Stobarts 15.65m trailers?

UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUMS THE UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUM (INTERACTIVE)
21

billybigrig:

Wheel Nut:
If we are going to go longer, that is the trailer to do so, forget those bloody things of Denby and Stan Robinson.

In the DFT consultation; I should like to see all the unstable double deckers made into flat trailers. In fact bring in a 4.2m height limit for anything above 32 tonne gross weight.

Aye lad. Bring back t’orses n carts too :unamused:

Qualify “unstable double deckers” ■■? It’s all down to the loading and the driving.

That said the one thing you and I, I’m certain, agree on is why the lord we couldn’t reduce heights and vastly increase stability, lowering the center of gravity by smarter chassis construction. :wink:

Everytime this type of issue rocks up it’s the same old tosh used in defence. We have moved from 20 odd tons on 20 odd foot trailers through to 44 on 45 footers. This is really just a continuing evolution, get over it. :unamused:

On an unrelated subject I’m off to buy shares in Lamp post, road sign and truck mirror companies :grimacing: :grimacing:

I am over it, but still travel around. I do see some good driving, but a ■■■■ site more bad driving, clipping kerbs, bullying and vehicle awareness deficit from many drivers.

I started out with 20 ton loads on 20’ trailers and a slack load of liquid sloshing about in a lift tank on a 20’ skelly was ■■■■■■■ frightening.

To qualify. I shall reword my rant. I said in this Consultation I should like to see all double deckers converted to flats. I also said all vehicles over 32 tonne gross should have a 4.2 limit. You maybe not be able to afford a second truck, but many could if the rates improved by not carrying two loads on one trailer. As it is there are too many lorries, too little good work.

You mentioned stability and centre of gravity. I agree, and without using little wheels, why can we not bring the overall height down through proven continental engineering practices?

And to qualify;





How do YOU quantify that? High centre of Gravity or Speed. I will give you both.

And as a little light relief :stuck_out_tongue:

Surely it was the lorry that overturned, not the driver… unless he was drunk :stuck_out_tongue:

22

lynchy:
slightly off topic,but still regarding stobart trailers,passed a wagon and drag today and it had ‘road train’ on the rear curtains,whats that about?

construction and use regs describe them as road trains.

23

I don’t know where they get 13.6M from as the maximum allowed. The TIP trailer I’m pulling today is 13750cm and most of our other rental trailers are 13800 :unamused:

24

FarnboroughBoy11:
I don’t know where they get 13.6M from as the maximum allowed. The TIP trailer I’m pulling today is 13750cm and most of our other rental trailers are 13800 :unamused:

13.6 is a generic term like class one, spanset and hoover, normally used by us old ■■■■■ to describe a trailer longer than 40’ the common size then for shipping containers. The 45’ box came about and, it was carried on a 13.6 trailer.

If you go onto the Rotterdam container terminals, they talk of 20 foot, 30 foot or 40 foot. Only in Britain do they use 9 metre Isotanks and 12 metre flatracks :open_mouth:

There is no maximum length for a trailer, but an articulated outfit must come within 16.5 metres whilst still being able to turn within a 12.5m radius circle without encroaching into a 5.3m inner circle.

I did forget to add this bit :blush:

C&U regulations state that the length of a trailer from the kingpin to the rear most point should not exceed 12m, and no part of the structure forward of the kingpin should extend further than 2.04m

(Unless it is a low loader which is allowed to be 18metres overall)

25

i really wouldnt worry about the sizes quoted to be honest,when our new sdc fridges came in recently there was a memo put on message board saying these ne trailers were 14 ft 6 high,[old smitz were 13ft 6] obviously this caused a bit of concern being able to get these into some drops,it was also pointed out that even though it was by eye they didnt look a foot higher,a few inches at best.
2 days later a memo goes up on board saying new sdc trailers had now been measured CORRECTLY and were actually 13 ft 8 high :exclamation: :exclamation: [why they couldnt ask sdc the spec[height] i dont know,ive measured them with tape and i make them 13ft 10 .
so they may be quoting all these different sizes ,but until someone actually measures them CORRECTLY[or ring the manufactre], i wouldnt take much notice

