Rob K:
Steve-o:
This was a load I hadThat’s alright but I’d be using the straps from the opposite side personally (assuming edge protectors were available at the loading point).
^^^^^^ agreed even if there was no edge protectors. they generally shave the first inch of every reel anyway.
The only sure fire way to make sure that reels dont move, is to have them laying down shotgun style, chocked and ratchet strapped. Anything other than that there is no way you can secure them standing up to perfection. Internal straps are rubbish and rachets over the top even with corner things are rubbish because of the shape. Therefore you have to adapt your driving to the load you are carrying, its really all you can do to be safe. But as with all things, nothing is perfect in life.
gbtransp:
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 had indeed noticed that & that all your ratchets are on the offside (side away from the kerb), so, if you had to retension them in a laybye you would be working next to the road.
Had it been a RHD truck on UK work it would have been correct. (excepting the alternating idea already discussed).
No big deal, just an observation. 
g
gbtransp:
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
No
BTW I’ve done reels on their end, didn’t even bother putting my seatbelt on, let alone strap the load
If i did somthing so stupid as that, would i have kept my mouth shut
Yes
Personally I just put an 
next to a post when I’ve made myself look a little silly, but you want to act like a petulant child, so let’s get this done…
Yes I have carried reels on their ends without straps, and yet I’m here to tell the tale, just as thousands of other drivers are, it’s only recently that all this strapping and load securement has been compulsory, before that everyone did it without straps, it’s undoubtably safer now, but reels falling off of lorries has never been an everyday occurence and they’ve been carried unstrapped in curtainsiders since the invention of the curtainsider, so get off your high horse, you’re trying to play ping pong with me because I rightly criticised you when you put a picture on showing us all how a ‘pro’ does it, you’ve done it all wrong mate, the straps should be secured in an alternating pattern, as you yourself admit, so what if the company only allows access to only one side, I thought we were talking safety here, surely that’s the priority 
Oh and condescending remarks like your reference to your number plate and the position of your steering wheel don’t do you any favours either, any idiot knows that if you’re doing it WRONG and putting all your tensioners on one side, that side should be the kerbside, so that you’re not standing in the traffic when you have to retension them
Your serve mate 
Hiya lads… don,t get pikky over what side things are straped. you could load in France so when you got to the Uk
the rackets would be on the wrong side.(your not going to change them over at the tunnel ARE YOU)
I have done reels many years ago and whos idea was it to carry them upright■■?.
I could understand if you had the problem of going from standing to lyeing down but going back to the early 70,s
they have had those rotary clamps on the fork trucks at every load/unloading point i ever saw…
A pal of mine did loose his life at Northampton in the mid 70,s A reel rolled forward and crushed his F86
cab, His reels was on the role.BUT it was a load he had picked up and was,nt responsible for( i know he
should have checked it) would you… would I …we would now we know the outcome…
As you drive up the M6 when you go off to the M62 Manchester bound just leaving the M6 theres a reel
in the bushes i think its been their 25 years its all green now. i would think no one wants it.
I have allways woundered if it fell off and the driver drove off as the insurance would have recovered it.
It alwas made me smile.
John
3300John:
Hiya lads… don,t get pikky over what side things are straped. you could load in France so when you got to the Uk
the rackets would be on the wrong side.(your not going to change them over at the tunnel ARE YOU)
I have done reels many years ago and whos idea was it to carry them upright■■?.
I could understand if you had the problem of going from standing to lyeing down but going back to the early 70,s
they have had those rotary clamps on the fork trucks at every load/unloading point i ever saw…A pal of mine did loose his life at Northampton in the mid 70,s A reel rolled forward and crushed his F86
cab, His reels was on the role.BUT it was a load he had picked up and was,nt responsible for( i know he
should have checked it) would you… would I …we would now we know the outcome…As you drive up the M6 when you go off to the M62 Manchester bound just leaving the M6 theres a reel
in the bushes i think its been their 25 years its all green now. i would think no one wants it.
I have allways woundered if it fell off and the driver drove off as the insurance would have recovered it.
It alwas made me smile.
John
Ha! I’ve nearly lost a few cars on that left-hander, never mind paper reels! 
