What are you going to do next year with the new restraining laws coming in, plead ignorance??
There are ways of strapping reels in, and without damage to the edges, we do it all the time, and our ways are under review, to make it even safer ready for next year, to the point we are trialing a new type of curtainsider restraint system.
As for the muppets who say never strap them, you are tossers, 2 ton of reel, in a curtainsider, unstrapped…
It’s a bit of a Vitriol Turton style post this^, but I agree with you. I’ve also done my fair share of reels that are taller than me (same as hogdy’s photo) and have managed to move them from one end of the country to the other unstrapped without any problems, but the point still remains that if you had to swerve to avoid something, the curtain isn’t gonna hold them in regardless of what loading bearing-ness it says, so they need to be strapped otherwise the battenburg boys will have your arse.
Can’t remember the name of the place but when I used to do them out of Boston docks they wouldn’t let you go until you’d strapped them. All it takes is 1 strap from the opposite roof rail pulled 180 deg round the reel and then back to the same side attaching it under the edge of the trailer and you’re sorted. That stops them moving forwards, backwards or out the open side and they can’t move to the other side because of the 2 reels supporting it at 2 separate points. If you’ve no roof straps then you’ll need ratchet straps and edge protectors and go straight over the top of them.
hitch:
in the photo the trailer is full
and the reels are juxta posed so they would form a solid bloke
using the curtains for support
no space for movement
so not a good example
I’ve carried the big naff off 1.25 meter diameter, 2.5m width jobs on the end. You only get half a dozen of them on a trailer due to their weight and they’re spaced apart. They don’t shift even under heavy braking. Anything smaller will be reel to reel.
If you go into David smith packaging in portbury with a load of unsecured reels they WILL send you back out onto the road where you have to strap them before coming back in the yard and then unstrapping them again.
disgo:
If the reels are loaded laying down across the trailer you just chock them as per newsprint reels.These are the diagrams shown on the hse website.
if they are loaded on end as per the photos the boys have put up then there is a lot of debate at the moment on how they should be secured.
As has been said not many places will let you out unless you strap the reels as they can be held responsible as well if anything goes wrong.
If you are going over the water you will need to put corner edges on and use ratchet straps to secure them.
if it is national then the accepted practice in a taughtliner has been to put two straps round each reel(one front one back),unless you are one of the i never strap them and they never move when i’m driving brigade.
However the hse has now decided that reels must be strapped down to the trailer bed(as with all other loads straps hanging from the roof are not going to be allowed) so they should now be ratchet strapped down to trailer bed.The thing is they do not show you on their website how to secure reels on end as they know full well that nothing will secure them totally but they have still asked vosa to pull over taughtliners to make sure they are “secured” otherwise it’s an insecure load charge.
I carried newsprint reels on a flat lots of times 25 years ago and even then they were chocked,roped,and sheeted or they would’nt let you out of the gates.But the ‘I’ve never strapped them and they’ve never moved yet’ curtainsider brigade would probably have tried to apply the same logic on flats where they’d have sheeted the load but not bothered to rope it down .But it’s obvious that a curtainsider’s roof won’t hold a truck load if it wants to shift.
everytime ive run with reels standing up there positioned just like the pic, with L shaped protectors on every reel and they never budged we also laid 2 strips of rubber per each reel to rest them on, this was working out of shotton papermill
Collected a load of reels from berth 44 at Tilbury. Pic in the waiting room showed two roof-straps per reel criss-crossing across the front. When I finished a guy came out to check it had been done.
Even if he hadn’t; the straps are there, I could possibly get a ticket for not strapping them in, it’s probably a bit safer and I won’t get paid any less for strapping them. So I can’t see the point of not using what you got to secure the things. What’s the downside?
What are you going to do next year with the new restraining laws coming in, plead ignorance??
There are ways of strapping reels in, and without damage to the edges, we do it all the time, and our ways are under review, to make it even safer ready for next year, to the point we are trialing a new type of curtainsider restraint system.
As for the muppets who say never strap them, you are tossers, 2 ton of reel, in a curtainsider, unstrapped…
We transport hundreds of them everyday, never had a problem. Guess its down to the quality of “driver”.
Should the ratchets not be alternated to opposite sides so that the pull is not all one way? I rather think so.
… and if i was going to put them all to one side I’d be having them to the near side incase of requiring retensioning enroute.
