Hi guys, I’m after abit of advice on walking floor trailers on how they operate & how to tip correctly etc any advice is welcome just don’t want to look a ■■■ on my first day & not even know how to tip the thing. Tia
truckers boy:
Hi guys, I’m after abit of advice on walking floor trailers on how they operate & how to tip correctly etc any advice is welcome just don’t want to look a ■■■ on my first day & not even know how to tip the thing. Tia
Never used one, but used to see guys unloading all the time in the place I used to work and the old hands would take a good while cleaning it out (slats and front moving headboard and liner thing) with a brush after each load (woodchip/sawdust). It would usually be immaculate all round inside when they were done in about 10 mins. Others never bothered doing this. Quite a few drivers on here use them i’m sure so maybe someone will reply with a bit more technical info!!
dave_k:
truckers boy:
Hi guys, I’m after abit of advice on walking floor trailers on how they operate & how to tip correctly etc any advice is welcome just don’t want to look a ■■■ on my first day & not even know how to tip the thing. TiaNever used one, but used to see guys unloading all the time in the place I used to work and the old hands would take a good while cleaning it out (slats and front moving headboard and liner thing) with a brush after each load (woodchip/sawdust). It would usually be immaculate all round inside when they were done in about 10 mins. Others never bothered doing this. Quite a few drivers on here use them i’m sure so maybe someone will reply with a bit more technical info!!
Anything is better than nothing so thanks for that. I’m not totally green to the industry I’ve just never had to operate or tip one etc
Simple enough, reverse up to where you’re tipping, PTO on, open netting/ roof cover, open rear door(s), tip. If its going into a pit then just sit there. If there is plant to push away then just sit there. IF its somewhere that you need to move forward as it comes out then move forward.
If you have a ‘clean sweep’ sheet then push it back into place. IF not then depending on what you’re doing next either sweep it out or don’t. Close door(s), close roof. Clear off.
Search youtube? .there’s plenty of vlogs on there showing them bud 
Cov:
Search youtube? .there’s plenty of vlogs on there showing them bud
I did but most of the how to operate videos are yanks. & the rest just show the driver opening back door & load being discharged non that I’ve found shows how the driver operated the trailer if that makes any sense. 
Lots of different trailer set ups, some roofs need the PTO engaged to open, some are manual. Same for the rear door(s). Some floors are operated by buttons, switches or levers on the trailer (sometimes a combination of and not necessarily on the same side), others have a hand held remote to walk in/ out. Very surprised that you’d be chucked on one with no instruction/ training before hand. Easiest method is to ask another driver in the yard before you leave. If you’re loading/ tipping somewhere that the firm regularly goes to you’ll probably find someone there that has observed what previous drivers have to do.
If you don’t know ask. I’d be very surprised if you weren’t shown the ropes anyway, unless you’ve been less than honest about your experience at the interview?
You also need to know whether you need the lights on to walk in/ out. Some engine speeds are controlled automatically when the PTO is engaged, others need you to select the speed from the computer controls on the steering wheel. Some drop the PTO out when you disengage the handbrake, others don’t.
TiredAndEmotional:
If you don’t know ask. I’d be very surprised if you weren’t shown the ropes anyway, unless you’ve been less than honest about your experience at the interview?
Nono nothing like that more than honest when it comes to it just want abit more of an idea on how they are operated
Vid:
Lots of different trailer set ups, some roofs need the PTO engaged to open, some are manual. Same for the rear door(s). Some floors are operated by buttons, switches or levers on the trailer (sometimes a combination of and not necessarily on the same side), others have a hand held remote to walk in/ out. Very surprised that you’d be chucked on one with no instruction/ training before hand. Easiest method is to ask another driver in the yard before you leave. If you’re loading/ tipping somewhere that the firm regularly goes to you’ll probably find someone there that has observed what previous drivers have to do.
Thank you for that they sound simple enough
truckers boy:
Vid:
Lots of different trailer set ups, some roofs need the PTO engaged to open, some are manual. Same for the rear door(s). Some floors are operated by buttons, switches or levers on the trailer (sometimes a combination of and not necessarily on the same side), others have a hand held remote to walk in/ out. Very surprised that you’d be chucked on one with no instruction/ training before hand. Easiest method is to ask another driver in the yard before you leave. If you’re loading/ tipping somewhere that the firm regularly goes to you’ll probably find someone there that has observed what previous drivers have to do.Thank you for that they sound simple enough
They are really, once you know which buttons/ switches/ levers to use it is just a matter of backing up, opening up, walk out, close up, clear off.
Vid:
You also need to know whether you need the lights on to walk in/ out. Some engine speeds are controlled automatically when the PTO is engaged, others need you to select the speed from the computer controls on the steering wheel. Some drop the PTO out when you disengage the handbrake, others don’t.
^^^^^^This^^^^^
I was given a 30 minute brief on how to operate one then told “good luck”. Later the same day I was tipping in our yard when the bloody thing wouldn’t walk the waste out. Spent 10 minutes scratching my head when my mate came over and said “put your sidelights on ■■■■■■■■■ That’s why it won’t walk”. Suffice to say I had the ■■■■ ripped out of me.
Some also have a ‘deadlock’ on the doors, so you open the handles then flick the deadlock switch (usually near the front of the trailer), so that you don’t get a load of waste/metal filings/etc land on top of you or have the doors swing open and hitting you.
It is fairly straight forward, I never got any training except ‘open doors, put sidelights on, engage clutch, flick pto on, lift clutch, raise engine revs using steering wheel cruise control’. After asking other questions about what can go wrong and using the wander lead etc I was told ‘you’ll figure it out’ 
suffice to say the lack of proper instruction combined with the bad attitude of people at a lot of the places you go (shovel drivers bashing the trailer, wasting your time trying to get as close to 44ton as they can (because 43.5+ isn’t good enough ), horrible muddy skip yards, etc.) didn’t set me up with a positive outlook for it so I went back to fridges after a few weeks