26

it was also only the other week when the question was asked if we could get some rigids/urban artic trailers in, as we were running around with 10/12 etc pallets on at times,no idea what the answer was but now been told minium of 14 pallets,still leaves alot of empty space,use these and theres going to be even more empty space.
ive always wondered why its not possible to design a extending trailer,shut it up it takes 18 pallets[or there about] ,extend and it takes 26/30 or whatever,seems a waste at times to drag a trailer round for 8/10 pallets,no idea about how youd build it or if its even possible,or if ones ever been built

27

Wheel Nut:

FarnboroughBoy11:
I don’t know where they get 13.6M from as the maximum allowed. The TIP trailer I’m pulling today is 13750cm and most of our other rental trailers are 13800 :unamused:

13.6 is a generic term like class one, spanset and hoover, normally used by us old ■■■■■ to describe a trailer longer than 40’ the common size then for shipping containers. The 45’ box came about and, it was carried on a 13.6 trailer.

If you go onto the Rotterdam container terminals, they talk of 20 foot, 30 foot or 40 foot. Only in Britain do they use 9 metre Isotanks and 12 metre flatracks :open_mouth:

There is no maximum length for a trailer, but an articulated outfit must come within 16.5 metres whilst still being able to turn within a 12.5m radius circle without encroaching into a 5.3m inner circle.

(Unless it is a low loader which is allowed to be 18metres overall)

Cheers wheel nut, not a low loader just a general haulage curtainsider. I’m surprised some dont run close coupling with a day cab and longer trailer, for e.g all I carry is pallets of cardboard, even double/triple stacked on a 15ft high curtainsider I’m no where near max weight so if it’s all about volume rather than weight you got to get as much on as possible. I suppose it’s all cost though as they will have to be custom made.

28

flat to the mat:

Alcpone:
The trailer axles would steer on that surely? Would be a pain in the arse to reverse I bet.

Why would it be a pain? The longer the trailer the easier the reverse .

+1…The longer the better :grimacing: :grimacing: :grimacing: & yes I am talking about the trailer length. Plus it has a steering back axle…Shouldn’t make a lot of difference a standard 13.6m trailer…

29

ady1:
ive always wondered why its not possible to design a extending trailer,shut it up it takes 18 pallets[or there about] ,extend and it takes 26/30 or whatever,seems a waste at times to drag a trailer round for 8/10 pallets,no idea about how youd build it or if its even possible,or if ones ever been built

Makes sense. Sliding chassis rail system, allowing chassis to be extended or retracted and locked in place, with similar being applied to the curtain sides. Not sure how it’d be done with a box body though! Don’t containers use a sliding setup of some description already?

30

There was an article in one of the mags a few months ago one of the manufactures testing longer trailers, dont think anything been passed to use yet?

31

Wheel Nut:
If we are going to go longer, that is the trailer to do so, forget those bloody things of Denby and Stan Robinson.

In the DFT consultation; I should like to see all the unstable double deckers made into flat trailers. In fact bring in a 4.2m height limit for anything above 32 tonne gross weight.

4 Meter is enough,maximum for everyone as most Country on the Continent

32

I’ve seen some stretchy trailers on the M25 recently, must be about 100’ long at least. Looks cool.

So something extendable for general haulage should be possible.

33

parceline ran some drawbars which extended when in use and closed up when stationary.
so with a day cab and a hydraulically extending bogie they measured the legal maximum when stood still.then extended as soon as they moved so they could go round corners.
a few problems occured with stop start traffic where they extended at the wrong time pushing the prime mover into the vehicle in front(the trailer weighing more than the prime mover and the hydraulic ram being stronger than the weight of the prime mover) or didn’t extend at the appropriate moment which ripped off all the corner cappings.
they were very unstable on the road as well and were shelved after a few years perseverance.
the concept was good as they were maximum height/length/weight double deckers in 1996 but in practise they were hair raising.

