Curtain code proposed
Page 18
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
• The Made-Up Textiles Association (MUTA) has obtained industry-wide support in its bid to establish a standard to cover tensioned side curtains for lorries.
MUTA is responding to concern that the number of vehicles on British roads with poorly designed or badly fitted side curtains is increasing.
Its scheme has the backing of the Road Haulage Association, the Institute of Road Transport Engineers, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, and the Motor Industry Research Association. "We've all seen buckles and strappings flapping in the wind on the motorway," says Ian Doughty, secretary of the MUTA industrial textiles manufacturing section. "We want to go back to the concept that the curtain is needed as much for load restraint as for weather protection."
Doughty also points out that Continental road hauliers are following Britain's move towards tensioned side curtains and it is likely that a British Standard will eventually form the basis of a panEuropean standard.