We do a lot of work out of Shotton Paper, and recently everything that has come out of there has been strapped down with a single ratchet strap and strategically placed plastic corner pieces to protect the reel edges…
Anyway, gets talking to a mate of mine who works for RPL, who do a lot out of Stanton Grove, and he was telling me, SG have told him that as of 1st June next year, it becomes law that all reels being moved by road have to be strapped down in this manner, using internal straps is not sufficient.
Anyone else heard this, or is it more driver ■■■■■■■■!!
Peterm
did you misread post
whats the big deal in using a spanset
a whole lot better than using internal straps
suprised that you get away with only using one
if you going to be finacky about it the best way would be 1 ratchet over them and internals round the end ones to stop them sliding. but i did reels for years and unless they were tall ones we never used straps, due low centre of gravity and the sheer weight of them. if i was going from shotton to swiss if your still on that job i would be puting plenty of straps on though cos that is a fare old distance to go.
even if reels on the roll we used to use chocks all the way down and on the last reels we used a backscotch ( long triangle lenght of wood ) with a strap across it then 2 ratchets straps across the last 2 reels in a criss cross fashion.
if your using protectors for the reels keep hold of them cos you will need em.
jessicas dad:
if you going to be finacky about it the best way would be 1 ratchet over them and internals round the end ones to stop them sliding. but i did reels for years and unless they were tall ones we never used straps, due low centre of gravity and the sheer weight of them. if i was going from shotton to swiss if your still on that job i would be puting plenty of straps on though cos that is a fare old distance to go.
even if reels on the roll we used to use chocks all the way down and on the last reels we used a backscotch ( long triangle lenght of wood ) with a strap across it then 2 ratchets straps across the last 2 reels in a criss cross fashion.
if your using protectors for the reels keep hold of them cos you will need em.
JD
Back on for Downton’s, had a change of personal circumstance so had to leave Swiss, starting to regret it now though!
As for reels, Like you, rarely strapped them, been dong them for years. If they were the 2.7m high ones then yeah, i would strap them but run of the mill rels for the likes of Polestar/News International i never did…
Reels on the roll were great fun too, chock each one, and then as you say back scotch it. I always used to strap the Backscotch in, as didnt trust the little bits of rope!!
Did reels from Swiss 2/3 times, and strapped them down, although took me an hour or more either end to strap/unstrap, but its cheaper than a German fine for insecure load!!
its probably true!!! knowing shotton paper anything to make the job harder.
you can’t load out of there now with a walking floor unless you have a magic eye system to stop the floor when the reel gets to the back of the trailer.
i dont think they can trust the driver to turn the thing off themself as we have been doing for years h&s gone made yet again. i tell you what you wont be able to get out of your cab soon without full body armer and a bloody gas mask
i have never had to strap any reels mind you thats the beauty of a walking floor solid sides they cant go anywhere, and if you do have the big news international reels on you just drive accordingly
Reels of paper, my favorite load to rope and sheet, small chock under every one ,back scotch, sheeted and roped between the reels cross on the back, then a fly sheet, Convoy’s Depthford.
jessicas dad:
if you going to be finacky about it the best way would be 1 ratchet over them and internals round the end ones to stop them sliding. but i did reels for years and unless they were tall ones we never used straps, due low centre of gravity and the sheer weight of them. if i was going from shotton to swiss if your still on that job i would be puting plenty of straps on though cos that is a fare old distance to go.
even if reels on the roll we used to use chocks all the way down and on the last reels we used a backscotch ( long triangle lenght of wood ) with a strap across it then 2 ratchets straps across the last 2 reels in a criss cross fashion.
if your using protectors for the reels keep hold of them cos you will need em.
been there, done that
got the T shirt
also got 3 points and a fixed penalty £60 fine for littering the queens highway with 3 of them
Killingholme Roundabout on the way out of Immingham Docks on the Western Approach road, was stationary at the traffic lights where the Jet garage is, lights changed, put foot down away we went , started to cough up my internal organs, so, put the head out of the window to get it all out (as you do ), never noticed the roundabout infront of me
I had been very il all week, but the gaffer wanted me to keep going, so like a pillock, i did
very severe braking trying to avoid the truck going round it at the time, felt the reels move, then 3 of them popped out of the side of the trailer
Oh well, nice birthday present for me
the best part about it, the gaffer wanted to give me a bollocking for it, so i told him where to shove it, next time i am as ill that again, i will be parking the truck up and going home and sod the consequences
Never ever strapped reels on the end, even the 2.7m ones. Never lost one. Even the Health and Safety mad paper mill at Ellesmere Port ( who won’t load you unless you’re wearing a hard hat, safety glasses and standing 300 yards from the truck) don’t expect you to strap reels on the end.
