Anyone know what the score is for trailer position when carrying a twentyfoot empty container…Ive come across a bloke who runs with his skelly set at the shrunk position when empty…is this legal 
it is legal from what i know! i do containers and if i tip a 20’ in such a place and have a reload somewere else then i wil pull it shrunk up, people wil say that this damages the trailer but my mate has his own skelly and has pulled empty 20’ for years and it hasnt warped the chassis etc,
mark h:
it is legal from what i know! i do containers and if i tip a 20’ in such a place and have a reload somewere else then i wil pull it shrunk up, people wil say that this damages the trailer but my mate has his own skelly and has pulled empty 20’ for years and it hasnt warped the chassis etc,
What about the traction ?..I find in the wet its best to keep it opened or you loose your traction
it is legal to run with the trailer in the unload posistion but as said it affects traction and im sure insurance would treat it as wrong if you were in an accident .I had a skelly and only way to make axle lift was to run in unload posistion until i doctored it but i found trailer bounced about too much so kept it in running mode
ye u r right about traction and to keep it stretched in the wet,
what puzzles me is drivers who u see with the lift axle in the down posistion and the trailer is empty and they r struggling for traction, y dont they put it up, its only 1 button
who are you on for dave is it still a secret. 
jessicas dad:
who are you on for dave is it still a secret.
Yes M8 at the mo it is…but tell yer what how you worked for those priccks at freightliner baffles me…or anyone for that matter
well getting away from there really was the best thing talk about making you depressed… in fact i never wanted to go there in the first place it was my dad and missues getting their heads together.
jessicas dad:
well getting away from there really was the best thing talk about making you depressed… in fact i never wanted to go there in the first place it was my dad and missues getting their heads together.
your well shut from what i can see 
As far as Im aware its not legal.but many do it.
Same as if you get pulled by VOSA with a loaded box and its not in the 20’ Laden position.
most people cant be bothered to stretch/shorten cause they’re too ■■■■■■■ lazy
The trailer has varying positions for different reasons,might be worth reading the instructions on the trailer,where you’ll find most say “this trailer is not designed to be run in the 20’ closed position” 
On all 3 firms I’ve worked for on Containers all pretty big ones ,it is frowned upon running in the closed position,the one im on now,its sackable if caught or seen.
read lucy`s skelly thread
from memory its legal, but unstable to run in the shortened position
Correct Pierre. And with the newest lightweight sliders it WILL cause damage. As Bikemonkey says above, these trailers come with several settings for a reason - not using them is just lazy.
It might not be illegal to run in this position but the trailer is designed to run in the correct position 20/30/40 ft for a reason and as “Lucy” says damage could result plus as has happened to me a couple of times (I now run in the correct position) the trailer has come round in the wet.
Also I spoke to a guy who runs 3 trucks and he said his insurers have said travelling in the wrong position “Would Invalidate his Insurance” if involved in an accident does anyone want to take the chance on “No Insurance” as there is only one way to find out that is the hard way!
Also VOSA take a dim view of it as well as we had one guy who couldn,t stretch his trailer to the 40` ft position one day and was cursing and ripping cos it wouldn,t budge and when I told him to run as it was (20ft postion) his reply was “[zb] off I have been doing this job for over 25 years and don,t tell me how to do it” so that is what I did till the owner saw it one day and gave him hell and threatened to sack him if he did it again as he said it puts undue stress on the chassis and the running gear that is why it is designed that way.
A simple question: why the hell do they put the 20 ft slot in the chassis if it is not needed, the answer is simple to give the correct axle loadings when running loaded on 5 or 6 axles it ain,t rocket science but with some idiots ot might as well be!
if it needs stars , you know it’s not allowed …Denis F