Not being a curtain sider driver, I’m no expert but after following one up the motorway today it got me wondering at what point does the driver decide it ain’t safe? The fella I was behind looked like he was struggling a bit and that load bulging out can’t have helped him.
Do you
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san miguel:
Not being a curtain sider driver, I’m no expert but after following one up the motorway today it got me wondering at what point does the driver decide it ain’t safe? The fella I was behind looked like he was struggling a bit and that load bulging out can’t have helped him.
It depends on why it’s bulging, to be frank, and would it be possible for the driver to do anything about it.
A load of tyres doesn’t really bulge much, when it’s loaded. A few hours driving later, it bulges, and there’s nothing you can do about it.
I’ve also had a load of half tonne pallets of shampoo, with pallets of perfume loaded on top (the shampoo pallets were all labelled “Do Not Double Stack”).
The shampoo pallets had started to collapse when I did the trailer swap. By the time I got to the perfume delivery in London, they’d collapsed even more. That was a big bulge on one side, so big it was twisting the trailer. The perfume place wouldn’t/couldn’t unload their stuff. I phoned the boss, explained the problem and said I needed a ramp or loading bay, so a forklift could get in and lift the pallets out. He sent me to a place at Coventry Airport, from London. They didn’t have a ramp or loading bay, they had extra long forks. They just rammed the forks in, until they could lift the top pallets. That trailer smelled lovely for weeks 
I couldn’t do anything about that bulge either. If I’d have been stopped I could explain I was on my way to get it sorted, from London to Coventry. Dunno how the Police would have received that.
Simon:
san miguel:
Not being a curtain sider driver, I’m no expert but after following one up the motorway today it got me wondering at what point does the driver decide it ain’t safe? The fella I was behind looked like he was struggling a bit and that load bulging out can’t have helped him.It depends on why it’s bulging, to be frank, and would it be possible for the driver to do anything about it.
A load of tyres doesn’t really bulge much, when it’s loaded. A few hours driving later, it bulges, and there’s nothing you can do about it.
I’ve also had a load of half tonne pallets of shampoo, with pallets of perfume loaded on top (the shampoo pallets were all labelled “Do Not Double Stack”).
The shampoo pallets had started to collapse when I did the trailer swap. By the time I got to the perfume delivery in London, they’d collapsed even more. That was a big bulge on one side, so big it was twisting the trailer. The perfume place wouldn’t/couldn’t unload their stuff. I phoned the boss, explained the problem and said I needed a ramp or loading bay, so a forklift could get in and lift the pallets out. He sent me to a place at Coventry Airport, from London. They didn’t have a ramp or loading bay, they had extra long forks. They just rammed the forks in, until they could lift the top pallets. That trailer smelled lovely for weeks
I couldn’t do anything about that bulge either. If I’d have been stopped I could explain I was on my way to get it sorted, from London to Coventry. Dunno how the Police would have received that.
I used to do loads of p&g work , double stacked palls of shampoo , tampax , wash powder & never had a issue , sounds like it was either the place who loaded it , the driver rather than the products being the issue
Nb and all I did was put a couple of internals on the back palls
If it a insecure load it’s a problem, if it’s obscuring vision down the side of vehicle and preventing driver from taking effective observation it’s a problem.
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If you’re got a curtain bulge on a Saturday, either go on a diet or ask the missus to help you out
When I was doing curtainsider work my rule was if it covers more than 3 fingers width on my mirror (or a 1/3rd of it) it’s bad. Obviously if it’s sticking out OUTSIDE mirror width range it’s probably not even legal…or maybe is but no way I’d drive it
Depends if it was there when you started.
Also, do you know what was in that position when loaded? (eg is it heavy?)
Pull into services and investigate or crack on.
It depends what it was carrying. If it was a chipliner then bulging curtains are to be expected.
Try a load of Shoddy.
I had a bulge in my load once- I was carrying ■■■■■■…
dozy:
I used to do loads of p&g work , double stacked palls of shampoo , tampax , wash powder & never had a issue , sounds like it was either the place who loaded it , the driver rather than the products being the issue
Nb and all I did was put a couple of internals on the back palls
Good for you, well done.
I have done P&G work since then. This was not a P&G load.
These shampoo pallets were 1.5m tall, roughly. They had cardboard on two sides (open on the other two), large family size, soft plastic bottles of shampoo, with a sheet of cardboard between each layer of bottles. And over-wrapped with a large, made to measure, plastic bag. Weighing almost a tonne each (24 pallets was 20t), they were loaded on a Euroliner so no internals to put on the back palls, up to the back doors anyway. As I mentioned, each pallet was clearly marked “Do Not Double Stack”, in several languages. They had been loaded at the French depot of the company I worked for then. To be fair they hadn’t double stacked the shampoo pallets, they’d just loaded 8 or 10 fairly heavy pallets of perfume on top.
This company was a bit of a cowboy crew, both depots as bad as each other. For example, we were given no more than 2:30, to get from Paris to Dieppe for the ferry to Newhaven. It can be done in 2 hours, as long as you hold it at 90km all the way there. No slowing down through the villages or towns, or bends, or junctions, or any other sensible reasons to go a bit slower than 90. A collapsing load was not a reason to slow down either. 2 hours meant you had half an hour to Q, book onto the ferry, Q and load. 2:30 hours drive meant, pray there was no Q, sprint to the office to book onto the ferry and hope they didn’t lift the ramp before you were across it. This particular load was a mid-week change-over, done at Dieppe. We arrived on the dock at Newhaven and booked off. Then we’d embark onto the ferry for the 4:30 long crossing to Dieppe, evening meals and a shared cabin for 4 drivers was provided. At Dieppe we disembarked, did our trailer swaps with the French drivers and filled our tanks from theirs with an electric fuel pump, then re-embarked onto the same ferry for the 5:30 crossing back to Newhaven, same beds in the same cabins and breakfast provided. On disembarking at Newhaven, we would book back on and start our UK deliveries. There was around 12 hours between booking off and booking on, plenty of time for rest. I stuck it for 6 months, then decided that a less ‘pressured’ job was preferable.