My mate works at tescos and says the trailers are sealed on the bay after loading and the driver is not aloud to open them to check the load? Well he says thats company policy but surely they cant do that as it is the drivers responsibility for the load if it shifts during transit!! Think i would be opening it anyway regardless of their policy as i dont trust any load i havnt seen 
What about if you get a double decker that actually has load straps. When you have about 20 hooks on each side of the trailer, how the hell are you supposed to buckle the curtains when there’s no space left on the rave as it’s all taken up with stupid load straps.
I can see the resale price of box trailers going up, curtains going down and many more fit drivers as we all pump pump pump pallet trucks lolol 
If curtains aren’t load restraining then why is there a picture of a trailer with toppled reels inside it being held in by the curtain at the St Regis paper mill. The trailer was all buckled with the weight but the reels still didn’t burst throught the curtain
What about just using ratchet straps rated to at least 1t. 13 would be enough for a full load. I’m sure you can get straps that are thinner than the standard size and still hold a 1t pallet. Or would it need to hold 2t as it’s over 2 pallets?
Andrew Leitch:
Coddy:
Um Curtains have NEVER been seen as a load restraint!!Chipliners??
If you read through all the posts you will find that I have already mentioned Chipliners as an exception, these being built for this purpose etc…
Steve-o:
If curtains aren’t load restraining then why is there a picture of a trailer with toppled reels inside it being held in by the curtain at the St Regis paper mill. The trailer was all buckled with the weight but the reels still didn’t burst throught the curtain
Yes and there are other pictures on the wall of shame where reels have come through, unless they have changed the pictures since last December… Reels esp, being transported on end now, HAVE to be strapped, no arguements, 2500 reels on end are a bloody awful unstable load esp as they can walk on the trailer bed…
Some of you guys want to see the europeans load Plasterboard reels, its ratchet straps on every one, the brits just close the curtains and go, these reels are 3 tons apiece!!!
Coddy:
Um Curtains have NEVER been seen as a load restraint!!
Which is why you will find that a lot of curtainsiders on the continent do not just have curtains but also posts and planks just like the old tilt trailers in fact the best ones are the Spanish types where you have the tautliner curtain with the side gates of a tilt trailer, which may weigh a bit more but is a ■■■■ sight more secure
Vascoingles:
Coddy:
Um Curtains have NEVER been seen as a load restraint!!Which is why you will find that a lot of curtainsiders on the continent do not just have curtains but also posts and planks just like the old tilt trailers in fact the best ones are the Spanish types where you have the tautliner curtain with the side gates of a tilt trailer, which may weigh a bit more but is a ■■■■ sight more secure
Thats right, these were the after thoughts on tilts, hence the Euroliner, bloody good trailers, and hopefully will eventually replace the curtainsider as we know it…
Unless they are purposely designed according to EN12642-XL, the curtains of
curtain-sided vehicles MUST NOT be considered as part of any load restraint
system. If the curtains have been designed as a restraint system, the load
capability should be clearly marked on the vehicle — if no mark can be seen,
then it should be assumed that the curtain has NO load-bearing function.
this is taken from this… hse.gov.uk/research/rrpdf/rr662.pdf
curtains can be used for load restraint as has been said
like all restraining devives the stated rate of restraint is when new
tears in curtains an age reduce strength
i have loaded jobs for B&Q which i have been told to strap
left to my own devices i know a full load of Plasplug product werent going to need to be strapped
but someone somewhere opened a curtain and was injured no thru my product load
so everyone hato strap if needed or not
once again the drivers have been bypassed in the common sense H&S stakes
the stuff less than a metre high weighing bout 100 kg per pallet
Well it is a good job you can’t fail the drivers cpc because if it covered loading a lot would fail it
The cpc for new drivers does include load restraints. New drivers will have to select load restraint from a choice of chains, straps or ropes and demonstrate their use.
And, if they get it wrong, it’s an immediate fail.
Existing drivers, of course, get away with this as we’re expected to know it all - - clearly that’s not the case from some of these posts. So let’s think twice before we ever doubt the ability of a new driver. The experience won’t be there but the knowledge will be.
this could be interesting at my place… we do multidrop but its a daily occurence as we normally deliver 3 types of product, that pallets are broke down on the truck, half a pallet could be for one drop the other half for another drop, unfortuantely the items for each drop could be anywhere on the pallet so the pallet becomes very unstable, though its not heavy stuff as such a pallet of it could do some damage. a pallet does go over in the back on a regular basis, ok sometimes it could be driver error but alot of the time is how the pallet is stacked by the pickers in the warehouse… thinking that cages may be the only answer, as if each drop is palletised they may not get all the drops on the truck.
