Rank: New forum user 
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Hi all, can anyone tell me what the take is on loading curtain siders from the rear with an FLT. We usually load them from the side but the new management is trying to reduce overheads hence they have decided to start loading from the rear thereby eliminating one FLT driver. The safety rep is against it bcos d curtains are not designed to serve as fall protection for an FLT and d driver. Also, if we install some form of guardrail on d sides, will that be acceptable as a fall protection measure. I have search different websites but cant get any info on this. Also, the HSE is now involved and they want a risk assessment of the operation. Please, all comments are welcome....
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Rank: Super forum user
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Morning,
As I do not have all the details I cannot be definitive with an answer but I can say that with curtain sided 40' trailers we almost never loaded from the rear because it was quicker and safer to load from the side.
We had two or three trucks feeding the trailer and the driver/mate would position the pallets on the trailer when the FLT had lowered them.
Our trucks operated at ground level and did not go onto/into the trailer.
The only time we loaded from the back was when we were putting in a couple of pallets and it was easier/quicker to open the back doors than to pull back the curtains.
In 4 years we had 1 injury where a driver was on the ground (he was instructed to stay on the trailer till fully loaded) and claimed that he was hit by a reversing FLT, CCTV showed that he had been climbing on some very large plant and had fallen off hitting his shoulder.
Just how do you envisage this operation being carried out, are the trucks going to deposit the load at the door or run down the length of the trailer. If the latter how do you know the trailer bed will support your FLT?
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Rank: New forum user
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Hi, it is envisaged that the FLT will travel and reverse down the length of the 40' trailer. On the other issue, the logic of the warehouse manager is that if the trailer can hold 18ton of goods, it should hold a 5ton FLT. Thanks for your reply by the way....
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Rank: Super forum user 
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Good practice is to avoid reversing as much as possible.
How is the FLT getting on and off the trailer?
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Rank: Super forum user
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If the idea to go down to one FLT, why not continue to load from the side but with just one FLT?
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Rank: Super forum user
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Is the trailer designed to be loaded from the rear i.e. Fit for purpose?
Zimmy
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Rank: Forum user
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Bear in mind with regard to weight, the 18 ton trailer is designed to carry 18 ton distributed across the entire length / width of the trailer.
Therefore a 5 ton forklift plus load may well exceed the weight tolerance and possibly cause damage to the trailer or its axles.
Regards
Geoff
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Rank: Super forum user
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Take a peep at the max weight that can be applied to the Axel. Not my field though so shoot me down if way off.
Bob
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Rank: New forum user
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Thanks all. Regarding the raised questions; there is a height difference of abt 1.1m btw the w/house and loading yard, hence a dock leveler is provided for access to the back of these trailers. The trailers are on a hire purchase contract so the trailer owners wont say yes or no to loading from d rear. the statutory gross wt a 40ft trailer can hold is abt 44tons..............
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Rank: Super forum user
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Sorry Ade I know you are trying to come up with a solution to what higher management want.
If the trailers are hired in hire in non curtain siders which have been designed to be loaded from the rear. I would suggest that you should not try to design side stops as there may be a penalty from ther hirer.
Regards Alex
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Rank: Super forum user 
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In the UK we load containers from the rear, with FLTs driving in and reversing out and we load curtain siders from the side. When we came under pressure from our EU service centre to load the former from the rear the lads said Non. On investigation the other EU plants were doing it but continental curtain siders are designed for this.
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Rank: New forum user
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redken wrote:In the UK we load containers from the rear, with FLTs driving in and reversing out and we load curtain siders from the side. When we came under pressure from our EU service centre to load the former from the rear the lads said Non. On investigation the other EU plants were doing it but continental curtain siders are designed for this. Hi Redken, didn't really get your point. Are you saying you now load your curtain siders from the rear? Also. are you saying continental curtain siders are designed for rear loading as well?
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Rank: Forum user
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Hi Ade
Many continental curtain-siders have wooden boards along the sides of the inside of the trailer which take ages to remove so many are loaded from the rear. The loading is often carried out by dropping the pallet on the deck at the back door and a hand pallet truck used to move the pallet into position.
Curtain-siders have been developed to speed up loading and are designed to be loaded by one man on a truck.
To try to load a curtain-sider from the rear with a FLT is madness in my opinion, it will be much slower and unless the trailers you are using have been selected for this purpose dangerous as well
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Rank: Forum user
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Hi Ade,
I wouldn't recommend loading a curtainsider from the rear, as already mentioned the floor may not take the weight of a laden FLT and the majority of the trailer floors are wooden less the 2 chassis strips that run along the centre. Soon going to incur costs for ripped curtains from pallets or the fork carriage.
Floor gives way, wheels on one side go through, FLT tips over and possibly out of the trailer into the yard, taking the driver with it.
Have you looked into a double headed forklift, to enable the work of two forklifts by one?
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Rank: Super forum user
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This has been discussed on here before so maybe worth doing a search.
It is very common within the distribution industry to load and unload curtain sided trailers from the rear with FLT's, PPTS etc.
We did this at a previous company I worked for, which was a large 3rd part distribution company operating out of a COMAH site (So plenty of HSE visits!!) 24/7 operation, 30 odd bays and tonne pallets.
The only issues we ever had was the odd wheel going through a board in the floor of the trailer.
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