Get the measure of trailers
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by Brian Weatherley • Bridge bashing is flavour of the month with the Department of Transport. The recent consultation period calling for views from operators on how to reduce bridge strikes ended on 30 September and the DOT is now forming its policy on what in-cab height-indicating equipment will be acceptable. One group of hauliers who could face the biggest problems with determining vehicle heights will be those fleet artic operators whose traders are coupled with a variety of tractors with different fifth wheel heights. The problem is made worse with rented trailers.
It isn't practical to expect a driver to climb up the side of a trailer every time he's coupled up to his tractor. Never mind the time-wasting involved, there's a health-and-safety consideration. Even the most conscientious driver will balk at the prospect of having to climb up a trailer in a howling gale.
So how can you be sure of knowing your trailer heights every time? Beaminister-based Knight Lock Systems has come up with a simple device which allows drivers to know the height of their artic.
Commercial Motor followed Knight Lock managing director Brian Haynes through the fitting of the company's Right Height indicator to GM's tandem axle Fruehauf curtainskier test trailer...
1First Haynes measures the height of the uncoupled trailer with the landing legs lowered. Uncoupled, our trailer measured 13ft 6in from its highest point to the ground. n Haynes then measures up
from the ground using the special Right Height tape and marks off the "Datum Line" on the side of the trailer with a simple felt marker. The Datum Line is a fixed mark on the special blank tape. The previously measured height of the trailer (13ft 6in) is then attributed to the datum line already marked on the body. Next, a reverse scale giving measurements above and below the trailer's starting height (13ft 6in) is fixed to the trailer body, in line with the datum mark, so higher height values are read from the bottom of the scale. Knight Lack's Right Height finished kits will contain a roll of self-adhesive tape with the reverse scale premarked.
4With the tractor coupled up, the driver puts the datum tape back against the reverse scale and simply reads off the new height of the higher-riding trailer against the datum mark—in this case it's 13ft Bin. By using the datum tape a driver can now establish the full height of the trailer from the ground up, regardless of the tractor coupled up to it. Alternatively, a big fleet operator could issue a datum rule to the gateman so he could measure all departing rigs.
C Once the driver knows the height of his rig he records it on the in-cab log plate which fits to the dashboard, either with screws or hook-and-eye fastenings. On production models both metric and imperial scales will be supplied for the reverse measure and in-cab log. Cost of the kit, which takes less than 15 minutes to fit, is E22.50 (ex-VAT). Knight Lock can be confaded on 01308 863888.