Two very good points Driverone, now I can see how you got your name
Over to you gbtransp, you came on trying to show off with your multi strapping and now I bet you wished you’d kept your mouth shut
BTW I’ve done reels on their end, didn’t even bother putting my seatbelt on, let alone strap the load it was over 10yrs ago, so I didn’t break any laws
If they’re on their ends, no amount of strapping over the top will hold them securely, as soon as they move a millimeter the straps will instantly become loose because of the circular profile, even wrapping them won’t really work, as the slightsest movement, will again cause the straps to slip, unless you do as Rob k suggests, but then the internal straps in a curtainsider are about as much use as a birdcage with a catflap if you want to hold anything more than a couple of hundred kilos.
The only surefire way to get them immobile is to have them on the roll and strap or chain through the hole in the middle
What are you going to do next year with the new restraining laws coming in, plead ignorance??
There are ways of strapping reels in, and without damage to the edges, we do it all the time, and our ways are under review, to make it even safer ready for next year, to the point we are trialing a new type of curtainsider restraint system.
As for the muppets who say never strap them, you are tossers, 2 ton of reel, in a curtainsider, unstrapped…
We transport hundreds of them everyday, never had a problem. Guess its down to the quality of “driver”.
Yep theres always one who thinks he is the worlds best trucker, until it goes wrong of course, then life for you will be sooo unfair wont it…
NEVER strap a reel over the top, unless you have corner protectors and ratchets, even if the floor of the trailer is slightly uneven, the reel will ‘walk’ and the straps will become loose after a very short distance, cross the straps at the sides of the reel, this in the eyes of VOSA is secure, so long as the trailer fitted straps are man enough for the job.
Keep reels together, not spaced apart, and pref first one on up tight to the headboard.
Be wary of putting paper on the bed of a trailer as a protector, some grades of paper can be slippery, and the reels can slide.
To those of who dont strap em, thanks muppets, its coz of you that the new regs are coming in…
A friend of mine had to brake hard in France due to the stupid actions of a car driver when 2 trucks were joining the m/way in bad weather.
Long before the days of ABS, jack knifed. Paper reels came off one of which rolled accross the m/way & killed a car driver coming the other way.
its better that the driver falls of a ladder a breaks and leg than 1 of those 3 ton rolls going through the side and lands on a car,
Yes, that’s a great solution, the more drivers that break their legs the more vacancies there are. Why didn’t we think of that?
You’ve got the potential to be a great politician.
newmercman:
The only surefire way to get them immobile is to have them on the roll and strap or chain through the hole in the middle
3 chains through the hole in the middle on each reel one pulling backwards one pulling downwards and one pulling forwards should do it. And to think the idiots made me strip a tilt in the yard and use the zb as a flat and then rope and sheet it using the zb tilt cover as a sheet But I was lucky and if I’d have lost 20 tonnes of paper reels that would have just made my zb day and added insult to injury.
Wheel Nut:
Bay 1 Driver SVP
Sweep the floor
Put the chassis jacks Under
Chock the wheels
Line the floor
Put anti slip mats down
Go for a coffee
Count the reels
Shut the doors
Au revoir
That factory looks a lot like one in rouen france,if not were is it mate.
regards dave
Should the ratchets not be alternated to opposite sides so that the pull is not all one way? I rather think so.
Correct !!! but in this factory you can only load from the one side, the other side is against a wall,and they dont let you move an inch before it is strapped and they have taken 10 photos, thats why we have to strap down 25ton MDF with straps for 125ton not forgetting the 6 anti slip pads between each palette.
… and if i was going to put them all to one side I’d be having them to the near side incase of requiring retensioning enroute.
I would aswell!!! Note where i live, and the position of the nr plate on the unit, a little clue LHD
I’ve also done my fair share of reels that are taller than me (same as hogdy’s photo) and have managed to move them from one end of the country to the other unstrapped without any problems, but the point still remains that if you had to swerve to avoid something, the curtain isn’t gonna hold them in regardless of what loading bearing-ness it says, so they need to be strapped otherwise the battenburg boys will have your arse.
.But it’s obvious that a curtainsider’s roof won’t hold a truck load if it wants to shift.
it was over 10yrs ago, so I didn’t break any laws 
And to think the idiots made me strip a tilt in the yard and use the zb as a flat and then rope and sheet it using the zb tilt cover as a sheet 
