every trailer that leaves our site has to have every pallet strapped. if it only has two boxes it has to be strapped. if the pallet has the roof support across the pallet it has to be strapped. men are walking up onto the trailers to sort out the straps. its only a matter of time before one falls off. to me, this is ■■■ stupidty at it worst, and tax revenue from the government at it’s best. its only
tax. we should stand up and say no. we have urban trailers doing little gross, and even the curtains say they will hold the max load in if the trailer goes tipple tummble, but they still have to strap bog rolls? tax tax fine tax fine. one week and this country would be ■■■■■■ without us. stop all this ■■■■, and start to get a decent wage.
Hate to think I was going round a difficult corner in a built up area with an unsecured load, and having to do an emergency stop.
trucknetman:
Hate to think I was going round a difficult corner in a built up area with an unsecured load, and having to do an emergency stop.
Yeh me too, but what happened to common sense 
, if you are going round that corner with a load of bog rolls unstrapped as the o/p said, theres a world of difference doing the same with a load of say formica coated chipboard unstrapped, so a general blanket type rule for both comes under the usual non-real world h&s ■■■■■■■■ category doesn’t it.
I just wonder what would Gerald Broadbent think of this new legislation, he must have had some kind of input into the tensile strengths of the original Boalloy Tautliner
I don’t understand, all our pallets have to be strapped with at least internals, even with the ‘Armour sheet’ trailers. I’ve never really had a problem.
Before loading ensure straps are free and at correct length, if your clever you can find an optimal length where you only need to adjust the hook length no matter how high the pallets are, using the rear steps to get onto trailer if required, DON’T FALL OFF.
Strap the pallets as they are being loaded, ensuring that posts are in correct position or you’ll have to undo 
. If loading thru rear doors, ensure that a strap is dropped down the side of every pallet, even if it means telling the despatch monkeys to do it.
To unload is fairly easy, unzip curtains then undo straps. I find it best to release a couple of pallets one one side so the forkie can get going then do the other side, then your always working on the opposite side to him.
With a backdoor tip, it’s admittedly a PITA to release the curtain buckles & poles to undo the straps, but if you don’t, some places (I won’t mention that ARGOS used to) will just slice em of. When doing this NEVER do it when on a bay or a few feet short, do it in a clear bit of yard with good clearance on the side/s your working on, your torso and it’s hi-viz will be obscured by the curtain and any driver pulling off/backing on at the side of you might not see you, if you’ve no choice then get well out of the way of any movements beside you. Don’t forget to tie your straps up, it will be appreciated by the unloaders 
.
The other important bit is if the straps are in disrepair/missing, defect the trailer, put the ball in someone else’s court.
DADDY LONGLEGS:
and even the curtains say they will hold the max load in if the trailer goes tipple tummble,
Been out to one of them that had load restraining curtains.
In factory tests, when they lift the trailer over with a crane, yes the curtain does hold the load, the trailer passes the test and everyone is cheerio’s.
Try putting that to test in the real world, where the trailer hits the road, bounces, slides up the tarmac, through the armco, coming to rest on the hard shoulder on the other side of the carriageway. All the time the load is sitting on the curtain.
See what state them curtains are in then. I’ll bet you a fiver they don’t hold the load in.
cieranc:
DADDY LONGLEGS:
and even the curtains say they will hold the max load in if the trailer goes tipple tummble,Been out to one of them that had load restraining curtains.
In factory tests, when they lift the trailer over with a crane, yes the curtain does hold the load, the trailer passes the test and everyone is cheerio’s.Try putting that to test in the real world, where the trailer hits the road, bounces, slides up the tarmac, through the armco, coming to rest on the hard shoulder on the other side of the carriageway. All the time the load is sitting on the curtain.
See what state them curtains are in then. I’ll bet you a fiver they don’t hold the load in.
And neither will the straps.!!! up you to a Tenner !!!
MADBAZ:
release the curtain buckles & poles to undo the straps, but if you don’t, some places (I won’t mention that ARGOS used to) will just slice em of
Had that a few years ago at Honeymonster Foods in Southall, Backed on the bay and told the forkie to give me 10mins to unstrap, by the time I got the nearside curtain open he had already taken a knife to half a douzen straps to get the pallets off.
After a little exchange of words, I pulled off the bay half unloaded. as my gaffer said, the remaining pallets will cover the cost of replacing the straps. Sugar Puffs anyone??
Wheel Nut:
I just wonder what would Gerald Broadbent think of this new legislation, he must have had some kind of input into the tensile strengths of the original Boalloy Tautliner
When I bought my taut liners about 8years ago I was told that the straps running thought the pocketed curtains were rated at 2 tonnes, that was why they had the 2 black lines running up the sides of the strap.
Now we only do steel, so it gets strapped no ifs or buts, so I wasn’t really bothered about the curtain strength at the time, but I must say if I was loading bog rolls on one of these trailers I probably wouln’t bother strapping them either. I have every faith in a decent design of trailer, and if the worse happened and it tipped up and slid across the motorway, it’s going to come out strapped or not.
I have hower worked on some trailers that have bodies built like a wire coat hanger, and wouldn’t trust them to keep the rain out, never mind the load in.
i remember a few years ago an old women walking on a footpath, was killed in a village not far from me, Blackhall, when an artic with a steel load, braked, the steel sheets slid forward, and decapitated her, not sure if the chains snapped or they were insecure, but it always makes me wary thinking of it.