Over my massive 2 weeks of experience I have found that some container door handles open and close easily; but most don’t! A lot require a huge push to open (maybe thats why I’m getting arms like popeye?!) and are an equal pig to close enough to make the handle drop into the recess; and as a result have now got a lovely bruise on the side of my fist. Most yards/ndc/rdc dont have anything to pick up and use.
Si I’m thinking what would be a better item to procure - a flippin big iron bar or a hammer or perhaps both. I suppose a tube would be best to help open them by giving a longer handle and more leverage?
hi cbr…the best bit of kit ive got is a lenth of scaffold bar, about 2 ft long,
usually does the trick m8… 
ill second that terry plus it comes in handy for anyaguments with the boss
I used to keep a LARGE pebble in my side locker when I was on boxes. Brilliant for smashing the door levers closed should they prefer to stay open and also good for tapping the lever retaining clips round when they got seized up.
I’m 6’3 in height but found that the handles on some boxes were higher up the doors than others. Most were a tidy reach anyway so I used to drop the suspension on its arse before attempting to open or close the doors.
It’s the 45ft boxes which cause me most grief, because the overhang means that I can’t get my feet on the back of the trailer to hang off the handles to pull them open…so I end up doing it off the bottom of the box.
Being higher, that inevitably means that it hurts more when I slip and end up flat on my back…! 
Pie and chips seem to do it for me! 
if in doubt any of the above really dumbell handles are pretty good, short heavy and solid, people buy them from argos after christmas, and theyre in the local rag for a fiver 2 months later!
Mal.
you mean you can reach that high lucy 
alix776:
you mean you can reach that high lucy
A little voice in my ear just read that and muttered something about “Only with a stepladder”…
…the same little voice would do well to remember that it’s amazing what I can reach when upset, too…!!! 
alix776:
slap my top errrrmmm
I’d put money on that it’s not only your top thats going to get a slap
couldnt resist
If youve got a wheel brace in your tool kit slip that over the door handle, used to do it for me when i had the misfortune to do containers years ago, also think that a few of the big container hauliers from way back ie Russel Davies drivers, wouldnt open the doors due to injurys caused, while on the subject of containers anyone on here remember going into Felixstowe years ago when it was just straddle carriers? (the little ones that were only wide enough to go over one line of boxes) and if no one was working what was then TFS park you used to go in the little hut and there would be a list of phone numbers and you would ring the guy up at home and he would come and lift your box on after he had finished his tea or something! Not that i could ever get very nostalgic about ever doing containers, best ones i ever did were the US lines or Sealand ones as 90% of the time they were on wheels, just took you 5hrs to get the release if memory serves.
Steve
PS. ive been told its a little different in Felixstowe now, im talking about 25years ago
Showing your age a bit there Biggles
I remember the straddle carriers,most of all why they made you get out of your cab when they were loading you.One evening on 72 park (now Landguard) I saw one of the USL shunters have the cab sliced off his A series ERF 'cos the carrier couldn’t stop.Well,they did used to leak a lot of hydraulic oil!
But a short piece of scaffold tube for opening and a club hammer for closing used to do the trick for me.
Think that was one of the reasons they finished with em down at Felixstowe, the others ones they had down there were the ones on a frame were you used to have four cables with the locks on the end you used to have to put em on each corner, mainly when they were lifting the old Wim Vos 20’ flats sure the drivers used to get the cables swinging so they caught you on the back of the skull, dont think you would get away with it under health and safety now.
CBR,
Yes, a 2’ scaffold tube will open and close them in most cases. Added advantage you have good reason to escape offensive weapon charge when keeping it for unwanted visitors as well. A mate of mine got done for having a baseball bat in the cab, not using it just having it.
Biggles,
Not only you whose showing his age. Don’t they use straddle carriers anymore then? What then. Giant fork trucks?
Salut, David.
2ft mines atleast 3.5-4 ft long and is very good at open naughty containers door
David, think they now use big fork lift trucks for lifting 20’ flats tho i wouldn’t like to say thats 100% right as ive not had a lot to do with em for years.
Biggles:
If youve got a wheel brace in your tool kit slip that over the door handle, used to do it for me when i had the misfortune to do containers years ago, also think that a few of the big container hauliers from way back ie Russel Davies drivers, wouldnt open the doors due to injurys caused, while on the subject of containers anyone on here remember going into Felixstowe years ago when it was just straddle carriers? (the little ones that were only wide enough to go over one line of boxes) and if no one was working what was then TFS park you used to go in the little hut and there would be a list of phone numbers and you would ring the guy up at home and he would come and lift your box on after he had finished his tea or something! Not that i could ever get very nostalgic about ever doing containers, best ones i ever did were the US lines or Sealand ones as 90% of the time they were on wheels, just took you 5hrs to get the release if memory serves.
Steve
PS. ive been told its a little different in Felixstowe now, im talking about 25years ago
That remindes me! I went to Felix in 1982, mostly for unnacompanied tilts, and flat stuff working as a subby to Lite Haul in Trelawney House. But did do a few boxes, and yes, I remember the straddlers, the small queue and the painted white lines you had to get into to load! The next time I got down there was around 1998, and man, the shock! It has changed more than I could have imagined then! I had a T reg Sedd Ack 400 with a E290 Big Cam ■■■■■■■ in then, today Ive got P reg Sedd Ack Strato with a ■■■■■■■ M11 in, so the motor at least aint changed so much! 
Mal.
i used to find that if you opened both doors at the same time it sometimes helped, but be careful that your load is secure!
paul
thankyou gentlemen and lady seems a procurement of scaffold and a club hammer is in order.
They use huge machines like massively overgrown forklifts (back wheels look about 8 foot high) with a ‘grabber’ now, which grabs the box from the top, they swing it round like a matchbox even with 24 tonnes or whatever in them, then bosh them on top of your trailer…sometimes in one go sometimes taking ages, then they press it down onto the twistlocks and it feels like the trucks going to squash to death! then off they go, thats it you jump out and secure the twistlocks or drive off a little bit if theres a Q waiting to make space for the next guy then do the locks.
Mal:
Pie and chips seem to do it for me!
this method works for me too.i’ve put on 3 stone in the last year on boxes
so i’m just a mere slip of a lad at 21 stone.
other good tips already included were
lower the air suspension its a lot easier & besides you normally have to if unloading on a bay to get it to line up with the dock leveller!
ALWAYS ALWAYS just open the door a fraction and check inside for loose items in the load (got smacked in the head once by a piece of 4 x 4 that was supposed to be restraining the load)
better yet get the bods to open their own doors lol