9 Trailering no-nos from Ontario highways

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“ MTO officers assisted this motorist today after their pickup truck and travel trailer severely jackknifed. Contributing factors to this incident included incorrect load distribution, driver inexperience and speed. Road safety is everyone’s responsibility.” The tweet from @mtomike earlier this week was succinct. The occurrence was also not rare. Towing is not some magic skill you receive when you jump behind the wheel and just… start driving with a trailer on the back. Just take a look at the aftermath of the aforementioned ordeal: 

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9 Trailering no-nos from Ontario highways Back to video

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If you’ve ever driven up Highway 400 and spotted someone cottage-bound with a homemade trailer laden with everything including the kitchen sink, you know how fast you put space between your vehicle and the grenade about to drop lawn chairs and hibachis all over the place. Can that be legal, you ask yourself, thinking the fine must be huge for someone who could conceivably leave a trail of destruction in their wake? Guess again: 160 bucks. That’s it. 

My favourite overloaded trailer story, ever, came to a safe end because police in Huntsville found it before it got very far two years ago. Have you ever thought, “I wonder if I can do it all in one trip?” Here’s what that looked like . I won’t make a Clampett joke. 

The top nine problems for weekend towers:

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• How hard can it be?: Driving a vehicle with a trailer or camper attached on the back is fairly easy. Until you turn, brake, speed up or swerve. You need lessons from someone who knows how to do it. I don’t care if your G licence says you can drive this combination, your G licence also says you can drive a 10 metre motorhome right off the lot. Sometimes, we don’t have enough bureaucracy.
• Borrowed trailer: you don’t know how to connect it properly, the lighting system doesn’t work, and you have no idea how sound it really is.
• Seldom-used trailer: you forget how to connect it properly, the lighting system might not work anymore, and you have no idea how sound it really is.
• Tires: the rubber compound on tires doesn’t care if it only has a thousand kilometres on it. It continues to break down as your trailer rides out the seasons sitting next to the house, whether you use it or not. Everything rests on those tires – don’t compromise the whole show with garbage tires.
• Registration is too easy: if you register a trailer you’ve purchased, you take that invoice and your I.D. to a Service Ontario to get plates for it, and proof of registration. That makes sense. But if you have a homemade job, you just take your I.D. and register it. “Hi, I built a trailer out of 2x4s and roller skates. Can I register it?” “Yup, here ya go.” I exaggerate, but not by much. There is no physical inspection of homemade light trailers. All trailers are registered just once, and ‘stickers aren’t needed because drivers only have to register them once – the registration does not expire,” as the Service Ontario site explains.
• Weight distribution: physics are real. This clip is basic, but it readily shows the problem with not knowing how to distribute the weight of the trailer from tongue to tail. 

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If you can’t back up a vehicle with a trailer, you shouldn’t be driving a vehicle with a trailer. It’s a skill, and takes a lot of practice. It’s counterintuitive, and you have to be prepared to drive your set-up safely in all ways. If you’re concerned about weather, or not sure how to operate tie-downs, you’re better off renting an enclosed trailer. Even with a small trailer, you need more braking distance. Set your side mirrors properly, and stop frequently to check your load at a safe pullover spot. 

If you’re borrowing someone else’s camper or trailer, take it on a test run. Don’t wreck your holiday with something that can be avoided with a little planning.