noticed a blind bit of difference when taking one out with a 6x2 unit compared to a 4x2, but thats just me
P.P.S just realised you said you are taking one out THIS weekend, who is it for just of interest? only deckers ive seen round here are, ours (woolworths) and comet.
Gurner, yeah kinda realising exactly how brave i was now… arh well, we do these things don’t we. I’m not taking one out this weekend… it was last weekend.
It was a job for wincanton running out of Brockworth, i don’t reckon they’ll try and send me out in it again. I kinda got the feeling that they were expecting me to say no to taking it out in the first place anyway. So, maybe it was a test, if it was then i can say i passed successfully and i’ve got another notch of experience under my belt.
If i wasn’t comfortable doing it and if i thought i couldn’t have handled it, so to speak, then i would have said to them, i ain’t doing it, if they kicked me off of site for refusing a job, as some places do, then i would have waved and been on my way.
Arh well, all par and par of the course of experience innit.
Marie
Thats a very poor attitude for them to take.
being a wincanton employee myself, last saturday night, there were 3 of us doing night trunks to rochdale, the wind was picking up nicely in the yard, we were going to draw straws to see who was going to take the decker up, when the shift manager said that he wasnt letting it go, and it would go in the monring, so one of the others ended up doing another trip.
When we got going, to be honest the wind wasnt that bad on the way up, but im surprised, that if it was saturday night, that they let you take it out at all, even if you did offer.
There not that unsafe to be honest if you take it steady, the only problem is, that in the wind, you will be fighting it every step of the way 
…and, it really does pay to know how they’ve been loaded, even if that means openings the doors and having a look. I used to trunk double decks from Ford at Daventry into London and it was a fairly common thing to find that they had loaded cages of bumpers and light bulbs etc on the bottom and put all the engines and gearboxes on the top. Not a real problem so long as you are aware of it before you set off.
tiggz is Sid the shunter still there & a guy they call the LIp & daryll , all ex R.Davies drivers ask any of them to help you
Used to work for Wincanton out of Trafford Park. If the Brockworth contract is the chilled cinsolidation side, the double deckers are fridge trailers and are fairly heavy, even when empty (unlike curtainsiders) so are fairly good even in strong winds.
The lifting floor inside is best left to the warehouse to sort out, they are normally used to handling the equipment (if inter-depot trunking).
The steering back axle is best locked before trying to reverse as they tend not to lock automatically as they should. (switch on bulk head near air lines). You would only notice steering axle benefit at tight corners etc.
As also stated KNOW your HEIGHT!!! The one I drove was 15’ 9’’ (I think) the only problem came when they closed the motorway and diverted everybody off, I just prayed there wasn’t a low bridge on the route!
Double-deckers : TREE SURGEON - Low branch removal unit
Rob K:
Double-deckers : TREE SURGEON - Low branch removal unit
grrrrrrrrrrrrrr i dont mind the big un’s its the skip lorries that get my goat
Double deckers bring to mind a funny story…
Goods inwards erk: “OK mate, back it on bay 4”
Me: “Yep, no problem”
Erk: “How the [zb] do I get the dock plate to reach there!!!■■?”
Next time, one with no back doors… Work that one out!!! 
But seriously, check the load and make sure the heavy stuff is on the bottom, plus a few good heavy pallets up front to keep the drive wheels on the road…
Also be VERY careful when opening the curtains, a pallet falling off the top deck can do an awful lot of damage to your head…
Martin:
Double deckers bring to mind a funny story…Goods inwards erk: “OK mate, back it on bay 4”
Me: “Yep, no problem”
Erk: “How the [zb] do I get the dock plate to reach there!!!■■?”
Good one
In some depots the loaders lift the air suspension to level the trailer. Always make sure the lever is set to “self-level” - the middle position - usually. If it is set to “up” and you roll off down the road the back end of the trailer is way up in the air. First tree/bridge/power line you go under will catch your trailer - you know the consequences!! 
If your trailer is empty, lower the top-deck.