And I wasn’t smiling either!
newmercman:
ggbtransp:
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
No
BTW I’ve done reels on their end, didn’t even bother putting my seatbelt on, let alone strap the load
If i did somthing so stupid as that, would i have kept my mouth shut
Yes
Personally I just put an
Yes I have carried reels on their ends without straps, and yet I’m here to tell the tale, just as thousands of other drivers are, it’s only recently that all this strapping and load securement has been compulsory, before that everyone did it without straps, it’s undoubtably safer now, but reels falling off of lorries has never been an everyday occurence and they’ve been carried unstrapped in curtainsiders since the invention of the curtainsider, so get off your high horse, you’re trying to play ping pong with me because I rightly criticised you when you put a picture on showing us all how a ‘pro’ does it, you’ve done it all wrong mate, the straps should be secured in an alternating pattern, as you yourself admit, so what if the company only allows access to only one side, I thought we were talking safety here, surely that’s the priority
Oh and condescending remarks like your reference to your number plate and the position of your steering wheel don’t do you any favours either, any idiot knows that if you’re doing it WRONG and putting all your tensioners on one side, that side should be the kerbside, so that you’re not standing in the traffic when you have to retension them
Your serve mate
For the first time in history there’s a Brit who’s going to (try) to agree viz ze Germans. Where did the idea come from that the pull on the tensioner side is any different to the other 
.In that case we’d have had loads shifting or falling off at both/either sides of the truck on the so called ‘untensioned side’ and ropes,chains,and straps all flapping loose on one side or the other .The only thing you could say is that by alternating the sides of the strap ratchets you’d be able to retension ‘some’ of them on the near side of the truck without getting run over.But Murphy’s law says that the zb’s will get you anyway while you’re doing up the ones on the offside Having said that if you rope a load in the usual way then it will have dollies on alternate sides so again you’ve got a 50/50 chance of being run over if you need to tighten or check the ropes. .But to be fair you posted a picture where a yank had roped load in which he’d managed to get all the dollies on one side But in zis case ze German could use ze same excuse as ze yank did in saying that if you sink zat zey’re looser on ze side vizout ze ratchet etc zan ze side viz it you vould’nt vant to put your hand under ze ■■■■■■■■ ze side vizout ze ratchet as he tightens it. But having said that if it he’d have collected that load in Ireland they would have made sure that he strapped it all first as he did on one side and then when he’d got it away from the wall he’d have had to re strap it with all the ratchets on alternate sides to make sure that the load had a ratchet on one side or the other consecutively to ‘equalise’ the pull of the straps on each side and to reduce the chances of being run over if he needed to re tighten them Having said that I’d have done all that just to keep them happy but I’d also have strapped down at least the row of pallets below the top one instead of relying on just the pull on the top level to hold the whole stack. 
.
Was it one of you guys jct 10 M40 tonight ?
It would appear that the passage of time only creates more problems than “modern methods” solve! I’ve never read such a bigger load of “testicles” for a long time! Thinking back to the times when we carried '000 of loads of reels of all shapes and sizes,without any problem whatsoever,I shudder to think of how we managed without a catastrophy occurring every other day!!! If some of the old drivers that worked for Bewick Transport in the 70s/80s &90s were to read some of this garbage on here they wouldn’t stop laughing for a week!But I suppose this is classed as “progress” and at least the Carnage that used to result from the carriage or reels in the past has been eradicated.Do me a favour!!! Bewick.
Bewick:
It would appear that the passage of time only creates more problems than “modern methods” solve! I’ve never read such a bigger load of “testicles” for a long time! Thinking back to the times when we carried '000 of loads of reels of all shapes and sizes,without any problem whatsoever,I shudder to think of how we managed without a catastrophy occurring every other day!!! If some of the old drivers that worked for Bewick Transport in the 70s/80s &90s were to read some of this garbage on here they wouldn’t stop laughing for a week!But I suppose this is classed as “progress” and at least the Carnage that used to result from the carriage or reels in the past has been eradicated.Do me a favour!!! Bewick.
