Being a user of Ranger Lock Brand’s locking mechanisms, I always have a lock for any situation.  Having momentarily misplaced my favorite, the Portabolt (pictured above) recently during a move, I was forced to dig into my Ranger Lock stash for another device that could secure my cargo overnight.  It was during this lock substitution that I realized not all locks are created equal.

 


 
Sure, Ranger lock is a superb product in all of the products of theirs I have tested out, but my trailer is a little different than most.  The simplest difference in door handles in my trailer’s construction makes a huge difference in how I can secure the cargo door handles in the rear.  A little hard to tell in the picture above, but unlike most handles, the Trustlock Plus System handles on my Wabash are designed to lock into place by closing them into a notch and rotating them 180 degrees.  This unique construction did not allow me to place the standard padlock cover over my door handle as a substitute for my Portabolt, which actually grabs around both door bars and locks with a high-security puck lock.
 
Returning disappointed from the place I park my rig when home, I was certain I was going to have to drill holes in the trailer doors and install the Hasp product to securely lock both doors with a puck lock.  Upon returning home though, I was so happy to have learned that my wife had found my Portable in one of the boxes while unpacking!  So away I went back to my truck parking to once again secure my cargo with my favorite of devices from Ranger Lock.
 
Two lessons were had in this little fiasco I encountered…Always pack your best security lock where you know you can easily find it after a move and to be sure you know what lock will fit your particular model of trailer doors prior to considering one.  With a wide variety of products available from my official lock supplier, it was not common knowledge that only a couple would work for my particular door handle setup.  I have used a lot of their other products on my other trailer, which has standard locking handles, so it was never really something that I had though of.  It probably would have saved me stress and time having thought of this before, since now I know that there are all kinds of door specific locks available through them and other manufacturers for everything from roll doors to locking handles like mine!

 

Comment (1)

Jimmy Nevarez

Jimmy Nevarez is the Owner/President of Angus Transportation, Inc., based in Chino, California.  Jimmy pulls a 53' dry van hauling general dry freight for his own small fleet, operating on its own authority throughout all of Southern California and Southern Nevada.

 
 

Trailer locks matter. At the very least they keep honest people honest. There was a case a few years ago where several trailer seals were broken. There was no way to tell which trailers had been entered. One of our trailers had a high value meat load with a good lock and was not entered. One of the other trailers with a similar load had the seal broken and a very expensive load had to be tossed.

March 14, 2017 5:22:34 AM