i could see from a mile off thiS arctic was leaning badly and the load was been held in by the curtain as i was approaching i noticed a police car come past me in the outside lane it must have been about half a mile between us and the truck. the police car just drove straight past him.
WHY?
it was clearly dangerous.
wish my camera on the phone worked but memory was full and didnt want to be seen to be on the phone whilst driving.
What do you do when this happens?
I’ve had it twice now where a pallet of very slippery bags of whatever has managed to slip past the strap and fall onto the curtain which creates the inevitable, very visible, bulge. But you’re over 100 miles from base and about the same to where you’re going! What are you supposed to do? Both times I’ve carried on and got away with it but it’s not a pleasent experience!
i dont know im a new driver who has had all the scare stories i dont want to see anyone get done but i strap everything everytime just thought the police would be very strict. their is no way he could have missed it.
danj:
the police car just drove straight past him.
WHY?
May be they were not motorway policemen so had no right to act on M25, maybe they were off duty or may be they just did not want to get involved…
darkseeker:
What do you do when this happens?
Should not happen in the first place but when it does, judge well for yourself if you can stop somewhere and repositon the load and re-strap it yourself or with help of other drivers there. Sometimes bare hands, no matter how many, won’t be enough, so drive into a haulier’s yard, warehouse or farm or somewhere and ask forkies to help you. May cost you a tenner or a pack of beer but still much cheaper then calling profi recovery service. Pick a small company, big one will certainly have a policy in place so as not to touch others’ loads.
Mind you, if your high stacked load fell onto curtain because you were a bit too fast at roundabout (beer crates like to do this) 1) do not try to sverve in opposite direction to get the crates back, 2) do stop, but so that the load can be supported or pushed from side 3) do not open rear door before the load is supported - all the weight rests on the doors jammed in the frame, if you open the door the frame and whole structure with load collapses…
Fairly common in CZ, highest beer consumption per capita, top ten beer exporter, 3/4 of beer transport business in hands of 1 company where people think “it ain’t gonna move”…
while working near Wimbledon underground station a police motor bike had pulled a foreign wag and drag ,the curtain was bulging right out on the trailer
the policeman ask if he could borrow some of our cones and an arrow board while they tried to get through to the drivers company to make a plan of what to do
i offered the use of my 3cx to the driver via hand signals 
and with the help of the police we made enough room to get my machine up the side and with the back bucket i pushed the load in enough to get the sheet back safely and then squared the load up properly
drive was most pleased and gave me some cigars and a bottle of wine 
the old bill were more than happy too
I know it shouldn’t happen, but *it happens. Think I’ve got it sussed now though, haven’t had it happen for a long time and think I know why;
It was the back pallet both times and because I’d ran out of straps the last one went kind of round the back and the side (them horrible things on a rail) But it didn’t work, putting them over the side the same as the rest stops it and they dont fall backwards because the strap’s got 'em nice and tight 
I can remember once in a 7.5t i picked up some rubber matting prob about 3.5t of the stuff i told them when loading it to but it up to the bulkhead, they did do this properly, i drove from Kent to 444 nuneaton without any probs , when i had to stop quickly at a roundabout one plt of it nearly came through the bulkhead,it neadless to say had a big bulge at the front,lol
another time was in a 18t curtain sider, picked up a full load of danone yogurt or whatever it was( free samples ) from ruislip loaded for Manchester ,got to the drop,but it was closed so had a night out, next morning open the curtain to unload and it fell out it went everywhere the packaging had collapsed,due to the side to side movement because of the curtains, load should only been loaded into a box ,lol there was only a slight bulge each time i turned lol
Worst loads I ever used to have were bagged spuds, straight from the farm. Smaller farms used to pack & close them by hand so they were almost cylindrical - larger farms had machines that sewed the tops so the lay flatter. Had to be handballed on (I was younger & fitter then) but even though you did your best to get them stacked square on the pallet, within 20 miles the pallets would start to settle & bulges gradually appear - on both sides if you were lucky, on one side if you weren’t. Fond memories of hand-loading 800 x 25kg bags of new spuds on a trailer in the middle of a field somewhere in Kent, then having to drive 3-4 hours back home.
I find bags of dog food, etc. slide on a pallet quite easily, they are 9/10 always on a massive lean by time they get to us, thankfully they are not so frequent.
My very first day driving after getting class 2, I got a start with the company im with now (3 years) driving a puddle jumper, went to do a collection of data cable, thought it would be a good idea to put the heavy pallet (1 ton) over the back axle in the middle, no straps as I had none, first 90 degree junction it went over, I stopped and tried to right it, only way was to strip pallet and leave it spread on bed lol, was seen by factory doing this, got down the A1 a few miles then got the dreaded call from TM saying I had to go back and get it repalletised, instead of doing it when I got back to depot. The FLT driver said im not the first and wont be the last, which I have learnt. Every driver tips a pallet or 2… The problem lies pretty much with the quality of the palletyising, most people think abit of shrink wrap will hold things the entire length of the journey being lifted on and off of several wagons.
For me the worst load i have had was when i was pulling a old tandem axle trl (curtain sided ) which i think was something like 15f7ins high and loaded with wiring looms, i was unable to supervise the loading as was not permitted into warehouse ,but it was fully loaded to the back doors and was full stacked to roof nearly as i drove around the first roundabout i encountered it fell over on it’s side,flung me around the cab after which i needed treatment at the local A &E ,
When ever we collect a trailer from the docks we have the right to remove the seal and check the load
if its shifted we can refuse to move the trailer until we are happy
if its strapped and its not enough we have to secure it to our satisfaction /standards
we have loads coming over with no straps sometimes
26 ton steel coils in a welll with no straps ■■?
i tell you this if i sent one over to germany with no straps i would be in the ■■■ big time
why can they send them to us like this but we are so heavily ■■■ 'ed on if we do the same
cheers
Steve