34

Dentresangle had a simular concept wreckteck but i think there`s still work :question:

35

with the extra 2 metres, they should be able to fit his coffin in the back.

36

limeyphil:
as there is no legal trailer limit in the EU. there is only an overall combination limit.
why don’t they just pull the thing with a day cab?

C&U regs state that the length of a trailer from the kingpin to the rear most point should not exceed 12m, and no part of the structure forward of the kingpin should extend further than 2.04m, so there are legal length limits :wink: .
I know a guy who had a trailer modified, which took it slightly outside of the C&U regs (over 2.55m wide), when he took it for its MOT the VOSA tester to spotted something amiss :unamused: . so he got out his tape measure, fail.
He now has to run it under STGO :grimacing: .
Anyway, I would rather see a bit more room added to the cab than the load platform space.

37

Big Joe:
C&U regs state that the length of a trailer from the kingpin to the rear most point should not exceed 12m, and no part of the structure forward of the kingpin should extend further than 2.04m

Aye, of that you are correct.

38

The Muldoon Longer Trailer has already been granted a Vehicle Special Order in Northern Ireland 18 months ago which has been unknown to a lot of people and has been undergoing tests which have been passed on to the DFT, a development I have watched with interest as I am based in Northern Ireland and had seen it out on the roads. If you look at the web, Muldoon Transport Systems - Longer Semi-Trailer, Muldoon claim they have proper weight distribution within a standard overhang and have claimed have had the weight distribution checked and verified by an independent body.

This positive rear steer system gives superb manoeuvrability around roundabouts, cornering and so on and the big benefit is the steer system works in forward or reverse which is important. What happens these longer trailers when they get into a tight space when they need to reverse to get out? Those without a positive rear steer will find this job much easier.

For stability, this trailer has been reported to have a safety feature in that it locks up whilst driving in a a straight line which keeps the wheels in line greatly reducing chances of weaving on motorways etc, only when the steering is turned a certain angle does the steering come back into force.
The Stobart trailer looks also a great piece of kit but the extra metre the Muldoon one offers, well basically it doubles the advantages so if we are going to go longer, why not do it right? With so many steers in the continent, its time we moved with the times. With the price of fuel rising, I would think if we could deliver more for less, I’m for it!
The Dft have recently published their thoughts on the longer semi trailers and it looks like it could go to 15.65m so either of these trailers would be great depending on the type of goods you are carrying and whether you would need the extra metre or the extra two.
Have a look at the videos on the Muldoon website to check it out Muldoon Transport Systems - Longer Semi-Trailer

39

waynedl:
We’re not paid enough for what we currently throw around the roads, getting more and more out of us, whilst reducing our wages, increasing our costs (dCPC, digital tacho, photo licence, fuel to and from work etc).

Only an idiot would join this industry now.

I do fail to understand as to why would a driver be paid more for driving a longer trailer or a longer combination lorry? You get paid by the hour, the work remains the same, I do believe it would be nice of the employers to levy the rise in efficiency on the drivers as well but further than that, why should be drivers paid more for the same work?

40

milodon:

waynedl:
We’re not paid enough for what we currently throw around the roads, getting more and more out of us, whilst reducing our wages, increasing our costs (dCPC, digital tacho, photo licence, fuel to and from work etc).

Only an idiot would join this industry now.

I do fail to understand as to why would a driver be paid more for driving a longer trailer or a longer combination lorry? You get paid by the hour, the work remains the same, I do believe it would be nice of the employers to levy the rise in efficiency on the drivers as well but further than that, why should be drivers paid more for the same work?

It’s not the same work, it’s more work, it’s more responsibility, it’s more unloading and loading etc.

How do you get it to be the same work, should a transit driver get the same as a class 2?

Actually, after seeing a class 2 job advertised the other day at 6.24 / hr, I think transit drivers might be on more now.