Safe Trailer Loading Tips
Your trailer gives you a convenient and reliable way to haul many different types of cargo over short or long distances. Trailers are easy to use, but it’s important that you use them correctly and understand the dangers that you need to watch out for. There are some essential safety guidelines that you’ll want to follow when loading up cargo into your trailer, hitching your trailer, and driving with it in tow. If your trailer is improperly hitched or poorly loaded, then it presents a road hazard that can result in a serious accident, causing harm to you or other drivers in addition to damaging your trailer, its cargo, and your towing vehicle.
TSI Trailers is your local Van Alystyne, Texas, dealership. Here are some of our top tips for safely hauling your trailer on the highway so that you can minimize risk to yourself and others.
1. Check Your Gross Combined Weight Rating (GCWR)
The towing vehicle you use to haul your trailer must be sufficiently strong enough to carry your loaded trailer without causing damage or an accident. You can check your owner’s manual for the gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of your towing vehicle or browse online to find it. This number is the maximum weight limit that your truck can handle, so make sure that your trailer and its cargo don’t go over this number.
2. Don’t Overload Your Trailer
Your trailer also has a weight limit that you don’t want to exceed. Your truck might be capable of hauling a great deal more weight than your trailer can, but you have to respect the limits of your trailer. Locate your trailer’s weight limit in the owner’s manual or online, or talk to our staff when selecting a trailer to learn the weight capacity of our trailers so we can help you locate one that will be strong enough to haul your chosen cargo.
3. Inspect Your Towing Set-Up
Now that you know the weight limits of your towing vehicle and your trailer, you’ll want to make sure that your towing set-up is adequate. Check your hitch to make sure it’s locked in place securely and that your towing chains are latched into place, crossed in an X shape underneath the hitch.
Use a tire-pressure gauge to check the tire pressure in your trailer tires and your towing vehicle tires and air them up to the manufacturer’s recommended psi levels. Inspect each tire for sidewall cracks, embedded objects, or balding treads, and have them repaired or replaced before you haul any cargo.
Check your brake light system to ensure that all your lights function properly so that you can signal your intentions to other drivers. Once you’re satisfied that everything is in order, you can begin to load your cargo into your trailer!
Are you in the market for a trailer? Check out the selection at TSI Trailers. We are located in Van Alstyne, Texas, and also serve those in Dallas and Fort Worth.