AHT:
If yoru really struggling join the two hooks togeather under the trailerThere is no such thing as an over strapped load, an under strapped loads is just a dangerous load
Totally agree - I’ve had this ■■■■ taken out of me at some places due to the way/amount of straps that I sometimes use. I don’t use them for the fun of it but because the load needs it
AHT:
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
Im talking about rope hooks that ARE designed to take a load. Bulk bags if loaded correctly only need a rope around the back pulling them forward, if you really wanted to make sure they arent going anywhere you would just throw a rope over every row but certainly not twice.
I’ll pass on joining the hooks up 
Your right, there isnt such a thing as an over strapped load, but you only have 15hours in a day (legally).
What about these curtain siders with load bearing curtains?
starfighter:
What about these curtain siders with load bearing curtains?
Curtains are a load containment system should something go wrong - They are not a load restraining system that should prevent something going wrong in the first place
starfighter:
What about these curtain siders with load bearing curtains?
Most trailers i’ve towed say they are load resistant on the side of the curtain.
ROPE hooks are just that, designed to be used with & to handle a rope as tied by a driver, not to withstand the strains of a ratchet strap.
Ratchet straps can be secured to the side rave or the chassis of the trailer if it doesnt have correct secureing rings in the floor.
Curtains are not a load securing mechanism in any capacity.
Internal straps shold be used as the manufacturer intended, usually as a supplementary load securing device.
zebadee:
ROPE hooks are just that, designed to be used with & to handle a rope as tied by a driver, not to withstand the strains of a ratchet strap.
Ratchet straps can be secured to the side rave or the chassis of the trailer if it doesnt have correct secureing rings in the floor.
Curtains are not a load securing mechanism in any capacity.
Internal straps shold be used as the manufacturer intended, usually as a supplementary load securing device.
Wrong, lots of bodies and trailers have rope hooks which are designed to take a load, hence why you get rachet straps with ring ends on instead of hooks. You obviously can’t use a rope as you’d know that a huge amount of tension can be applied with a decent bit of rope.
I didn’t say a curtain can be used to secure a load, I said some curtains are load resistant.
You can tell who’s been reading the company memo written by the guy who’s read the book .
I think it is fair to say that curtain siders have led to drivers often using either no “load restraints” or not enough, on the grounds of if you can’t see it it can’t hurt you.
I started driving in the days when all non-specialist trailers were flats and you could see what the load was doing all the time.
The sight of something appearing in your mirrors that was not there when you set off was enough to focus the mind on properly securing the load before you started.
Friction is what keeps a load on a trailer and when there is not enough, extra measures have to be taken.
What you use depends on the load.
When it is heavy lumps that can fall over, like cable reels, paper reels, machinery etc, chains or straps.
Bags or boxes on pallets, the pallets normally will not slide but the bags or boxes need to be kept upright, so ropes or straps.
Loads like this were undoubtedly more secure under properly used ropes and sheets than strapped inside a curtain sider.
What you secure the strap or chain to depends on what it is doing.
If the strap is doing the work of a rope, a rope hook is enough but if it’s holding down a machine, then a proper anchor point or right round the chassis is required.
Unfortunately, a classroom trained VOSA person is unlikely to be able to make this distinction.
I used to use a common sense guide when deciding what to use, if the “load restraint” was strong enough to be used to lift the load off, it would keep it on the trailer.
Similarly, if the “restraint” would break before the fixing point, you had chosen the right fixing point.
A chain is always most effective if wrapped round the chassis and on trailers where this is not possible, such as low loaders or step frames,there are sturdy anchor points built into the bed.
In my opinion, if every curtain sider was loaded as if it was a flat trailer and the curtains seen as no more than protection from the weather there would never have been the need for VOSA to “tighten up”.
Sometimes there is only so much that can be done.
I remember a report in “Headlight” years ago where a trailer load of railway wagon wheels had fallen off on a roundabout.
The driver was prosecuted for an insecure load but he won his case.
The wheels had been lined up front to back between two chocks nailed to the trailer floor and only the back one had a “load restraint”.
It was successfully argued that the vehicle had been overturning in a “slow rollover” and that the trailer had effectively tipped them off.
In other words, the load was not insecure, the trailer partially overturning had thrown them off.
A silly prosecution, really, a bit like prosecuting a tipper driver for spilling grain on the road because he has laid the trailer on its side.
Only gravity holds it in the trailer and even VOSA are unlikely to demand that every grain is individually secured.
Regards,
Nick
Saaamon:
zebadee:
ROPE hooks are just that, designed to be used with & to handle a rope as tied by a driver, not to withstand the strains of a ratchet strap.
Ratchet straps can be secured to the side rave or the chassis of the trailer if it doesnt have correct secureing rings in the floor.
Curtains are not a load securing mechanism in any capacity.
Internal straps shold be used as the manufacturer intended, usually as a supplementary load securing device.Wrong, lots of bodies and trailers have rope hooks which are designed to take a load, hence why you get rachet straps with ring ends on instead of hooks. You obviously can’t use a rope as you’d know that a huge amount of tension can be applied with a decent bit of rope.
I didn’t say a curtain can be used to secure a load, I said some curtains are load resistant.
