Swadlincote grew on coal and clay. Its fireclay became salt-glazed pipes, and industrial tramways once carried coal and ceramics from the town down to the Ashby Canal at Moira. These days the large industrial estates are home to light manufacturing and service companies, and goods still leave the town on the back of a vehicle. The trailers and bodies doing that work take knocks every day.
Where the damage comes from
Most curtain and body damage starts somewhere ordinary. A forklift catches a curtain or corner post at a loading bay. A load shifts on a roundabout and leans into the side. Straps and buckles wear through from being done up and undone again and again. A trailer gets clipped while reversing in a tight yard. A small tear gets left, and the wind at speed on the A511 or out on the A42 turns it into a big one.
None of that stays cosmetic for long. A torn curtain can't secure a load, a broken buckle or worn strap can't be used, and bent panels, damaged gates and doors or cracked brackets can fail a safety inspection or the annual test. DVSA publishes guidance on securing loads, and a trailer whose load security fittings don't work can be stopped from continuing its journey.
Welding and bodywork at Melbourne
We repair curtains, buckles and straps and the fittings that hold them, along with body panels, gates and doors on trailers, rigids and light commercial bodies. Welding repairs to bodies, frames, brackets and fittings are done at our workshop at Melbourne, where the vehicle can be worked on properly and checked before it goes back to you. Smaller repairs can sometimes be done on site at your premises in Swadlincote.
Not every damaged part needs replacing, and not every one is worth repairing. We look at what is in front of us and tell you which makes sense, so you don't pay for a new curtain when a repair will do, or pay twice for a repair that won't last. If the damage isn't stopping the vehicle working safely, the repair can often be booked alongside its next service or PMI, so it only comes off the road once.
If it is stopping it, say so when you ring. A trailer that can't take a load is earning nothing, and we will try to fit the repair in around that.
Ring 01332 916028 with the trailer or vehicle, what has happened and a photo if you can take one. The workshop takes planned work Monday to Friday, 07:30 to 17:00.
