New D Shackle Laws

[Lance Onley]

It has come to my attention that we require to have D Shackles rated at 1.5 of the weight of our caravans and trailers now , and they are booking some of us in Queensland and Victoria if we don,t comply . My Question is where do we get these D Shackles from and when we do where are we going to put them . If you have a van rated around 2 tonne you will need a D Shackle rated at WLL 3000Kg which has a diameter of 16 mm . Most of our vans have a 12mm or half inch hole for the chains . Then there is the Question how much is our chains rated as ? Why where we not informed about new regulations when they come out and what are our Road service such as RACQ and NRMA doing about it?

Need answers folks very frustrating Cheers Lance

[dieseltojo]

Hi Lance,
Sounds a bit strange to me, what actual law are you basing this on?
Sometimes these stories do the rounds.
I have put new chains from Noble and son In Victoria, Sales specialists of safety chain, and the chain probably wouldn't have a 16 mm link hole.

[glanyard]

According to the Qld Police and Dept of Transport and Main Roads (Qld), it is a hoax!
glanyard

[Lance Onley]

This is interesting as I went down the road here at Childers and the only ones they have are rated at 2000kg WLL ,and another guy came in to buy some and told me they where pulling up vans in Victoria. On further checking out what it was all about I have come to the conclusion that we are legal with what we have as the amounts that where being bandied about where in relation to Working load limits which are 6 times less than the Breaking load limits , which means if you have a shackle that is rated at 1000kg WLL is equal to 6000kg in BLL . The regulations are that the BLL should be 1.5 times the ATM of your van . The chains on our Jayco Heritage are rated at 1600 kg ,so any shackles that are rated higher than that would mean the chains would break before the shackles so I don't need shackles higher rated than 1600kg. Thanks for the input and I think there are a lot of people in the same confusion as something was mentioned on the news here yesterday.



All Good have a great day .

[Bundyrumandcoke]

There has been frenzied activity about this issue over the last couple of days in social media and forums, especially here in Qld, with the picture of a supposed poster, warning that police in Gympie were pulling over all and sundry, and fining them for using unrated shackles. The poster lists 1st February as the day these new laws supposedly came in.

Its been debunked in a number of circles. DMRT here in Qld posted on their facebook page that no new laws had been brought in. Qld police also stated that nothing has changed.

From DMRT facebook page--

We have had a lot of questions about the shackles used when towing a trailer based on a photo making the rounds on Facebook, so here is a refresher on the requirements:

• If you tow a trailer that does not have breakaway brakes, you have to make sure you use safety chains. This makes sure the trailer stays connected to the vehicle if the coupling breaks or disconnects.
• The safety chains you use must comply with Australian Standard AS4177.4 Caravan and light trailer towing components.
• Shackles that are used do not have to meet any particular Australian Standard, but we strongly recommend you use shackles that meet the Australian Standard AS2741-2002 Shackles or are identifiable as having a suitable design for the trailer and towing vehicle combination.

For more information about how to stay safe when towing, check out the Safe Towing guide

And this link goes to the Safe Towing Guide. Page 7 is the page about shackles.

http://www.tmr.qld.gov.au/Safety/Vehicl ... owing.aspx

Note, specifically, it is a RECOMMENDATION, not a requirement, nor is it mandatory, that rated shackles be used.

I cannot comment about the situation in Victoria.

[dieseltojo]

I think I may be waiting a while for that law in writing, Hey....

[ParamountCruiser]

If you have a van rated around 2 tonne you will need a D Shackle rated at WLL 3000Kg which has a diameter of 16 mm

Not correct. It is the BLL (Break Load Limit) of the shackle which needs to 1.5 times the ATM of your van.

If it is an S rated shackle the BLL is 6 times the WLL of the shackle.

So a 10 mm shackle that has a WLL of 1 tonne is sufficient for a van with an ATM of 4 tonnes.

[eddo550]

That's right Glanyard it is a hoax maybe someone wanting to sell D Shackles

[TeddyGQ]

I am a semi-retired truckie. Still on the road at the moment. Trust me, there are not enough police to look for the occasional caravan that may not have the correctly rated shackle. When a truck driver can be fined up to $15,000 for a Work Diary breach, the choice of police to get a $100 fine is not attractive. The whole story is a furphy and maybe people should read past posts regarding this furphy than to stimulate the whole conversation again by posting, "I have a mate who knew a friend who thought he had heard, ……"
Let the subject rest.
And by the by. As reported in a late copy of Owner Drivers magazine, a truck driver who had pleaded guilty so as to expedite the charge was fined $10,000.00 in abstentia by a magistrate. A very similar case in which the truckie actually turned up to court was fined $300.00. Makes perfect sense doesn't it?
Maybe if we can hear from 1 person with a copy of the breach, who has been booked for this offence, the conversation can be highlighted.