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Joined up thinkin
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No other area on an articulated vehicle is more dangerous to a driver than the space between the tractor and the trailer. CM looks at safety and best practice when it comes to coupling and uncoupling.
Words: Kevin Swallow, Brian Weatherley and Dave Young For a driver, the space between the tractor and trailer is the most dangerous place to be. The art of coupling and uncoupling trailers is a time-honoured practice dogged by drivers taking short-cuts and timesaving methods that verge on the suicidal.
It's sobering that in France, the EU country with the most detailed statistics, there are 10,000 coupling-related accidents every year.
Coupling and uncoupling a trailer, and gaining access via the catwalk, should be routine for drivers, so training is essential to avoid injuries, as well as potential lawsuits.
Joint awareness Responsibility for safety, says one managing director, is evenly split between the company and its employees. He explains:-We provide drivers with training, and they sign to say they have had the training. We introduce a code of practice to ensure anyone caught coupling without referring to the training and best practice gets a series of warnings and/or dismissal in the more serious cases. Drivers, many with years of experience, often say they haven't had an accident yet, but we have to educate the ones who have been getting away with it, or haven't had sufficient training.
"We want to avoid any potential injury, and in doing so insure ourselves against liability claims by making sure we provide proper and effective training," he says.
Logistics companies also approach trailer manufacturers to help remove drivers from harm's way.
Trailer-maker Montracon, based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, developed MAVIS [Montracon Articulated Vehicle Interconnecting System] in the mid-1990s and it remains the easiest way to connect conventional air and electric lines.
A spokesperson says: "MAVIS was developed by Montracon initially to speed/ease the coupling/uncoupling of refrigerated trailers, where access to the connections was hindered by the overhang of the fridge unit. However, the health and safety benefits associated with MAVIS were quickly recognised to the extent that today it is applicable to all types of trailer. It is increasingly being called for by customers.
"It avoids the need for the driver to clamber up onto the catwalk between tractor and trailer. Coupling is
comfortably handled from ground the trailer connectors are on a track-mounted plate that slides across the lower front headboard/panel of the trailer to facilitate coupling of air and electrics from either side,says Montracon.
Stand your ground
Earlier this year, Cartwright Group, based in Altrincham. Cheshire, introduced its ground-level coupling device for a Royal Mail contract.The design. says Steven Cartwright. managing director, is now introduced to other customers' trailers, "It's the number-one area of concern for operators," he says. "A lever releases the coupling device to the nearside of the trailer, so the driver can couple the air and electric lines, and the lever also returns it to a central position. There is a dual-coupling set for shunting." •