Got to agree with you Bewick, Most of us “drivers of a certain age” will wonder what the fuss is all about.I carried reels for donkeys years “on the roll” with a scotch front and back and every reel chocked with wedges back and front. Once it was sheeted and roped in every valley then the flysheet over the top I never had a problem, apart that is from the drivers who had curtainsiders who watched you pull the sheets off and let you fold them on your own,but i’m not bitter!!
kevmac47:
Bewick:
It would appear that the passage of time only creates more problems than “modern methods” solve! I’ve never read such a bigger load of “testicles” for a long time! Thinking back to the times when we carried '000 of loads of reels of all shapes and sizes,without any problem whatsoever,I shudder to think of how we managed without a catastrophy occurring every other day!!! If some of the old drivers that worked for Bewick Transport in the 70s/80s &90s were to read some of this garbage on here they wouldn’t stop laughing for a week!But I suppose this is classed as “progress” and at least the Carnage that used to result from the carriage or reels in the past has been eradicated.Do me a favour!!! Bewick.Got to agree with you Bewick, Most of us “drivers of a certain age” will wonder what the fuss is all about.I carried reels for donkeys years “on the roll” with a scotch front and back and every reel chocked with wedges back and front. Once it was sheeted and roped in every valley then the flysheet over the top I never had a problem, apart that is from the drivers who had curtainsiders who watched you pull the sheets off and let you fold them on your own,but i’m not bitter!!
Well said that man! I can recall a couple of instances in past years which were few and far between it must be said.The first was in 1969 when one of Alfred Dexters had a full load of reels shot off and roll all over a cornfield on the hill on the A5 climbing up towards Hints north of Tamworth.And the second mishap(still on the A5) was the late Derrick Hill from Penrith with his new 8LXB Borderer.He past me,airborne,south of Atherstone coming north and he was loaded with the big Liner Board reels.As he had turned off the roundabout and onto the A’stone bypass he had shot all but 3 reels onto the centre verge! I bet it slowed him down for a "day or two"Cheers Bewick
kevmac47:
Bewick:
It would appear that the passage of time only creates more problems than “modern methods” solve! I’ve never read such a bigger load of “testicles” for a long time! Thinking back to the times when we carried '000 of loads of reels of all shapes and sizes,without any problem whatsoever,I shudder to think of how we managed without a catastrophy occurring every other day!!! If some of the old drivers that worked for Bewick Transport in the 70s/80s &90s were to read some of this garbage on here they wouldn’t stop laughing for a week!But I suppose this is classed as “progress” and at least the Carnage that used to result from the carriage or reels in the past has been eradicated.Do me a favour!!! Bewick.Got to agree with you Bewick, Most of us “drivers of a certain age” will wonder what the fuss is all about.I carried reels for donkeys years “on the roll” with a scotch front and back and every reel chocked with wedges back and front. Once it was sheeted and roped in every valley then the flysheet over the top I never had a problem, apart that is from the drivers who had curtainsiders who watched you pull the sheets off and let you fold them on your own,but i’m not bitter!!
But some of us who carried them using that method could never understand how a bit of canvas and chocks could stop the zb’s ‘if’ they shifted in just the same way that a curtain would’nt stop zb all in the context of those weights ‘if’ a load started shifting.Which is why I’ve always looked at a curtainsider or a tilt as just a type of flat that does’nt need sheeting for the purposes of securing loads and I always roped those paper reels down with a lot more than just a rope across the sheet between each one.Although as newmercman said the best way to stop them would be by holding them through the centre.
