Rigid flat rop trailers provide strength and versatility to your fleet’s transport capabilities. But with their clearly defined boundaries, they also provide a specific set of limitations within which you need to work.
Loading a rigid flat top trailer can sometimes feel like a game of Tetris. You need to get the sizes and shapes right, while at the same time paying close attention to the weight, and how your payload is balanced.
When done right, you can make the most of your truck’s payload capacity, and boost the efficiency of your operations.
Start by carefully planning your loads
With a flat top truck, you’ve got eight tonnes to work with. But you can’t just place things wherever they fit.
Before loading, check what’s going inside. With your own materials, make sure that every available space is being utilised to its full potential. Also check to ensure that you’re not carrying unnecessary weight, whether in the form of packing materials, or what your packing containers are made from.
Then, get your items ready to load in the sequence that makes it easiest to unload. This helps to reduce handling time and ensure a more efficient use of space.
Ensure the safety and stability of your loads
It should go without saying… but in some cases, it needs to be spelled out. When loading, it’s important to distribute cargo weight evenly to maintain balance and stability.
Place heavier items in the center, and lighter items on the ends. Stack items in a way that maximises the available space, while still maintaining stability. Place heavier items at the bottom and lighter, smaller items on top.
It sounds simple, but you’d be surprised and how often this logic is ignored. This also works to keep the load’s centre of gravity as low as possible, which reduces the chance them tipping over—and in turn could impact the truck’s handling.
Make sure everything is secure, too. Use lashing straps, load bars, dunnage, or other stabilising options to keep your cargo in place during transport. The less room there is to move, the safer and more efficient your loads will be. It’s that simple.
High standards come from proper training
Making sure your drivers know the ins and outs of their vehicles, and how to load them properly, helps create a culture of efficiency. Train your drivers on best practices for securing their loads, weight distribution, and best practice handling of rigid flat top trucks.
The dangers of poorly-loaded flat top rigid trailers
Loading up a trailer isn’t just a matter of fitting in as many goods as possible. A poorly-loaded trailer can be a dangerous thing.
Dangers on the road
Uneven weight distribution can cause the load to shift, which in transit can potentially cause your truck to tip or overturn, especially around bends or during sudden braking. A poorly balanced load affects your drivers’ ability to control their vehicle, leading to potential swerving, jackknifing, or losing control, particularly in adverse weather conditions.
Danger to your vehicles
Uneven loads put additional stress on your trucks’ suspension, tires, and axles, which can cause premature wear, and ultimately increase maintenance costs. Not just this, but poorly-loaded trailers disrupt your vehicles’ aerodynamics, raising drag, which causes the engine to work harder. This in turn increases fuel consumption and operational costs.
Danger to your goods
As well as safety consequences for your drivers, shifting loads can damage your cargo, too. Goods moving around can knock, scrape, or crush items within your trailer—and nobody wants to receive damaged goods.
Danger to your people
Your teams unloading your cargo can be on the receiving end of a poorly loaded trailer, too. If materials or products shift during transport, they can fall when the gates are opened—potentially injuring the people unloading them.
A properly-loaded trailer provides wins across the board
Maximising the payload capacity of your flat top rigid trailers has a number of big benefits for your business.
Do more, faster
By loading your trailer as efficiently as possible, with as many items as possible, you reduce the number of trips required to transport the same amount of cargo. You’re effectively increasing your load capacity per trip, potentially freeing up your vehicles to take on more trips, and more work.
Save time and money
Maximising the payload capacity of your trucks ensures you make the best use of your business’ resources, like fuel, staff hours, and time. You can transport more, in the same amount of time, using the same amount of fuel—it’s win-win-win.
Improve the lifespan of your vehicles
Balanced and optimised loads reduce the wear and tear on your trucks, leading to longer service life and lower maintenance costs.
Reduce your emissions
You’re also creating benefit for the planet. Fewer trips mean reduced fuel consumption and lower greenhouse gas emissions, contributing to a smaller environmental footprint and supporting your business’ sustainability initiatives.
Improve the safety of your fleet
Efficiently loaded trucks maintain better balance and stability on the road, reducing the risk of accidents caused by overloaded or improperly balanced vehicles.
Boost your business’ efficiency with flat top truck hire
We know that your transport operations rely on efficiency—and how your cargo is loaded is a big part of this. So at Rentco, we provide a range of flat top truck hire solutions to help you transport your materials where they need to go.
We can provide guidance and advice on how to maximise the capacity of your payload, depending on which of our fleet you hire, and ensure you get more value from your equipment rental.
Contact your nearest depot to discuss our transport equipment hire solutions.
