Morning fellow truckers. Ive got a few nights work coming up that requires dropping box trailers i.e the ones with legs. can anyone possibly give me step by step instructions on how this is done, as ive never needed to before. The agency have said they will tell me but id rather hear it from a fellow driver who has used these before.
Thanks in advance
i’m assuming you mean demount boxes ■■
if so have a google there should be something out there 
btw never really done them myself
tonyb70:
Some of the flat demount bodies at my place.
This is where the locating pins slot into.Tonyb
I think you probably mean this type, although these are clearly not box trailers or even flat trailers
Have a search for ABEL Demountable Equipment
Bloody hell, would it be so hard to answer.
Right mate, they’re really simple, raise all suspension, drop legs on box, release twist locks, drop supsension ALL THE WAY DOWN, drive out…
Picking up is reverse of that, ie, suspension low enough to go under - as a rule, when you think your close, just raise it a touch, it’ll touch the twist lock, drop down again, reverse 6", raise up again, should feel it ‘seat’, raise right up, check that it’s on twist locks.
Now, after an incident a few years ago, I usually pull forward (with suspension fully raised) so I’ve got space to give a good check and space to put legs up without me having any of my body (feet) under the legs, do twist locks, then raise legs - takes a minute longer, but after 1 box on your foot, you won’t ever want a 2nd.
As above 
Nice one Waynedl
one or 2 vids to watch on U thingy tube if you search demount boxes or similar to give you an idea .
pop round to a yard somewhere at a company you know local who has them and watch them through the fence on the QT,
or
Knock their door and Ask nicely and they may guide you through the process as an observer with one of their trained staff.
youtube.com/watch?v=o7KVfOmLF8g
(dont do what tubby does and stand in the way 
)
eg:-
youtube.com/watch?v=JnwNlR_kviQ&feature=fvsr
Drop 'em dead straight .If the pick ups are skew-wiff ,pick-up the trailer one first, drop the trailer then pick-up with the truck . Hitch truck to trailer & off you go .You may be lucky & get the boxes swapped with a fork lift.I think we got paid 2hrs to swap boxes but if they were both dead straight we could do it in 20mins.-Jan de Rooy.
waynedl:
Bloody hell, would it be so hard to answer.
No it wouldn’t but not all the systems are the same and a simple mistake could see the box sliding off. The last one I drove was in 1984 and we operated two types. A high profile outfit that had 2 separate air bellows on a hinged platform and two 4 inch locating pins that dropped down to allow the truck and trailer out. The low profile units had air suspension front and rear and the locating pins were left in one position.
I have seen other types used by Christian Salvesen / Norbert that work more like a multilift body although sat on legs for loading on a bay The Salvesen shunters loaded the boxes onto the trucks so the drivers didn’t need to know how they worked.
Essential equipment is a lump hammer. If some prat before you has twisted the legs they will be hard to lock and unlock - a good thump is requred.
They are often called “pods” by the companies that use them.
as there are several different systems its difficult to give a proper answer…
our system looks like the one in the pics but using boxes rather than flats…drop the suspension right down…carefully back under the 2 boxes…on ours the trailer air suspension is raised to lift the legs…on the wagon it has hydraulic rams to lift the box…when the legs are off the ground lift them and fold them and lock them in place with antiluces…then lower the rams on the wagon…drop the trailer suspension into the ride position lock the twistlocks and you are good to go.
having the boxes dead in line before you back under is vital as you only have a few inches to play with…practice makes perfect…try it in a rainstorm at night in a poorly lit yard 
another system(which i have not used)has fixed rear legs and foldup front legs which means you swap the trailer box using the air suspension then drop the trailer…swap the box on the wagon using the air suspension then hook up the traier again.
another system has a sort of guide rail that lifts the box as you back under but i have no experience of this type.
when i first was asked by the agency to do this type of work i was offered a 2hour training period before my run which was then cancelled…got a call to do a sunday shift and ended up with a 2 minute grunt and point session with the yard shunter.
damaging wings and lights is normal at first till you get the hang of it.(still do it now and then after 18 months 
)
harry:
Drop 'em dead straight .If the pick ups are skew-wiff ,pick-up the trailer one first, drop the trailer then pick-up with the truck . Hitch truck to trailer & off you go .You may be lucky & get the boxes swapped with a fork lift.I think we got paid 2hrs to swap boxes but if they were both dead straight we could do it in 20mins.-Jan de Rooy.
That is so right. I remember when I did some drag & wag trunking work for Moores you could do both boxes at the same time, but they had to be dead straight and you had to be [zb] hot at reversing in an exact straight line for you to get both of them together. As it was something I was new to, I failed on most occasions and only managed it once by pure luck, but it can save you a whole bunch of time not having to drop the drag if you’re good at reversing straight and blind .
The demount legs usually get bent from drivers forgetting to drop the pin on chassis and trailer before reversing under them. The pin smacks into the front of the box and shoves it back, sometimes bending the legs if it’s loaded and you hit it without force. 
If the box doesn’t seat right when you raise the suspension (tell tale sign is that one or more of the twist locks won’t engage), don’t be afraid to accelerate or reverse at a bit of speed and then slam on. That often sorts out the seating issue .
Santa:
Essential equipment is a lump hammer. If some prat before you has twisted the legs they will be hard to lock and unlock - a good thump is requred.
This is true, we have a bent leg on our demount body and its a pain in the ■■■!
removalboy:
Santa:
Essential equipment is a lump hammer. If some prat before you has twisted the legs they will be hard to lock and unlock - a good thump is requred.This is true, we have a bent leg on our demount body and its a pain in the ■■■!
i use the wheel brace to "adjust"tight twistlocks or legs.
