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What is a curtainside or Tautliner trailer?

Curtainside trailers are usually a flat deck trailer with a rigid rear door, a headboard, and canvas curtains down the side which are suspended from roof rails and fastened with buckles. The roof rails are held up by supports at

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What’s a side loader?

A sideloader or sidelifter can refer to twin hydraulic cranes that self-load and unload containers on or off a lorry or trailer, it can be a type of forklift and occasionally it refers to a bin lorry. We’re going to

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How does PTO work on a lorry?

PTO, or power take off, is a way in which power can be diverted from the engine to power hydraulic or mechanical equipment. It’s very common on agricultural machinery, and its use on tractors, through a rotating shaft, causes frequent

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What’s a skeletal trailer?

A skeletal trailer is a minimal, lightweight metal trailer most commonly designed for transporting containers, although also capable of being used as a hook loader for loading a skip and a number of other specialist applications with the right attachments

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What is a lift axle on a lorry or trailer?

An axle is the way in which weight is transferred from the lorry or trailer to the tyres. Different types of lorries have different numbers of axles. A small box van will have two axles, like a car, whereas an

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Curtainside lorry safety in high winds

A curtainside or tautliner lorry can easily be blown over by a strong gust of wind when it is empty or carrying a very light load. A wind gust over 60mph can put 20-30 tons of pressure on the side

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Merging and lane discipline when driving

Part of what makes driving relatively safe is when other road users drive predictably. Part of being predictable is using a standard set of rules and signals when merging into traffic and when changing lanes. Good lane discipline is partly

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