July 2020 - Drivex take delivery of two new training trailers
Ordered in January and originally scheduled for delivery in April, the Covid -19 pandemic meant the build date of our was new trailers was delayed until late June / early July. Worth the wait though!!
July 16th and Steve and Roger set off for the short journey to Blendworth Trailers in Rowlands Castle, Hampshire to take delivery of Drivex's two new Ifor Williams BV84 twin-axle, box van trailers.
With a Maximum Authorised Mass of 2700kgs these new trailers can be used for both our BE and C1E trailer courses.
Following Drivex's move to a new paperless system of operating for all of our in-vehicle training courses, these new trailers mark yet another major investment in our business.
Once back at base the first task was to set the trailers up ready for their training role.
First job was to install the WiFi reverse cameras. This was a relatively straightforward operation since the Ifor Williams trailers are constructed with an electrical junction box and therefore taking a power feed from the reverse light circuit was easy. The camera mounting used all of the brackets and weather shields from our previous trailers so again, a relativiely straightforward task.
Next task was the construction of the sand compartment. DVSA test regulations stipulate a load of 600kgs must be carried. We had considered using IBC containers and carrying a liquid load but the practicalities of making this work weren't suitable so once again we have used sand bags. The sand compartments were partially constructed before setting off for B and Q and loading the sand bags. Once back at base the construction of the sand compartments was completed.
Now we could turn our attention to the stowing arrangements of the other kit we have to carry. This comprises mainly of:
- Training equipment (primarily cones and barriers)
- Spare parts (jockey wheel, breakaway cable, bulbs etc)
- Ancillary items (First Aid kit, sanitising station, chair, umbrella, wheelclamp etc)
Once this had all been sorted the position of the sand bags was adjusted to maintain the correct weight on the coupling.
In the meantime, we were now considering the design of the new trailer graphics......watch this space !!!