Everyone I’ve seen over here pulling these rolls around, load them flat, 1 strap over the top of it/them (sometimes double stacked) and corner protectors on it too.
A few firms ago, all I worked was paper reels (upright on trailer), sometimes double stacked (small reels), every day, every week, with a curtainsider. Longest distance from yard to printworks was about 75 miles. Never used straps, no additional securing, no problems. 14 drivers on this work every day for that firm, they have yet to lose a reel although I realise it could easily be done!
We carry reels on standing on end every day.The arguments over security of load is never ending. Two mills in particular will not let you out if you have not strapped them. Our factory will warn you 1st time if you arrive without straps then after that you will not be tipped.
The HSE removed the correct way of securing reels last year as there isn’t one,so as far as they are concerned no one carries reels on end.
The centre of gravity of the load with 2.7m 3 tonne reels is actually very high.
our standing orders are to cross strap each reel with internal starps.This will not stop them falling out but does stop them from “walking”. The first reel is loaded on off side (whatever the dummy lift driver’s say at Tilbury) 1st one touching headboard then each reel must be touching as loaded along trailer.(whatever dummy lift drivers ay at Tilbury).
Using internal straps ,driving like a dummy they will come out of trailer and probably turn truck over.Using ratchet straps over the top and driving like a dummy you will deffo roll over.
I could name 1 company that has had 7 rollovers in the last 15 months.
for those of you that scoff at us strapping reels in a curtainsider I ask you this .Would you carry reels on a flat trailer without strapping them?
With the walking floor trailers ,I know of 3 rollovers in the last month and they were not even carrying reels so the hard trailer side argument goes out of the window.
I have lost count of The number of rude signs I have been given when leaving M25 to join M11 northbound for going to slow !! by other pro drivers for example.
Take care out there.
dieseldog6:
Reels of paper, my favorite load to rope and sheet, small chock under every one ,back scotch, sheeted and roped between the reels cross on the back, then a fly sheet, Convoy’s Depthford.
God that brings back memories loading reels from Convoy’s using a back scotch and 3 sheets. Does anyone remember John Pitts Paper mill in Exeter or loading to wiggins and teape at Ivybridge. These loads had to be hand rolled of the back . Remember being shown by my father as a boy, but it was far more differcult doing it yourself for the 1st time. Is Convoys still there?
Have loaded reels for years running between uk-germany-italy-greece-spain-sweden i have never ever strapped a reel and never had a problem with them. Its all H&S nonsense. A driver should know what needs strapped and what doesn’t and adjust his driving to suit the load not some clown in an office who dont know the first thing about diffrent caracteristics of diffrent loads. Yes granted ive seen reels come through a curtain but then i would blame that on driver error. On one particular instance on a right hand bend a wagon had lost his load of reels through the N/S curtain. If it had been strapped would his wagon been on its side? I think so. A driver with any sort of sense will know how to drive dependent on what is sitting on their back
We do a lot of ended reels too, some of our customers require straps, some will refuse the reels if they are strapped, however the childish game has been taken out of our hands as the little man in Luxembourg will jump in the trailer and count how many straps you have, then he will get out his calculator and work out the fine. Simple really
hitch:
Peterm
did you misread post
whats the big deal in using a spanset
a whole lot better than using internal straps
suprised that you get away with only using one
I never said anything about spansets. I used to sometimes carry reels of kraft paper, but they weren’t standing. I did the same as dieseldog6, ropes sheets and a cross over the back. We didn’t have curtain siders in my days in England.
dieseldog6:
Reels of paper, my favorite load to rope and sheet, small chock under every one ,back scotch, sheeted and roped between the reels cross on the back, then a fly sheet, Convoy’s Depthford.
God that brings back memories loading reels from Convoy’s using a back scotch and 3 sheets. Does anyone remember John Pitts Paper mill in Exeter or loading to wiggins and teape at Ivybridge. These loads had to be hand rolled of the back . Remember being shown by my father as a boy, but it was far more differcult doing it yourself for the 1st time. Is Convoys still there?
, started to cough up my internal organs, so, put the head out of the window to get it all out (as you do 