Carryfast, so now you’re a collaborater, see that’s another C word I’ve called you without getting a [zb]
Let me just put you straight though before you end up in the Tower
Put a load of pipe on a trailer and strap it with the ratchets all down one side, as you tighten them you’ll pull the load towards you, the same forces will be applied to a load of MDF or whatever, that’s simple physics, the flat base of MDF or whatever will mask the effects, but the physics are the same, that’s why the tensioners should be alternated, if you’re going to do it properly, there is only one way that is absoluely the right way to do it and all the ratchets down one side is NOT it
You are, however, correct that the individual pallets should be ‘belly wrapped’ rather than one strap over a whole tier 
My pic of the yank and his dollies proves nothing, those ropes are just for show, the bags are full of seeds, as soon as he goes over the first bump the seeds will settle and the ropes will become loose, the way I would’ve roped that is to cross two ropes over each pair of opposing bags, but even then it would be more for show than anything else, the only surefire way to keep bags full of loose material from moving around would be to sheet it and rope in the valleys, exactly the same as you would do with a load of reels on the roll on a flat trailer
newmercman:
Carryfast, so now you’re a collaborater, see that’s another C word I’ve called you without getting a [zb]Let me just put you straight though before you end up in the Tower
Put a load of pipe on a trailer and strap it with the ratchets all down one side, as you tighten them you’ll pull the load towards you, the same forces will be applied to a load of MDF or whatever, that’s simple physics, the flat base of MDF or whatever will mask the effects, but the physics are the same, that’s why the tensioners should be alternated, if you’re going to do it properly, there is only one way that is absoluely the right way to do it and all the ratchets down one side is NOT it
You are, however, correct that the individual pallets should be ‘belly wrapped’ rather than one strap over a whole tier
My pic of the yank and his dollies proves nothing, those ropes are just for show, the bags are full of seeds, as soon as he goes over the first bump the seeds will settle and the ropes will become loose, the way I would’ve roped that is to cross two ropes over each pair of opposing bags, but even then it would be more for show than anything else, the only surefire way to keep bags full of loose material from moving around would be to sheet it and rope in the valleys, exactly the same as you would do with a load of reels on the roll on a flat trailer
Sorry but I’ve got to disagree with the physics lesson .It atually makes no difference where the actual tensioning device is because the pull is applied equally in opposing directions between the hooks that the straps/ropes/chains are attached to although it it possible to get that effect by pulling one side at a different angle to the other if the load is offset not central.However assuming that the load in the German’s example is central and the straps are at the same angle each side relative to the load and the hooks,what will happen is that the straps will pull down equally,across the load and any sideways forces will be equal and opposing,so any tendency to want to move to one side or the other would be cancelled out in just the same way as if there were ratchets on each side doing the pulling instead of just on one side.But the idea roping down a sheet to hold reels (or anything else) effectively means that it’s the sheet that’s being subjected to more of the dynamic loads than the ropes are and that just ain’t what the sheet is designed to do and that’s even before you take into account the actual pulling pressure that a sheet is applying versus the type of loading applied by a rope directly over the load.Which is why when I roped reels on a flat,in addition to roping the sheet (zb tilt cover in my case 
) down across the valleys between the reels,I did what you said concerning crossing ropes over each individual reel,except for the lower ones where they were double stacked which made that impossible.Having said that you did say previously that the best way to hold reels would be through the centres which I agree with.But as for bags of loose material they would be best moved in a tipper or a bulker in just the same way as most other types of bulk loose stuff is and if it’s palletized it can be loaded and tipped in exactly the same way as pallet loads in a box body are.But it’s time for VOSA’s ‘experts’ to referee the argument before it turns into WW3 if I can count on my ‘allies’ ze Germans zat is.
"Carryfast"after having just read your rambling “b******s” the word I would use to describe you begins with a C all right but is a lot shorter and ends with a T!I have stated earlier that at Bewick Transport we carried literally '000 of loads of reels over many years without encountering ANY problems whatsoever!But I will go as far as to say that in my opinion reels were safer on a flat than in a curtainsider(we didn’t have any probs with c/siders either) Again,in my opinion,the main reasons as to why we never encountered problems was a combination of A1 sheeting and roping and the employment of steady,consiencious,drivers.The reason I believe that a lot of “todays drivers” seem terrified of reels is they have lost the skills that the likes of me and the “older” drivers aquired,and this new breed think that hanging a few straps round the reels(which I think are mainly stood on end now as their deckle is wider than the floor on the trailer)closing the curtains and off we jolly well go as if we are driving a formulae 1 car!But oh no its not the fault of the “Muppet driver” when he comes to grief on a roundabout or a corner,its the fault of the reels and the restraining gear! So lets get the technical guys at VOSA involved.As the prats at Vosa couldn’t “load a rifle” no doubt they will come up with the most complex and un-workable solution you could imagine!I’m well aquainted with the physics of the relevant forces that come into play with speed and types of load but a good coating of “common sense” as per what I have stated would return the “percieved” problem to the realms of sanity!I can well understand you been terrified of hauling reels Carryfast as you promote tearing around the roads in a high powered outfit!(which in my book equates to driving like a (zb) )We never threw anything off Gardner powered outfits!!! Keep shiny side up! Bewick.
