some of you may remember about a week ago i asked what the new rule was
well it was nothing major. the tm says vosa are pulling curtain motors to see if your pallets are strapped. so that means from next week we will have to be strapping all our pallets down to the body.
this is pants because all our pallets are fairly small and not stacked more than two feet. so now to use the tail lift to get a pallet off both curtains will have to be opened.
does any one know if this is true about vosa. apparantly if we get pulled by them and they are not strapped we will get in the cack
joedwyer1:
some of you may remember about a week ago i asked what the new rule was
well it was nothing major. the tm says vosa are pulling curtain motors to see if your pallets are strapped. so that means from next week we will have to be strapping all our pallets down to the body.
this is pants because all our pallets are fairly small and not stacked more than two feet. so now to use the tail lift to get a pallet off both curtains will have to be opened.
does any one know if this is true about vosa. apparantly if we get pulled by them and they are not strapped we will get in the cack
Well if its gonna be enforced then all our loads will fail , I remember someone here saying they are doing this in Germany not heard about this in the UK
Its not a new law, its only the level of enforcement that has changed.
Curtains are not a load restraint (except in a rare few specialised cases), the law does require any load to be carried in a manner that is safe, the government gives “guidence” on what it thinks is safe but ultimatly it is up to the driver to ensure his load doesnt move.
This enforcement is a follow on from the government advice that all loads should be secured, and that tautliner curtains themselves are not load securing.
This is not new, the BAG in Germany as long ago as when I was running out there would take a very dim view of a load in a tautliner that was not strapped
last time i went carisle w/b there was a couple of curtainsidrs in with backdoors open and the vosa bod on his wheeled step ladder looking in the back so i presume he was looking to see if the load was secured
News to me I know your load has to be secure but strapping small pallets that are going nowhere? I’d also heard this a while back that all trailers where now being checked to see they where all strapped. Be easier with a rope and sheet than all that palaver with curtains and straps. Well, ok, maybe not
IF you look at the German trailer manufacture sites or talk to their reps in the UK , then they can show and explain the special,types of trailer that are built some are covered by a certificate which shows that the side curtains have passed a set test and can be used in some cases with out straps, there are links in the euro site and useful links site with load restraint tips well worth a look at,AS prevention is cheaper than paying for the cure and posible points etc on your licence ,permits,
Rikki is 100% correct in his advice. This is a recent change in emphasis by VOSA and load security, specifically unsecured loads in a curtainsider, have become an official issue. A curtainsider is to be treated as if it was a flatbed if the curtains are not obviously authorised (and therefore marked) as a load bearing device.
This is not a fixed penalty issue as far as i know - it’s not listed in the ESP, but can of course be prosecuted and the Police can issue a £60 & 3 points FP for load insecurity.
Mike-C:
News to me I know your load has to be secure but strapping small pallets that are going nowhere? I’d also heard this a while back that all trailers where now being checked to see they where all strapped. Be easier with a rope and sheet than all that palaver with curtains and straps. Well, ok, maybe not
i make you right there. i think we would be better off with flat bed trucks with a net to throw over like the brick/block motors seem to get away with.
if I was carrying packs of timber or something then fair enough but the silly little bits and bobs i carry around all day. na!
when i had not long started driving i got a dressing down from a wheel tapper for putting the ratchet straps d ring on the hooks, he said they should either be attached to the chassis or the body rail because if you have to do an emergency stop the hooks could snap and the load move forward.
scotstrucker:
when i had not long started driving i got a dressing down from a wheel tapper for putting the ratchet straps d ring on the hooks, he said they should either be attached to the chassis or the body rail because if you have to do an emergency stop the hooks could snap and the load move forward.
From Code of Practice for Safe Loading of Vehicles;
Anchorage Points
4.1 It is common practice to use the rope hooks found on most platform vehicles, welded or
bolted to the underside of the side rail or outriggers, as the anchor points for the load restraint
systems. Rope hooks should not be used to anchor loads. Rope hooks are not subject to
constructional standards, and so they vary in strength, size and material content and are rarely
designed to withstand forces exceeding about 1-1.5 tonnes. Many fall far short of this
strength being so weak that they can be distorted by applying a ratchet buckle to tighten a
webbing strap. For this reason it is desirable to equip vehicles, particularly those with platform
bodies, with dedicated load anchorage points. These should be designed and integrated into
the structure so that the forces imposed on them are transmitted to the main chassis frame of
the vehicle. (See figs 5 and 6.) Lashing points should comply with British Standard BS EN
12640:2001.
joedwyer1:
what would the penalties be for getting caught out?
sorry didn’t see that post
you get the strap
i would suspect you would be done with insecure load, pg9 on truck till load is secured and remember you wont be allowed to secure it on a vosa site probably
its not always effective to strap down to the body either i used to drive a hiab motor and you would often have them pinging off as you go down the road
Mike-C:
News to me I know your load has to be secure but strapping small pallets that are going nowhere? I’d also heard this a while back that all trailers where now being checked to see they where all strapped. Be easier with a rope and sheet than all that palaver with curtains and straps. Well, ok, maybe not
i make you right there. i think we would be better off with flat bed trucks with a net to throw over like the brick/block motors seem to get away with.
if I was carrying packs of timber or something then fair enough but the silly little bits and bobs i carry around all day. na!
we use nets but we also have to use straps,seems to take forever especially when the nets are wet and its bitter cold but it just becomes secomd nature after a while.
If you are stopped and asked to show your load then there is no way that the law would be against you if the load was all standing upright on pallets as it was loaded. If they said the load is insecure then just by the very nature of it all standing up then that proves them wrong.
Kerbdog:
If you are stopped and asked to show your load then there is no way that the law would be against you if the load was all standing upright on pallets as it was loaded. If they said the load is insecure then just by the very nature of it all standing up then that proves them wrong.
All well and good 'til some ■■■■ does something to make you swerve or brake hard. How would you like to be the poor bugger in a car that copped your load on his roof. If a load is put on a lorry, it should be strapped / roped / chained, curtains or no curtains.
As far as two foot high pallets go, (mentioned earlier by joedwyer1) I’ve carted pallets of sheet steel, used for can lids. They were only about a foot high, but bloody heavy and like razors. Should I have left them unstrapped ?
,
I know your load has to be secure but strapping small pallets that are going nowhere? I’d also heard this a while back that all trailers where now being checked to see they where all strapped. Be easier with a rope and sheet than all that palaver with curtains and straps. Well, ok, maybe not 