A portable container assembly that can include a wheeled hand cart for transporting articles mounted on a platform or basket can be mounted in an elevated, horizontal position on the rear of a vehicle. The hand cart includes a downwardly facing channel that can be aligned with and inserted over a support bar extending from the rear of a hitch receiver on a vehicle. Upright handles on the hand cart supply sufficient mechanical advantage to allow the user to first tilt the and cart, and when the channel is aligned with the support bar, the hand cart can be rotated so that it is lifted into position and supported by the support bar on a vehicle. The support bar is attachable to and detachable from a conventional hitch receiver. A cooler can also be mounted directly to and supported only by the hitch extension.

An improved boat cover for covering a boat having a strap configuration that helps to better shed precipitation. The cover may have a fabric having a top side that is adapted to shed precipitation and a bottom side that, when the boat cover is in an attached state to the boat, at least a portion of the bottom side faces a portion interior of the boat. One or more longitudinal straps and one or more lateral straps may support the fabric on its bottom side. In the attached state the straps support the fabric such that a semi-rigid rib structure beneath the boat cover is formed to pull the boat cover taut over the boat.

A hard shell boat cover is disclosed herein. The hard shell boat cover includes a plurality of boat cover sections, the plurality of boat cover sections configured to interlock with one another so as to form the hard shell boat cover, and one or more of the plurality of boat cover sections configured to engage with a top peripheral edge of a boat; and at least one securement element attached to one of the plurality of boat cover sections, the securement element configured to be coupled to a securement strap for securing the hard shell boat cover to the top peripheral edge of the boat.

A boat trailer stair system is provided for facilitating access to a boat supported by a trailer. The system includes an A-frame configured stairway having interconnected forward and rearward frame sections that angularly diverge from top to bottom for positioning adjacent to a vessel supported on the boat trailer. The upper ends of the frame sections are interconnected and the diverging lower ends are fastened to longitudinally spaced apart locations on a longitudinal beam of the boat trailer. At least one of the frame sections supports a plurality of steps that ascend the frame section adjacent to the hull of a supported vessel. A pair of interconnected stairways may be mounted to the trailer on respective sides of the supported boat.

Embodiments described herein include a visual guidance system for a boat trailer that can include a housing defining a cavity, the housing having a plurality of openings such that fluid can pass into the cavity, a first track and a second track, where the first track and the second track have a substantially vertical orientation, and a laser head mounted on the first track and the second track that can include a housing, a laser module positioned within the housing that is configured to provide a first illumination beam, and a float.

A vehicle operational diagnostics and condition response system includes at least an axle supporting a cargo transport unit frame, a suspension disposed between and secured to each the cargo transport unit frame and the axle, a load detection device interacting with the suspension and communicating with a system controller, wherein the system controller is supported by the cargo transport unit frame, and a cargo transport unit health status system supported by the cargo transport unit and configured to communicate with the system controller. The cargo transport unit health status system provides state status information for monitored operational elements of the cargo transport unit.

A sheet of polymeric material that is constructed to be coiled into a roll while in a substantially flat configuration. The sheet is positionable over a load bearing surface and at least partially around side surfaces of a bunk of a trailer. The sheet of polymeric material has at least two living hinges that are disposed along a length of the sheet and are substantially parallel to opposing side edges. The living hinges provide areas for the sheet to flex which allows the sheet of material to be manipulated about the trailer bunk. The sheet includes a top surface is configured to contact the trailer bunk where the top surface includes a plurality of ribs extending parallel to the opposing side edges and along a length of the sheet. The plurality of ribs is spaced apart and defines channels there-between that are configured to drain water from the trailer bunk.

A novel trailer securing and releasing mechanism for a boat is disclosed to facilitate the process when unloading and releasing a boat into the water as well as loading the boat back on the trailer via securing the boat's eye bolt, or ring. The invention device encompasses a spring- or hydraulically-activated mechanism normally attached to the trailer tongue. The boat loading mechanism operates by movement of a horizontal rod being forced in the direction toward the trailer resulting from contact by the boat ring. This contact and movement of the rod forward results in positioning the boat ring within an open claw-like device and, simultaneously, causes the open claw to slam shut wherein each claw arm lies with the boat ring and thereby affixing the boat to the trailer. As the rod arm is moved back within its housing by the forward motion of the boat the energy of said movement is captured and retained, either by a compression of a spring or of a fluid (gas or liquid) within a hydraulic mechanism. Subsequent disengagement of the boat ring from the claw-like device on the boat trailer results from release of the stored energy within the compressed spring (or fluid) to reverse the direction of movement of the horizontal rod that will result in the simultaneous opening of the claw mechanism and pushing of the rod head against the boat ring to release the boat from the trailer.

A novel trailer securing and releasing mechanism for a boat is disclosed to facilitate the process when unloading and releasing a boat into the water as well as loading the boat back on the trailer via securing the boat's eye bolt, or ring. The invention device encompasses a spring- or hydraulically-activated mechanism normally attached to the trailer tongue. The boat loading mechanism operates by movement of a horizontal rod being forced in the direction toward the trailer resulting from contact by the boat ring. This contact and movement of the rod forward results in positioning the boat ring within an open claw-like device and, simultaneously, causes the open claw to slam shut wherein each claw arm lies with the boat ring and thereby affixing the boat to the trailer. As the rod arm is moved back within its housing by the forward motion of the boat the energy of said movement is captured and retained, either by a compression of a spring or of a fluid (gas or liquid) within a hydraulic mechanism. Subsequent disengagement of the boat ring from the claw-like device on the boat trailer results from release of the stored energy within the compressed spring (or fluid) to reverse the direction of movement of the horizontal rod that will result in the simultaneous opening of the claw mechanism and pushing of the rod head against the boat ring to release the boat from the trailer.

A navigational system and method for guiding a boat onto a trailer, which comprises at least one marker mounted on the trailer; a camera located on the boat to assist the system with determining a longitudinal axis of the boat, and generating images of at least a front area of the boat and the at least one marker; an image processing unit for 1) receiving and processing the images to determine the at least one marker, 2) estimating the longitudinal axis of the trailer, 3) generating a desired boat trajectory for aligning the longitudinal axis of the boat with the longitudinal axis of the trailer; and 4) periodically generating guidance output commands to the user to assist the user with following the desired boat trajectory and facilitate loading of the boat on the trailer; and an image display for sequentially displaying the generated images of the camera to a user.