All i ever seem to hear about is this whole load restraint ■■■■■■■■ at the moment. How can you be expected to secure loads when your not given the proper equipment with which to do so, the trailers i use have no rope hooks and maybe a handful of anchor points for rachet straps, so then we move on to internal straps, what ■■■■■■■ good are they, if a ton pallet wants to move no amount of loose straps held up by some flimsy rail and going to do anything!
Curtainsiders should be banned outright, if it cant go on a flat throw it in the back of a box trailer.
A driver told me at work last week that a new law has come in from the beginning of April that all pallets need to be strapped by ratchets or side straps so they don’t move?? Is that right or just another ■■■■ n bull story??
selby newcomer:
A driver told me at work last week that a new law has come in from the beginning of April that all pallets need to be strapped by ratchets or side straps so they don’t move?? Is that right or just another ■■■■ n bull story??
Its not a new law, they are just enforcing it more, think you can get points now apprently. We had a memo about it a few weeks ago, but it got thrown in the bin shortly after i recieved it.
selby newcomer:
A driver told me at work last week that a new law has come in from the beginning of April that all pallets need to be strapped by ratchets or side straps so they don’t move?? Is that right or just another ■■■■ n bull story??
Every row should be strapped. As said, this is nothing new. You should also have crossed straps across the back two pallets as well.
the trailers i use have no rope hooks and maybe a handful of anchor points for rachet straps,
Use the chassis or the side rail. Are you seriously telling me you can’t work that out?
i read that the vosa men are now sent on load restraint courses so they can identify what makes a load safe or otherwise, i bet their oppinion will hold more weight in court than yours no matter how many years you have been doing it. no certificate no knowledge, be warned. i have always been seen to go over the top when securing loads but my oppinion is if it cant start to move there is no reason to try to stop it. a lot of our moves involve boats once its sailing theres no going back to tie anything down.
Conor:
Use the chassis or the side rail. Are you seriously telling me you can’t work that out?
Ahh thats classic isn’t it, so you thought you’d try and be clever and come back with alittle bit of attiude to make everyone think your an experienced truck driver who can think on his feet, judging from your reply i take it you’ve never had to worry about load restraint, more use to tippers, fridges etc?
Yes you can go off the chassis but the hook doesn’t sit on the edge properly and your rachet is subjected much more to the ■■■■ and crap from the road, so fine in the short term not in the long term.
Going off the side rail, i’d say thats an advert for cpc training.
selby newcomer:
A driver told me at work last week that a new law has come in from the beginning of April that all pallets need to be strapped by ratchets or side straps so they don’t move?? Is that right or just another ■■■■ n bull story??
Its not a new law, they are just enforcing it more, think you can get points now apprently. We had a memo about it a few weeks ago, but it got thrown in the bin shortly after i recieved it.
That makes sense, we got told we are gonna have to side strap our loads before we leave the yard as of next week. I thought it was only starting because one of our drivers nearly turned his artic over on the M18 a few weeks ago. An ex driver now I should say.
We not allowed to use the side rail with the warwicks when securing plant & machinery.
Even though the side rail is the same thickness as the lashing chains, the warwicks can’t slide along rail either, there’s bars spaced along the ‘C’ section welded in.
When i used to pull schnelleke trailers about we used to load steel at scunthorpe for abroad.Once the trailer has been dropped at the port there is no turning back so i used to use all 21 or 22 straps that were in it.I would rather use every single strap than take the risk plus it used to keep the boss happy knowing if anything were to happen we had done our best for it not to.
Conor:
Use the chassis or the side rail. Are you seriously telling me you can’t work that out?
This is common sense. Thats how straps have been used in the UK for years, you don’t need strap or harness points. Every straped load I ever pulled over there the straps were anchored to the chassis, you can also get far better tension by placing the rachet below the trailer bed so you can pull up on it, it makes the load far more secure
From what I’ve read on the issue and I may well be wrong…what it appears to suggest… it seems they are particularly concerned that the load should be as close to the headbord as possible.
