rob22888:
Why is it I am forever picking up curtainsiders with the curtain…
buckled up with the curtain not properly taut.
left with straps loose.
Every time we do a changeover with the Scottish drivers they’re like this. Its not their fault though. Our new trailers are those lightweight ones without posts in and you can set off with them so tight you can play a tune on the curtains but by the time you’ve got to the other end they’ve bounced themselves slack. It seems that got past whoever was assessing them before they bought several hundred.
Ours are the same, its a rip roaring pain in the hoop. If you stop in a lay by the wind from passing trucks tends to loosen them right off too.
I usually only tuck them in when im going a decent distance. Our new ones (pillarless too) havemuch better straps on them, only need to do them once and a check for the odd loose one and don’t bounce themselves loose quite as easily.
Of course i had a new one for all of a day before it was destined for a changeover.
Mikey D:
As well as the curtain issues , it even annoys me when I go to hook up to a trailer and the winding handle hasn’t been stowed in its bracket !
Poor thing is usually hanging down limply by the leg
Being a pretty clued up driver, I would argue with this one, especially when the trailer is loaded. Some thick ■■■■ drops a loaded trailer a little too high and then stows the winding handle away for you to come along, reverse under trailer, raise suspension and still it isn’t high enough to take any weight off the legs so you go to try and grab the winding handle only to find it is absolutely solid in the holder with no give whatsoever. Granted, a quick boot of the end of the bar to knock it into low ratio normally does the trick but some people like Scanny77 don’t know this and try to turn the handle only to see the linking bolt snap straight off.
A regards tucking in curtain straps, I see a lot of Stobart wannabees in my hob and frankly I don’t see the point personally. You only have to undo them at the other end of your journey and rarely is there too much flapping around to warrant tucking it in anyway. I struggle to get hold of the straps sometimes because some hero “professional” has managed to tuck in the 1 inch piece of strap that was protruding from under the buckle. It’s a right pain in the arse trying to untuck this piece in order to get hold of the strap to pull the curtains open. Saying it indicates pride in the job is absolute tosh, you can have pride in your job without tucking everything in and then leaving your cab in a right ■■■■ heap state.
I wish drivers would show the same pride in their job when it comes to locations for overnight parking and courtesy on the roads. Tucking in straps is pretty low on the pride scale for me.
truckman020:
spent over 30 min sorting some other drivers mess out ref straps,all wrapped around each other and when untangled I found at least 3 damaged or cut off,unbelievable and bloody annoying,
Strap damage is usually the fault of dimwitted loaders & unloaders who just run over them, or take a knife to them if they are in the way.
Of course avoidable if drivers bothered to properly stow them out of the way!
Truckbling:
A regards tucking in curtain straps, I see a lot of Stobart wannabees in my hob and frankly I don’t see the point personally. You only have to undo them at the other end of your journey and rarely is there too much flapping around to warrant tucking it in anyway. I struggle to get hold of the straps sometimes because some hero “professional” has managed to tuck in the 1 inch piece of strap that was protruding from under the buckle. It’s a right pain in the arse trying to untuck this piece in order to get hold of the strap to pull the curtains open. Saying it indicates pride in the job is absolute tosh, you can have pride in your job without tucking everything in and then leaving your cab in a right [zb] heap state.
I wish drivers would show the same pride in their job when it comes to locations for overnight parking and courtesy on the roads. Tucking in straps is pretty low on the pride scale for me.
My strap tucking in thing is just a bit of OCD admittedly, I was referring more to drivers not bothering to even tighten the things up properly.
Baggy curtains = laziness. Especially given that so many consider the curtains suitable load restraint!
I never have to open my curtains much but when I do I hate it, it’s a right ball ache on my current old trailer.
I can’t halp thinking there must be a more efficent way of opening and closing the curtains.
Some sort of pull system?
Then again I suppose it would have to be robust enough to take years of abuse.
Drift:
I never have to open my curtains much but when I do I hate it, it’s a right ball ache on my current old trailer.
I can’t halp thinking there must be a more efficent way of opening and closing the curtains.
Some sort of pull system?
Then again I suppose it would have to be robust enough to take years of abuse.
Probably a question that goes back as far as the “why can’t we use our surplus of air to blow the crap off our mirrors” one
Drift:
I never have to open my curtains much but when I do I hate it, it’s a right ball ache on my current old trailer.
I can’t halp thinking there must be a more efficent way of opening and closing the curtains.
Some sort of pull system?
Then again I suppose it would have to be robust enough to take years of abuse.
Probably a question that goes back as far as the “why can’t we use our surplus of air to blow the crap off our mirrors” one
Fair enough, but can you use it for a proper ■■■■■■■■
Air operated curtains, genius
If I pick up a trailer with the straps untucked I have to tuck them all in. It takes so little effort to use a curtainsider properly and keep everything in order yet sometimes it feels like I’m the only one who bothers (I do still drive from time to time!)
switchlogic:
If I pick up a trailer with the straps untucked I have to tuck them all in.
