Do You Need to Use a Wheel Chock?

Safety laws suggest that wheel chocks are essential for every commercial vehicle. Wheel chocks are used to stop vehicles from rolling when they are parked – especially on a hill. It is extremely dangerous when the brakes give way on a large commercial vehicle, potentially damaging anything that gets in its way. Even a small slope, or uneven ground can result in your vehicle rolling - so be prepared!

How to use a wheel chock:

  1. Purchase a wheel chock that is approximately 25% of the diameter of your vehicle tyre (eg a 760 mm diameter tyre would require a 190 mm high wheel chock).
  2. Park your vehicle correctly
  3. Place the wheel chock snugly into the tyre under the right and left wheels on the bottom of the slope

Keep in mind when you are using wheel chocks:

  •  If the angle of the slope is more than 10 degrees then this can increase the risk of the vehicle running over the wheel chock, so you may want to have a larger chock than 25% of 
     the diameter. If the slope is over 16.6% the wheel chock may not have enough restraint, so always try to park on the flattest ground available.
  •  The surface of the road or ground you are parking on. Nothing is going to hold very securely if the surface is icy or slippery, so ensure the surface is not slippery.
  •  Never use bricks, rocks, wood or any other make–shift material that is around your site. Only use wheel chocks that are up to New Zealand’s safety regulations.
  •  Keep a set of wheel chocks in your commercial vehicle trailer, it is not worth being caught without them. A truck, trailer or any other commercial vehicle can be very dangerous once 
     out of control.
  •  To become even safer use a handbrake alarm.

For more information on this check out https://worksafe.govt.nz/about-us/news-and-media/driveshaft-parking-brake-failures-in-commercial-and-industrial-vehicles/

TransQuip stocks 2 different sizes of wheel chocks – the small #3709 190mm and the large #3708 265mm high wheel chock.

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