So on multi drop if the trailer is loaded properly then when unloading a part load the pallets left on the trailer will be close enough to each other so as not to slide forward or from side to side and clash against the headboard or against each other which may cause damage and create a hazard. Near impossibility if you work it out logically…theres no way it could work… but seemingly they know best. Good exercise in organisational skills for the planners tho’. Extra work for the loader and driver.
Conor:
Use the chassis or the side rail. Are you seriously telling me you can’t work that out?
Ahh thats classic isn’t it, so you thought you’d try and be clever and come back with alittle bit of attiude to make everyone think your an experienced truck driver who can think on his feet, judging from your reply i take it you’ve never had to worry about load restraint, more use to tippers, fridges etc?
Yes you can go off the chassis but the hook doesn’t sit on the edge properly and your rachet is subjected much more to the [zb] and crap from the road, so fine in the short term not in the long term.
Going off the side rail, i’d say thats an advert for cpc training.
Really? - We have plenty of trailers where the side rail to chassis is the only place to strap?
I don’t get what you are saying here - Yes the ratchets and straps take a battering but we just throw them away when they become unserviceable? I carry steel every week and strap this way and sometimes use up to 20 straps per load. As of yet I have never had a load shift even on hard braking and rough seas?
So what’s the issue - BTW I was trained to do this by some of the best old hands in the business of whom I have utmost respect?
Conor:
Use the chassis or the side rail. Are you seriously telling me you can’t work that out?
Ahh thats classic isn’t it, so you thought you’d try and be clever and come back with alittle bit of attiude to make everyone think your an experienced truck driver who can think on his feet, judging from your reply i take it you’ve never had to worry about load restraint, more use to tippers, fridges etc?
Yes you can go off the chassis but the hook doesn’t sit on the edge properly and your rachet is subjected much more to the [zb] and crap from the road, so fine in the short term not in the long term.
Going off the side rail, i’d say thats an advert for cpc training.
Really? - We have plenty of trailers where the side rail to chassis is the only place to strap?
I don’t get what you are saying here - Yes the ratchets and straps take a battering but we just throw them away when they become unserviceable? I carry steel every week and strap this way and sometimes use up to 20 straps per load. As of yet I have never had a load shift even on hard braking and rough seas?
So what’s the issue - BTW I was trained to do this by some of the best old hands in the business of whom I have utmost respect?
When talking about the side rail i take that as being the metal lip just off of the bed. You cant properly secure on that edge because its only thin and soon starts to bend.
Im not saying using the chassis is wrong, obviously its a very secure anchor point but in my opinion its not ideal. For general haulage where you dont have time to ■■■■ about rope hooks are faster and easier to use.
its amazing the amount of drivers that dont strap any of these down.
Thats a fine bit of strapping there and agree that whose bags double stacked should definitly be strapped but it would of been much easier, safer(wouldn’t of had to climb on the trailer) and more secure had a rope been used.
Rope hooks should never be used to secure a load with a ratchet strap they are not designed for it.
If you boss does not providide you wtih decent equiptment (straps) that is his problem, i would never drive a vehicle wtih a load that is not properly secured, you might get away with it for a while but sooner or later it will come off the trailer and stands a good chance of killing someone, cant understand what it is wtih some drivers who things its “cool” not to strap loads down, see wagons on the M6 near me with bulk bags of animal feed on them, with just a scratty bit of rope holding about half the bags, sooner or later they will come off, what is the point of taking the risk two straps on every row would take about 10 mins, hardly a lot of time
Agreed - I only do general haulage and I would prefer to use bed hooks all day (not side/rope hooks) BUT - They are not always there and they also do not always line up to the point where you need to strap which can render them useless
Therefore you get the straps where you need too by using a bit to common sense - I just don’t know what else to say on this subject. If the side rail looks flimsy ignore it and go all the way under to the chassis rail. TBH though I have never found a side rail to be that weak but that’s just my opinion and others may not agree
I tend to over strap loads but having said that I have never a load shift and my company let me have as many straps as i want
Extra work for the loader and driver. 
Don’t think i would have bothered with any of that. 
