had a trailer with a round 2 inch hole in the plate that goes across the back of the trailer , next to the rear doors , i did notice it but as it was only 2 inches and only through the 5mm [ or whatever thickness it is ] plate and not through the floor i left it .[ thought id only get told to take it anyway as no other spares]
but at my drop i got called round to look at back of trailer by loader.
when reversing out on his truck hed got his forks caught in hole , truck stops , he flys into air and hurts his leg .
i struggled to understand how he got the forks caught in hole as he was reversing out [ no sharp edges ] to catch . but he was limping badly .
now they took photos for accdent report.
the bit the baffles me is they made a big song and dance about it , which is fair enough .
but
1/ why did they then load it to go back
2/ told me to v.o.r it when i got back to base, not there and then.
so should we be checking trailer floors, how do you if youve got 26 pallets on , whats acceptable and whats not , it had been tipped and loaded a hour previous to him tipping it , it was then reloaded by his pals, then it was tipped when i got back to base, should i have v.o.r it for a 2 inch hole .
The nature of our work (builders merchants) means the lorry bed suffers a bit from all kinds of ill treatment…my V reg is a patchwork and even the newer motors aren’t the best.
Generally if there’s a big hole or other damage, we write it on as a defect but just get on with it til it’s fixed.
Saying that all 3 motors are rigids and all 4 of us who can drive them pretty much know the state of each lorry. I guess it’s different with bigger firms and trailers, but I’d say it was safe to use, unless something could fall through it I suppose.
ady1:
had a trailer with a round 2 inch hole in the plate that goes across the back of the trailer , next to the rear doors , i did notice it but as it was only 2 inches and only through the 5mm [ or whatever thickness it is ] plate and not through the floor i left it .[ thought id only get told to take it anyway as no other spares]
but at my drop i got called round to look at back of trailer by loader.
when reversing out on his truck hed got his forks caught in hole , truck stops , he flys into air and hurts his leg .
i struggled to understand how he got the forks caught in hole as he was reversing out [ no sharp edges ] to catch . but he was limping badly .
now they took photos for accdent report.
the bit the baffles me is they made a big song and dance about it , which is fair enough .
but
1/ why did they then load it to go back
2/ told me to v.o.r it when i got back to base, not there and then.
so should we be checking trailer floors, how do you if youve got 26 pallets on , whats acceptable and whats not , it had been tipped and loaded a hour previous to him tipping it , it was then reloaded by his pals, then it was tipped when i got back to base, should i have v.o.r it for a 2 inch hole .
Just say it was fine when you left and the weight of the FLT must have made the hole.
Firstly you saw the hole “before” you took it out so sorry mate but “You” should have reported it and let someone else make the decision whether it goes out or not.
That way you would have been covered as you let someone else make the decision or give the instruction but I would have reported the defect before leaving as then it is in writing to the co and they have a record of it.
Why did they reload the trailer when THEY knew it had a defect on the floor which injured one for their employees?
You should have said “no” to the reload and taken instructions from your employers as to what to do never mind them telling you to VOR it when you get back as what would happen if another person was injured when loading or unloading the trailer ?
With regards to checking the trailer there is a limit to what you can actually do legitimately as if the hole had been further up the trailer you wouldn,t see it so it wouldn,t have been your problem until it was spotted after unloading then you should report it to a supervisor or the garage etc.