Why? For me it makes no difference it’s not like it’s an insecure load.
image plays a good part in the haulage industry, a driver who turns up at a customer with a curtain nice and taut and all the buckles nicely tucked in speaks a thousand words ( mainly that the driver/company takes care of the equipment and will probably do the same with the customers goods).
turn up at a customer with a filthy curtain that has curtains flapping like sails, straps that blacken the curtain as the flap away in the wind says to a customer that the driver/company don’t give a ■■■■ so will probably not give a ■■■■ about there either.
switchlogic:
If I pick up a trailer with the straps untucked I have to tuck them all in.
Why? For me it makes no difference it’s not like it’s an insecure load.
image plays a good part in the haulage industry, a driver who turns up at a customer with a curtain nice and taut and all the buckles nicely tucked in speaks a thousand words ( mainly that the driver/company takes care of the equipment and will probably do the same with the customers goods).
turn up at a customer with a filthy curtain that has curtains flapping like sails, straps that blacken the curtain as the flap away in the wind says to a customer that the driver/company don’t give a [zb] so will probably not give a [zb] about there either.
I don’t think the customer thinks anything of the sort, the only thing the customer thinks about is the figure at the bottom of the invoice.
switchlogic:
If I pick up a trailer with the straps untucked I have to tuck them all in.
Why? For me it makes no difference it’s not like it’s an insecure load.
image plays a good part in the haulage industry, a driver who turns up at a customer with a curtain nice and taut and all the buckles nicely tucked in speaks a thousand words ( mainly that the driver/company takes care of the equipment and will probably do the same with the customers goods).
turn up at a customer with a filthy curtain that has curtains flapping like sails, straps that blacken the curtain as the flap away in the wind says to a customer that the driver/company don’t give a [zb] so will probably not give a [zb] about there either.
I don’t think the customer thinks anything of the sort, the only thing the customer thinks about is the figure at the bottom of the invoice.
true some dont but some customers do, i know a few companies who would rather pay a few quid more to have there goods delivered on a truck looking nice and tidy rather than have a tatty looking truck turn up at there customer to deliver there goods.
rob22888:
Why is it I am forever picking up curtainsiders with the curtain…
buckled up with the curtain not properly taut.
left with straps loose.
We have a few. High Efficiency Trailer called
Courtain loos cost soo much on Fuel,but no one cares.
The Driver do not know
The Shunter is busy with anything else
The Office doesnt see the Trailer
The one who see it and have the Power to do anything look at something else.
So No one gets into it.
switchlogic:
If I pick up a trailer with the straps untucked I have to tuck them all in.
Why? For me it makes no difference it’s not like it’s an insecure load.
image plays a good part in the haulage industry, a driver who turns up at a customer with a curtain nice and taut and all the buckles nicely tucked in speaks a thousand words ( mainly that the driver/company takes care of the equipment and will probably do the same with the customers goods).
turn up at a customer with a filthy curtain that has curtains flapping like sails, straps that blacken the curtain as the flap away in the wind says to a customer that the driver/company don’t give a [zb] so will probably not give a [zb] about there either.
I don’t think the customer thinks anything of the sort, the only thing the customer thinks about is the figure at the bottom of the invoice.
scotstrucker:
true some dont but some customers do, i know a few companies who would rather pay a few quid more to have there goods delivered on a truck looking nice and tidy rather than have a tatty looking truck turn up at there customer to deliver there goods.
scotstrucker:
true some dont but some customers do, i know a few companies who would rather pay a few quid more to have there goods delivered on a truck looking nice and tidy rather than have a tatty looking truck turn up at there customer to deliver there goods.
bull sheet! Would like to see you prove that one.
Ours, if one of our units so much as gets dented it’s Sent for repair asap.
I am running our old spare trailer while waiting for a new trailer and I know it’s doing the bosses head in having it on the road as it’s a bit tatty.
We can personalise our wagons but he will not have anything in the windows or over the top, so as to keep a proffesinal image. His words not mine.
Ours get a mini refurb every 3-5 years depending on their condition, new curtains, and spray up and new sign writing. If one of ours looks like ■■■■, it’s very recent!
We pull some pretty ancient Montracons (the majority of which have insulated curtains) Cargobulls and Tiger trailers. Give me a Montracon any day, despite the thickness of the curtains, I can open them up and they take roughly the space of one pallet. The Cargobulls are the same, but they tend to snag on the roof supports whilst opening up. The Tigers are pillarless, but have load bearing curtains which take up about 3 pallet spaces when fully open, they are a swine to get taught, as doing up one side taught makes the other one slacken up, you could seriously walk around all day to get them like a drum skin, and then if you did, you could lose a bloody finger when undoing them. (I’ve never had less than one black fingernail since we bought these) the quality of workmanship is gash, sharp edges and rough galvanising all over the place, and the straps and buckles are useless. And I’m glad I’m not a shortarse, as the only way to get the back door handles home, is to give them a mighty fine kick.
this is what happens if you are stupid enough to drive about with your curtains done up and your straps undone.
I very nearly let the driver carry on and rip his wingtops off, but was in a good mood (early finish) so I went and told him, (about his wingtops, not that I was going home early!)