"Carryfast"after having just read your rambling “b******s” the word I would use to describe you begins with a C all right but is a lot shorter and ends with a T!I have stated earlier that at Bewick Transport we carried literally '000 of loads of reels over many years without encountering ANY problems whatsoever!But I will go as far as to say that in my opinion reels were safer on a flat than in a curtainsider(we didn’t have any probs with c/siders either) Again,in my opinion,the main reasons as to why we never encountered problems was a combination of A1 sheeting and roping and the employment of steady,consiencious,drivers.The reason I believe that a lot of “todays drivers” seem terrified of reels is they have lost the skills that the likes of me and the “older” drivers aquired,and this new breed think that hanging a few straps round the reels(which I think are mainly stood on end now as their deckle is wider than the floor on the trailer)closing the curtains and off we jolly well go as if we are driving a formulae 1 car!But oh no its not the fault of the “Muppet driver” when he comes to grief on a roundabout or a corner,its the fault of the reels and the restraining gear! So lets get the technical guys at VOSA involved.As the prats at Vosa couldn’t “load a rifle” no doubt they will come up with the most complex and un-workable solution you could imagine!I’m well aquainted with the physics of the relevant forces that come into play with speed and types of load but a good coating of “common sense” as per what I have stated would return the “percieved” problem to the realms of sanity!I can well understand you been terrified of hauling reels Carryfast as you promote tearing around the roads in a high powered outfit!(which in my book equates to driving like a (zb) )We never threw anything off Gardner powered outfits!!! Keep shiny side up! Bewick.
Bewick:
"Carryfast"after having just read your rambling “b******s” the word I would use to describe you begins with a C all right but is a lot shorter and ends with a T!I have stated earlier that at Bewick Transport we carried literally '000 of loads of reels over many years without encountering ANY problems whatsoever!But I will go as far as to say that in my opinion reels were safer on a flat than in a curtainsider(we didn’t have any probs with c/siders either) Again,in my opinion,the main reasons as to why we never encountered problems was a combination of A1 sheeting and roping and the employment of steady,consiencious,drivers.The reason I believe that a lot of “todays drivers” seem terrified of reels is they have lost the skills that the likes of me and the “older” drivers aquired,and this new breed think that hanging a few straps round the reels(which I think are mainly stood on end now as their deckle is wider than the floor on the trailer)closing the curtains and off we jolly well go as if we are driving a formulae 1 car!But oh no its not the fault of the “Muppet driver” when he comes to grief on a roundabout or a corner,its the fault of the reels and the restraining gear! So lets get the technical guys at VOSA involved.As the prats at Vosa couldn’t “load a rifle” no doubt they will come up with the most complex and un-workable solution you could imagine!I’m well aquainted with the physics of the relevant forces that come into play with speed and types of load but a good coating of “common sense” as per what I have stated would return the “percieved” problem to the realms of sanity!I can well understand you been terrified of hauling reels Carryfast as you promote tearing around the roads in a high powered outfit!(which in my book equates to driving like a (zb) )We never threw anything off Gardner powered outfits!!! Keep shiny side up! Bewick.
I think I get it now Bewick.You can use a sheet or the curtains on a curtainsider to hold anything you like but you’ll have to fit the wagon with a Gardner engine and drive everywhere at 20 mph max so that in the unlikely event of the load shifting and/or falling off the back it’ll all only be going at around that speed when it does .Although having said that you seem to remember someone having something which was fast enough going uphill in 1969 to throw a full load of reels all over a cornfield .By the way Bewick the best way to learn how to drive without throwing the load off the back and/or the truck off the road is to start on six wheeler high centre of gravity 38 tonner fire trucks with around 3,500 gallons of water and foam on and a standard height Clydesdale with a 9 tonner bulldozer on the back could’nt exactly be driven flat out round a roundabout either
Carryfast, to quote a million old time Bewick style drivers, 'it’s the sheet that holds the load on, the ropes hold the sheet on
Even though you will, you cannot argue with the laws of physics, my example of a load of pipe demonstrates this perfectly, so sit back for a moment and imagine a hard at work 12V92, now are we relaxed? Is our brain working again? Now think about that load of pipe, see I’m right
