LADDER LOCK FOR REAR DEPLOY LADDER RACK

A ladder latching device for a rear deploy, tilting type ladder lack that automatically extends and retracts a latch pin as ladders are loaded onto and removed from the roof of a work vehicle. The latching device has an L-shaped lever with a spring biased first leg supporting a latch pin and a second leg with a roller for cooperating with a rail of the rack's stationary bed. The latch pin is made to extend through apertures in a stop post and over a rung of the ladder to trap it only when the roller remains in contact with the stationary rail. During tilting of the load support member, the latch pin retracts.