Coddy:
To a degree some of you are right, ie a full load of empty plastic bottles are pretty much as safe as can be in curtains, just strps crossed at the back to stop any forward/rearwards movement…To be honest its been a gripe of mine about curtainsiders for years that the int straps are usually only rated at apx a ton, in fact many are rated at .5 of a ton…
Pretty much the only time a curtain is used as a full restraint is on sawdust trailers, but these have been built especially for that purpose, and of course are type aproved for that purpose…
Reading some of these posts I am now thinking the driver CPC could be a good thing!!!
A couple of points raised here. internal straps which are not man enough are non existent in a slider. and the tapered Brewliners are also designed to hold a load against the curtain. But I would still want straps around the rear pallets.
I also don’t care about any company rules about seals. I will break any seal to check the load unless I can supervise the loading.
Adam_Mc:
I’m with you fully, I just wanted people to get their tin hats outI think way to much responsibility is placed on drivers and in my opinion if a forkie loaded it, then a forkie should be held responsible in a court of law if something goes wrong because of how its loaded
I disagree Adam, its YOU who is responsible for the truck and its load and if you’re not happy with the way its loaded then get the forkie to reload it, as the Meercat says - seemples 
So if I have a trailer bursting with an RPC load of plastic bottles, am I going to have to strap the entire load? total load being rooughly 300kg
Steve-o:
So if I have a trailer bursting with an RPC load of plastic bottles, am I going to have to strap the entire load? total load being rooughly 300kg
I wouldn’t, providing the pallets were securely stretch wrapped I would maybe put a single strap across the back pallets and pull them forward towards the bulkhead.
Wheel Nut:
Steve-o:
So if I have a trailer bursting with an RPC load of plastic bottles, am I going to have to strap the entire load? total load being rooughly 300kgI wouldn’t, providing the pallets were securely stretch wrapped I would maybe put a single strap across the back pallets and pull them forward towards the bulkhead.
Half the rpc loads aren’t even on pallets. the trailer is just filled full of them
Coddy
Are you suggesting I should open every container I pick up and check the load?
Where am I supposed to do this, at the road side, could be more than a little dangerous.
With what am I supposed to cut the seals. Go out and by a large cutter at my expense, don’t think so
How am i expected to check the load by opening the doors. All I can see is the first row of cardboard boxes or what ever. There is another forty foot i can’t see, unless i unload it at the afforementioned roadside. Two of the containers I moved today were full to the brim with scrap metal please explain how I can take the container off the skelly stand it on its end open the doors and check the load.
Of course then I have to explain to my boss and Maersk why I didn’t deliver it with the seal intact.
You sit there and make stupid remarks and I will go out and work in the real world!
knight:
Coddy
Are you suggesting I should open every container I pick up and check the load?
Where am I supposed to do this, at the road side, could be more than a little dangerous.
With what am I supposed to cut the seals. Go out and by a large cutter at my expense, don’t think so
How am i expected to check the load by opening the doors. All I can see is the first row of cardboard boxes or what ever. There is another forty foot i can’t see, unless i unload it at the afforementioned roadside. Two of the containers I moved today were full to the brim with scrap metal please explain how I can take the container off the skelly stand it on its end open the doors and check the load.
Of course then I have to explain to my boss and Maersk why I didn’t deliver it with the seal intact.
You sit there and make stupid rmarks and I will go out and work in the real world!
I don’t know for a fact and no doubt i’ll be corrected if it’s not so… but…
The consignee is responsible for securing the cargo inside the container.
The container forms part of the load, so as long as ‘It’ is secured to the vehicle/trailer by means of twistlocks, or in some cases, chains then the “load” would be deemed to be secure.
As the container arrives in the country under customs seal it isn’t resonable to expect the driver to inspect the contents.
Hi Bo-alloy used to advertise that their curtains were load restraints and showed pics of a trailer at an angle while still holding the load in.(beer kegs IIRC) Unfortunately some people took this to mean all trailers were the same
Germany has insisted on load restraint since curtain siders first went there. Boards or gates wont stop 25 tons if it wants to move especially if the load is not a tight fit.
Any one who opens a sealed container could be in for an expensive shock!!! It could be under customs bond try explaining that one! If you try and deliver an unsealed container it will either be turned away (haulier pays the haulage) or they will be liable for all shortages (quess how many there will be )
Magistrates do not prosecute if you have an accident with an unstable sealed container unless the instability is obvious before setting off.
Somerfields open the trailer at Secruity when leaving the depot for the driver to check that the load is secured with at least 2 straps and 1 bar and security signs to say so.
Gavin
Gavin McArdle:
Somerfields open the trailer at Secruity when leaving the depot for the driver to check that the load is secured with at least 2 straps and 1 bar and security signs to say so.
Gavin
Wooopy do 2 traps and a bar
Should be strapped every 3rd if cages each strap holding 9 cages in total