on monday i saw two container trailers with no under run bars and a foreign truck with none either.
could someone refresh me on the laws regarding these please.
the two uk trailers looked around ten years old but the foreign trailer looked newish.
thanks
dave.
With UK trailers it is a date thing. Like speed limiter exemptions, trailers over a certain age are exempt from having side rails. Fortunately most of them were scrapped eons ago but some stubbornly remain in service, usually old curtainsiders stripped to the chassis and turned into container trailers.
Dave - I know tippers are exempt from under run bars.
May be some one else can find some info.
Cheers,
Niall.
I have noticed a lot of foreign trailers have no side bars…and also i wondered where we stand on picking these trailers up from the docks…i refused to pull one trailer cos it never had any side marker lights…i carry most lenses but i dont carry a complete set of lights…and my boss said it was legal cos it was a foreign trailer…i said ok i`ll phone the ministry and ask them…told me to pick up another trailer…quick…
have a nice day
The container trailer was most likely a slider, and so would not have under-run bars. If it had them then it would not not be able to slide. (if you see what i mean!!■■!!)
smcaul:
The container trailer was most likely a slider, and so would not have under-run bars. If it had them then it would not not be able to slide. (if you see what i mean!!■■!!)
This is true. The majority of sliding skelly container trailers don’t have them.
I remember when I did some agency work for Lynx Parcels they’ve got a few tandem-axle trailers with REALLY short pins and no side-bars at all. They are really old however, but do the job.
smcaul, that’s spot on. Sliding skeletals come under a specific exemption (part of the Construction and Use Regs.) because fitting side-rails would render them unusable. Most modern sliders are made up of a two-part chassis with the top section sliding on top of the bottom. If you put side rails on, where would they go when you slide■■? 
I asked this question in the Safety Forum on the old board a while back…we came up with several possible solutions (detachable rails etc.), but none which would be strong enough to conform to be C&U, hence the exemption. 
Yepp, my slider has no rails.
Usualy they are so flimsy they wouldn’t stop a dodgem running under. I think they are mainly intended to make the trailer more visible to skateboard steerers. To stop them thinking they can just drive under the trailer . You know how they can just see past the end of the bonnet, they’ll see the side-bars before they see the trailer the side-bars are attatched too 
.
Cynical 
moi
Simon:
Usually they are so flimsy they wouldn’t stop a dodgem running under.
Nice one 