Punchy Dan:
0
The easy loads never need retightening,get the hoof down !
Lovely load that. [emoji106]
Wish they were all that simple!
Sent from my SM-A320FL using Tapatalk
Star down under.:
0Rowley010:
Star down under.:
Thanks Franglais, we have nothing remotely like that here.
Do you have load restraint rated curtains?We have 3 main types of curtain.
1/ just a standard curtain is the most flimsy
2/ called a load bearing curtain which is strong and is supposed to be to take the weight of a full load but DVSA don’t accept it as load restraint
3/ and XL rated curtain which is stronger still and DVSA accept this one for load restraint as long it’s secured at the front and rear and no more than 80cm gap to the sides.In reality, many drivers use all 3 types as if they are an XL curtain, ie use a standard weather protection only curtain as full load restraint and hope they don’t get pulled. And if they do they will give it the whole I’ve been driving 30 years and nothing’s ever moved.
Cheers Rowley, pretty much the same here with the chancers. We have an advantage over you, in so far as most curtainsiders have gates, each gate being 8’ or two pallets long. As long as the gates are secured (only 5 straps on a 40-45 footer), short of tipping the show over, none of the freight can escape.
That’s the stuff I used over here. Best thing since sliced bread. Having said that, I went in one morning at 4.00 and saw that the curtains were bulging out on the near side. It turned out that the cretins that had loaded it overnight, instead of restacking the pallets, had turned the front gate around because the pallets wouldn’t fit. I rang the planner which pleased him no end and he got someone to come in and fix it up. So we’ve got idiots here as well.
Problems come when the likes of vosa or plod stop you. They make no allowance for loads that settle. All they see is an insecure load and an incompetent knuckle dragger who who needs to be taken out and shot. After paying a suitable fine, of course! 
chaversdad:
I strapped a load last week that i picked up in Newlyn in Cornwall and every strap was still tight when i got to Peterhead, 10 minutes extra time doing it properly to start with can save you 3 or 4 stops on the hard shoulder
What was the load?
You have to remember that some drivers would load in Lancashire and unload in Lahore and their straps, chains and ropes were still attached, the haulier or loader may have bolted stuff through the floor or welded it to the chassis.
Then you drive from Leicester to Loughborough and risk a dozen punctures from driving over upturned hooks or ratchets that have fallen into the road.
Trailer manufacturers were fitting mesh lined curtains to prevent knife attacks and free bus rides, these proved to be too heavy and expensive for many operators.
Reverse psychology is necessary, when the sender refuses to supply dunnage, assistance, equipment or dimensions, the driver or operator can quote health and safety and refuse the load. [emoji12]
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Rowley010:
chaversdad:
I strapped a load last week that i picked up in Newlyn in Cornwall and every strap was still tight when i got to Peterhead, 10 minutes extra time doing it properly to start with can save you 3 or 4 stops on the hard shoulderWhat was the load?
It was a mixture of rigging and lifting gear sat on top of 2 rows of drill pipe
One other point: Dunnage:
Should be hard wood, and it`s best (where possible) to be long timbers that tie together different parts of the load.
If soft wood, it will compress, and have the load cut into it, so straps etc go slack. Dunnage that breaks will allow sudden movement of the load. All obvious when you stop to think about it.
Hardwoods cost more than soft woods.
You get on site and they want your wood to offload you quicker. Will they pay or sign for it? Hell no!
.
Once had a “general-manager” who saved costs by insisting we use stupid scraps of wood on pre-fabricated steel loads…the first load down the road shifted…it was pulled by an experienced driver who took it out under protest. The union was later involved, (no police) driver OK, beginning of the end for manager.
Many loads will settle and shift a little, re-tightening will easily sort this, but only if the load shifts a little along a good sized timber. If it moves a little and then falls off the edge of a short bit of timber, you`re stuffed.
I’ve been stopped with strapped loads
& no interest was ever shown in the tightness
Of straps , just whether there was a adequate amount
Of straps
Last one was A frame with concrete
Panels on , seemed happy enough as had
10 t ratchets on
Franglais:
One other point: Dunnage:
Should be hard wood, and it`s best (where possible) to be long timbers that tie together different parts of the load.
If soft wood, it will compress, and have the load cut into it, so straps etc go slack. Dunnage that breaks will allow sudden movement of the load. All obvious when you stop to think about it.
Hardwoods cost more than soft woods.
You get on site and they want your wood to offload you quicker. Will they pay or sign for it? Hell no!
.
Once had a “general-manager” who saved costs by insisting we use stupid scraps of wood on pre-fabricated steel loads…the first load down the road shifted…it was pulled by an experienced driver who took it out under protest. The union was later involved, (no police) driver OK, beginning of the end for manager.Many loads will settle and shift a little, re-tightening will easily sort this, but only if the load shifts a little along a good sized timber. If it moves a little and then falls off the edge of a short bit of timber, you`re stuffed.
When we loaded steel out of Rotherham. we had to fight for timber with Ernie Thorpe drivers, they wanted all the long lengths and hid them or blocked them in with a trailer, if you let them we would get all the offcuts and misshaped bits.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
The worst stuff I deal with Heras fencing from one site to another. It is always bent and knackered but they seem to love stacking it up and moving for reuse.
I only carry about 35 -40 panels max in a stack and strap the stack with two straps tightly front and rear, then I put a third in the middle and crank that down really tight so that the ends go slack. I slacken the ends off and retighten before redoing the middle. Usually that keeps everything OK but they flex and bounce so much it’s not uncommon for a strap to come loose.
Hateful stuff