Feast your eyes on this. As promised earlier today on Biglorryblog, here (for your delectation and delight) is the Royal Mail Safety Concept Vehicle - an artic with more safety kit on it than you can shake a risk assessment form at (no that doesn't sound right... But you get the idea) In fact, it's got no less than 55 (count 'em) safety-related items on the Daf CF85.410 and Cartwright double-deck trailer rig. Although to be strictly accurate 11 of them are required by law already including ABS, front underrun and side guards, blindspot mirrors, seat belts, and spray suppression. But it's what's been added to the standard truck and trailer that makes the Safety Concept vehicle so impressive from BLB's point of view...
And here's one of those extras...a ground level susie connecting system (similar to the original MAVIS concept). But what I like about this incarnation is the fact that it not only slides out beyond the front bulkhead (as you can see in the picture) so it's even easier to get too---but that you couple up the air lines from below, so as you push up you can get a bit of 'oomph' on them. Which, let's face it, is not always easy when you've got a conventional system and a close-coupled artic! (If only we could go back to taps then it would be alot easier to put them on... Right or wrong?) The version above also means you won't get a face full of air when you release them. But chatting to the Royal Mail driver above, what he really liked about the system was the broad plastic collars (you can see them just above his hand) which makes holding and pushing the air lines on that much easier - another simple but effective tweak on a common problem..the susies are also non-tangle 'microbore' type lines and the carrier automatically slides back into position so you can't leave it sticking out.
Having conducted an audit of its reportable accidents Royal Mail found that a high proportion involved falls from the back of the trailer. So it got Cartwrights to fit decent access ladder/steps which incorporate a flat top step that's easy to find when you're climbing out. (the flight of steps next to it was to allow the assorted guests to get into the trailer that little bit easier - ELFIN SAFETY guys!)
And no more sore backs having to wind up the trailer's landing legs either. The Safety Concept vehicle has powered landing legs from Jost--and they look pretty hefty too. If the power source is lost you can still pump them up or down using the emergency handle on the top (secured by the chain).
Mind you that double deck trailer IS tall--over 16ft---and getting air to pass over the top of it isn't easy. But thanks to the Cartwright Cheetah automatically-adjustable aerodynamic spoiler adjuster it's now a piece of cake. First of all here's a shot of it in the lowered position... To run with a regular Royal Mail trailer...
Then, when you neeed to work with this tall double decker, you just give it quick squirt of air from a dash-mounted control in the CF85 and hey presto it pops up to its full running height and the air goes smoothly over the high trailer. What's more the top of the trailer has a sensor fitted to it which automatically detects what height the trailer is running at and that's displayed in the cab in a special display... Before the driver decides to take an unscheduled detour under a low bridge! And to let him know he's got a 'BIG' trailer the front bulkhead has been deliberately painted white... Simple but effective.
Apparently Royal Mail artic drivers were also hurting themselves with the roller shutter - not least by using the classic 'hang onto the shutter strap and 'Geronimo' jump off' technique'... Only unfortunately as they descended they then tended to put their hand down on the trailer floor to steady themselves whereupon the shutter (descending at a not inconsiderable speed) landed on their hands... Ouch! However, on the Safety Concept Vehicle it's not only an electric shutter but it has a built in safety beam which detects when a hand or boot is about to be trapped and stops the shutter closing any further before anyone gets hurt.
Meanwhile, the Cartwright trailer and Daf CF85 6x2 both come with roll stability kit, plus various other devices such as a kerbside proximity warning system at the front of the truck, on-board weighing, parking distance sensors, ramp approach braking which automatically stops the truck one metre from any obstacle (including a loading dock), before allowing the driver to inch back slowly... Reversing and blindspot cameras, reflective trailer marking - in advance of the new regs due in the Autumn - plus tyre pressure monitoring all-round. And that's just SOME of the stuff on it.
And here's the sensor for the automatic height indication system... Now click through here for more...
The Safety Concept Vehicle was unveiled at the Royal Mail's training college just outside Rugby to a large group of industry observers including big fleet operators like Wincanton and John Lewis, the unions, H&S people and naturally Biglorryblog. In the Q&A session there were plenty of debate not only on the SCV but also on generic safety issues as well including whether it makes sense to fit cruise control on a vehicle that does night trunking work... Where a driver might fall asleep. (Interesting question - the point being if a driver DOES drop off is it a good idea that the truck can still carry on travelling at 56mph? What do BLB readers think? Do the pros of cruise control outwigh the cons?)
Naturally all the extra stuff didn't come cheap - the on-cost of all those 44 added safety items was said to be 30% on top of the cost of a regular atic combination (and it adds some 700kg too).
But before you get carried away thinking it was just another fancy (never to be used in anger) truck, the Royal Mail Safety Concept Vehicle isn't all high-tech. Rather it has a number of simple, highly-cost-effective ideas that work in their own right. For example, like putting the decals giving the height of the trailer on backwards on the front bulkhead - so the driver can see them in his mirrors..the RIGHT way around. Not rocket science... Just plain good common sense. Right now the Royal Mail says the SCV is a 'work in progress' and that it will be used in six separate Royal Mail depots acros the UK over the next 12 months to see what bits of safety kit work and what don't - and what could be fitted to all future vehicles. BLB awaits the results with interest.
Whilst Im all for improvements in coupling/uncoupling to trailers Im not convinced about the sussie problem when you still dont get Truck and trailer manufacturers to agree on the format of the sussies so they dont cross over. I do like the sliding rail system though. But in the real world an agencey driver will be called in and told to "take that truck there" and not having been shown how to use the new safety features will still have accidents. Likewise an unsuspecting driver will be given a different unit to hook up to a "new style" trailer and not be shown how it all works. Ive seen it all before.
Wot about employing people and who use common sense and are paid properley.
Nick
Don't you guys in the UK use Duomatic couplings for air lines? If not, why not, there must be some reason. They are a standard fitting here and it is impossible to connect the air lines the wrong way round. This is a serious question, I'm not being facetious; I didn't realise people still used separate couplings for each air line and I haven't seen them for about 40 years here.
We have the two seperate couplings but one is male and one female and you should not get them mixed up. What can happen is that the red line is in but not clicked in and then comes out bringing things to an unplanned halt. On fridge trailers the trailer connections are usually covered in oil and dirt from the fridge.
Hi Brian, I agree with nick we should employ drivers who are not so thick in the first place, air line coupling is not rocket salad.The sliding coupling gantry on the trailer works very well,we have had them on all new trailers since 2001/2002 just slide it along to where you are standing(on the catwalk) and plug in and all at body/arm height no bending over in all the grease.Paul