Past Present and in Between in Pictures (Part 2)

He has never been abroad in a lorry.

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Or in my terms, never went past the post office.

My first trip abroad didn’t run smoothly, it was a four day run, after the delivery I binned the CMR and delivery notes what with being young and naive, unfortunately the signed CMR was needed to get paid to haul the cargo, I had wait a long time to get paid, as payment on a clean CMR would normally be from 30 days depending on the contract.

He was handy with a broom.

But slow and not very robust.

I mentioned earlier this week that a chunk of our fleet have been parked up due to being ā€œover lengthā€ What is the ruling and has anyone ever been prosecuted for it.At the moment 16.5 m is the max for a standard unit and 13.6 m trailer.It’s causing chaos partly due to our managers who have problems crossing the road alone trying to work to the letter of the law

More tea breaks than British Leyland car workers who downed tools for any excuse for a strike.

5th wheel position has been checked I guess?
If only part of the fleet is overlength what is the difference between them and the rest?
Do you have factory standard units and ā€œoff the shelfā€ trailers? Or has someone been clever and ordered something special?

No all pretty standard walking floor trailers and mid lift and tag axle units. We are talking around 20cms over.It’s strange how if it’s such a serious offence (which it isn’t) new legislation then allows mirrors over the windscreens and Moffatts at the back ???

Firstly I’ve never bought the idea that a TIR plate isn’t fixed to the front and rear of the ā€˜vehicle’.Obviously tractor unit in the case of an artic.
Bearing in mind that many/most signatories to the convention don’t register trailers separately and the vehicle ( unit/prime mover ) registration number is part of the required information for the carnet so obviously related to the whole outfit not just the trailer ?.
Now we’ve got the disagreement that recovery won’t often, include the whole outfit assuming a lift and tow at the steering axle of the unit with drive line disconnected ?.Needlessly recovering both a broken down unit and the trailer separately would cost loads a money.
So a loaded outfit, requiring recovery back to UK, with a TIR carnet required to show the reg number/trade plate number of the recovery vehicle not the immobile unit/prime mover, sounds logical to me.
On that note how would a fifth wheel coupling be ā€˜sealed’ other than maybe by the dog clip connection ?.

Bearing in mind that if anyone was going to relate and attach a TIR carnet and plates to the trailer and load only, not the unit, then it would obviously be definition be a country which registers trailers and prime movers/units separately ?.

As for wanabees attaching TIR plates to obviously UK/ local running wagons.I can remember being asked lots of times if I drove trucks abroad during social gatherings knowing I was a truck driver.Didn’t know whether to laugh or cry when I said no I’m still driving a Clydesdale and sometimes gritters after 3 years on the local council at 24 years old.Walter Mittys indeed.

Mirrors are not included in measuring length though are they? Nor are rubber buffers nor other (non load carrying) bits’n’bobs on the back of the trailer.
That is how Moffats etc can legally be carried.

So even though they add overall length they don’t count??? so how important is the overall length. What is the worst that could happen if any of these plastic bobbies pulled you over and decided to get his tape measure out. 50 ft trailers need a rear steer or do they?.What if you have an extendable trailer , and like i said a Moffatt adds length but that doesn’t count.Who makes these regulations up. Somebody bored in an office???

Seems to say that the thickness of the rear wall of a vehicle can be ignored, so if you have thick/reinforced rear doors then measure from the rear of the trailer floor. not the rear of the doors.

The regs do want not corners cut by skimping on safety related stuff. All makers get the same load length and then add ā€œenough to be safe restraintsā€ in addition to that. No skimping on back doors to gain an inch.

Some of our trailers have bumpers that are about 20cms further back from the back doors some are underslung we have hydraulic pipes that are routed to connect under the trailer near the fifth wheel there’s little room between the cab and trailer so split coupling / uncoupling everytime. We have some yards that are tight and uneven so sharp turns cause damage to the back of the cab or virtually wipe out the suzies. All this can be avoided by a relaxation of regulations which won’t happen .Put a Moffatt on the back and the regs go out the window.Extend a trailer to 50ft and it’s all ok .I bet there’s a big percentage of artics on the road that are overlength and will never be noticed.They don’t even check length on the m.o.t so how do you monitor it when changing trailers every day. How drivers picking up trailers from the docks go on is bewildering. Can you imagine a driver ringing his boss saying i cant pick this trailer up its 20cm too long overall

We are going off topic here, so I don’t know whether or not @dieseldave would want to split these past few posts off?

I’ll start another thread if you want to discuss length regs and copy your last post there.

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There’s so much to unpack in your rambles about TIR plates. As usual you start by saying what I’ve already said and made it sound as if you’ve just thought of it. You quite clearly don’t understand TIR at all.

I worked for Bunny Hill Motors near Loughborough many years ago. The main business was making pipes and cables covers and they had 6 identical Leyland Beavers to deliver their goods and which were then free to roam with general haulage to get back home.
The Boss, who was obviously not a transport professional, had read the regs. and all 6 trailers were 39 feet long. Fair enough with tiles and cable covers you just added the last 12 inches worth on top of the rest, but was a bit of a problem for us tasked with finding backloads almost all of which were designed to fit 40 foots. :roll_eyes:

You wouldnt recognise this industry now.It as nothing in common with what you left and what i entered.We have drivers on a daily basis looking for something to complain about or cause a problem . The slightest thing and they are bleating. One driver refused to take out our oldest motor a Daf XF the other week because … wait for it … it smells inside.We work in waste disposal ffs. They are now wanting a pay rise.One driver has been kept local yesterday and said he still wants his overnight otherwise he’s losing money .I walked away

I’m sure I wouldn’t, btw you are offending against the thread title, we need pictures of these people, not just words. :enraged_face:

Sorry, just my little joke and a slight dig at my friend @franglais :rofl: :squinting_face_with_tongue:

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