Hi all
Company Im with at mo has had problems hiring trucks, as in none available. So, today they hired a curtain sider. My question is- if there is only one level of pallets do they need strapped down. Or is it a case of strapping them down in any case. Whats the law on this 
Cheers in advance
legally, all loads should be secured, the curtains on a curtainsider are not sufficient as far as VOSA and the police are concerned.
some people don’t bother with securing loads depending on the load of course.
you are the driver, it is you who needs to decide to secure it or not, and it will be down to you if anything happens if it is not secured
Some curtainsiders do actually have load bearing curtains, but use your common sense and think if a pallet goes over in the back who will be restacking it? I would rather chuck a couple of straps on a load than spend hours stacking crap onto pallets
As shuttlespanker said, it is you who needs to decide. I must admit there were lots of loads I didn’t strap, and never had a problem with them, under normal conditions but if something had gone wrong, I would have been in trouble. Just to stay the right side of the law, and for safety’s sake strap it no problems.
I strap most things that can move, depending on weight. I always cross strap rearmost pallets, as has been said, lot less hassle than restacking and if VOSA open the back doors the load doesn’t fall on top of them.
All our hazardous loads have to be strapped - this has come direct from most of our regular customers - non haz its a dodgy subject - at the moment i have 26 pallets of Daz washing powder - i’ve done the cross over the rear but nothing over the sides as soon as i try i just end up crushing the boxes big time - can’t shoot it as it has those cardboard thingys in between each pallet - rides just fine each pallet is mechanically wrapped as well
as said best to be sure and safe
cheers
Steve
Better safe than sorry tbh.
gm drop us a pallet of daz off mate ill give you £20 for it 
waddy640:
if VOSA open the back doors the load doesn’t fall on top of them.
you gotta admit though having some sort of sticker slapped onto the cab door like the yanks did in their planes in the 40’s when wiping out the germans would be fun tho hey!!
we could set up some sort of contest!! 
remember that the driver is responsible for the safety & contents of the load so better safe than sorry
The law may say that it is the responsibility or the driver to secure the load, which i am not arguing about, but in a lot of circumstances it is not possible for the driver to secure the load, either because the company does not supply the straps to the driver, or the vehicle is loaded at a place where there is no access for the driver to supervise the loading or secure the load as it is loaded, as should the load be up to the roof it makes securing it impossible without a ladder, and also posses a health &safety risk doing so, in my experience this mainly happens to agency drivers, as both the companies they are working for and the customer do give a dam, or it would appear that way,
daleyboy:
Some curtainsiders do actually have load bearing curtains, but use your common sense and think if a pallet goes over in the back who will be restacking it? I would rather chuck a couple of straps on a load than spend hours stacking crap onto pallets
Its not just about the curtains holding the load, its also to do with load shift inside the vehicle. Would you not strap steel coils or similar just cos they are inside a curtainsider, load bearing curtains or not? But as said… common sense is often the key!