Beiträge getagged mit: "parking"

After your trailer ride, your trailer must be safely “stowed away” again. We have put together a few tips for you on parking, uncoupling and securing the trailer, which you should pay attention to when parking the trailer.

This is how you park your trailer

Reversing with a trailer can be a bit difficult at times. As always, it is easiest when you have someone to instruct you. And: practice makes perfect. Reversing works best when you know your team really well and can assess how the trailer will react to your steering movements.
Before parking, you should make sure that the space or gap where the trailer is to be parked is large enough and that there are no obstacles in the way. You should also have enough space in front of you for maneuvering. Clear possible obstacles – if  necessary – out of the way and look for landmarks in advance that you can have a good view of when reversing and help you to position the trailer.

If, for example, you have to hit a gap in a number of other trailers, it can be helpful if you are already trying to move the trailer as close as possible to the gap when you are driving forward so that you don’t have to go as far in reverse. In principle, think in advance what you can already consider when driving forwards in order to make it easier for you to drive backwards. Always avoid hectic steering movements. It is better to stop once too much than too little to make sure that everything fits and that you can get the trailer to stop exactly where you want it to be.

Safety first

When you have parked the trailer, you should first make sure that the trailer is secured and prevent it from rolling away as soon as you have released it from the towing vehicle. Use wheel chocks for this and be sure to tighten the trailer’s brake as a first step. Then dissolve the electronic connection between the trailer and the towing vehicle and clear the trailer’s power cable in the receptacle that is often provided for it. Then crank the trailer’s support wheel down and lift the trailer off the trailer hitch. Only as the last step do you loosen the breakaway cable. This is an important point in your hanging out routine and a final safeguard to prevent the trailer from rolling away. Only loosen the breakaway cable if you are sure that you have completed all the other steps beforehand and that the trailer is safe and secure and, above all, cannot roll away.

You have to pay attention to this when parking the trailer

How, where, when and for how long is it allowed to park your trailer and under what conditions? What to look out for? All of this is regulated in the schedule of penalties. For example, when driving the trailer and then parking it, you must have your wheel chocks with you and protect the trailer against rolling away when parking. It is also not allowed to park the trailer in the same public place for longer than two weeks without the towing vehicle. In principle, you should of course always park your trailer so that ongoing traffic is not disturbed by the trailer.

The interaction of towing vehicle and trailer

Of course, the connection between the vehicle and the trailer is also relevant for driving with a trailer. The towbar must be in good condition and approved. We take over the approval of our products, so our towbars are approved according to regulation ECE 55 (previously 94/20 / EG) and manufactured according to all valid rules and the latest technology. You no longer need to have our trailer couplings checked and registered at a test center, you just have to carry our assembly and operating instructions with you. This is the so-called ABE. It is not permitted to make changes to the towbar yourself as this will invalidate the approval. However, if you have installed a towbar that has been changed, for example, and traffic safety can be influenced, you must expect a fine. A differentiation is made once again as to whether “only” there was a hazard or even an accident. Even if you drive a trailer with a trailer coupling that does not comply with the regulations or if you allow this as a vehicle owner, fines will be imposed.

Below you will find the graduation for the offenses when parking:

• Trailer guided, without carrying chocks: € 5
• Trailers without a car parked in the same place for more than two weeks: € 20
• Team led with improper AHK: € 25
• Driving a team with an incorrect towbar approved as a vehicle owner: € 35
• Team led despite poor connection of vehicle and trailer, which would impair traffic safety: € 135, 1 point
• In spite of a faulty connection between motor vehicle and trailer that would impair traffic safety, the team was at risk: € 165, 1 point
• In spite of a faulty connection between motor vehicle and trailer, which would impair traffic safety, the team led with an accident: € 200, 1 point

 

You can find more information on the website of the German schedule of penalties.