You can tell who’s been reading the company memo written by the guy who’s read the book
Ya a prat & maybe this is why I don’t comment on these forums very often!
in this country we are lucky. In Belgium and Germany it is law that every pallet has a strap over it and they will not let you away from your load point until the entire load is strapped down as they are liable for a fine as well as the driver if stopped.
taffytrucker:
in this country we are lucky. In Belgium and Germany it is law that every pallet has a strap over it and they will not let you away from your load point until the entire load is strapped down as they are liable for a fine as well as the driver if stopped.
Not quite true.
On a trailer with a TÃœV load certificate with sideboards and/or aluminium side slats, pallets that are loaded with a tight fit up to the trailer sides and across the trailer bed do not need to be strapped. Only the last row of pallets will need to be strapped or a restraining bar used to prevent the load moving backwards.
On a trailer with no load certificate, then every row will have to be strapped.
The thing is, all the forkys over here have had to watch the film with the unrestrained pallet sliding over the trailer bed under heavy breaking, so they are now all experts on all the physical forces which act on a load under all conceivable driving conditions 
Added to this, The Man has scared the crap out of them by informing them that they are also liable if Hans (or more usually Vladimir or Bogdan these days 
) has not, in their estimation, secured his load properly before leaving the loading point.
Therefore these unqualified twits (other vowels are available) are increasingly becoming a pain in the arse as they cover their own backs by requiring loads to be over secured.
Regarding JD’s photos with the internal straps: don’t even think about using them over this side of the water
taffytrucker:
in this country we are lucky. In Belgium and Germany it is law that every pallet has a strap over it and they will not let you away from your load point until the entire load is strapped down as they are liable for a fine as well as the driver if stopped.
To be honest I´d prefer it if this were the case over here. Then at least we´d all be in the same boat. People like planners will understand that there should be time taken to secure loads, and it will stop all the ´well drive, all the other blokes don´t bother so why are you`. And ■■■■ right loaders should be fined for insecure loads as well, why should a driver be solely liable for a joint activity?
not all loads can be strapped for instance we take cosmetics on pallets to john lewis and qvc if you try and strap them you would cause thousands of pounds worth of damage and would be looking for a new job by the end of the week. surely its a matter of common sense . mined you we are talking about vosa who have worked it out on a computer. 
steven1967:
not all loads can be strapped for instance we take cosmetics on pallets to john lewis and qvc if you try and strap them you would cause thousands of pounds worth of damage and would be looking for a new job by the end of the week. surely its a matter of common sense . mined you we are talking about vosa who have worked it out on a computer.
Back to corner boards then, turn that clock back, we’ll be stoking the boiler up soon or feeding the bloody horses an hour before leaving the way things are going.
Be interesting to see how the double decker lads secure the loads, top or botom, when you can’t get a ■■■ paper between the pallet and its roof, they’ll be recruiting monkeys to run over the top with the strap ends at this rate.
steven1967:
not all loads can be strapped for instance we take cosmetics on pallets to john lewis and qvc if you try and strap them you would cause thousands of pounds worth of damage and would be looking for a new job by the end of the week. surely its a matter of common sense . mined you we are talking about vosa who have worked it out on a computer.
I’ve strapped paper reels from Switzerland a simple hardend plastic corner on each reel job sorted
Inselaffe:
taffytrucker:
in this country we are lucky. In Belgium and Germany it is law that every pallet has a strap over it and they will not let you away from your load point until the entire load is strapped down as they are liable for a fine as well as the driver if stopped.Not quite true.
On a trailer with a TÃœV load certificate with sideboards and/or aluminium side slats, pallets that are loaded with a tight fit up to the trailer sides and across the trailer bed do not need to be strapped. Only the last row of pallets will need to be strapped or a restraining bar used to prevent the load moving backwards.
On a trailer with no load certificate, then every row will have to be strapped.
The thing is, all the forkys over here have had to watch the film with the unrestrained pallet sliding over the trailer bed under heavy breaking, so they are now all experts on all the physical forces which act on a load under all conceivable driving conditions
Added to this, The Man has scared the crap out of them by informing them that they are also liable if Hans (or more usually Vladimir or Bogdan these days
Therefore these unqualified twits (other vowels are available) are increasingly becoming a pain in the arse as they cover their own backs by requiring loads to be over secured.
Regarding JD’s photos with the internal straps: don’t even think about using them over this side of the water
Going by the handbook you get with a new trailer the boards are there to ‘protect’ the curtains also have seen a pole pulled up in Germany with ali boards in and still had to turn round and strap his load to boot. Our new trailers had full boards and load bearing curtains but we still had to strap everything
jessicas dad:
here’s some of mine recently…its amazing the amount of drivers that dont strap any of these down.
After a discussion with the rha about this topic, what is pictured above will still not be enough as it has to be strapped down to the trailer.Also the back has to be strapped even if it’s against the doors and you have no intention of opening them.
If you take this all to it’s logical (in there eyes only) end, then every load,except bulk products, must be strapped down, still trying to figure how i do this with pallets or bags inside a walking floor trailer.
Stapped as above, it woult only come off if it rolled, same as a walking floor, so how far and how stupid will these rules get? and will site h&s allow you up on the trailer to do all the strapping they ask? Where we load they won’t.
One other obstacle we the drivers are up against when it comes to load security is if collecting from a bonded warehouse some loads are as high as the trailer roof, and upto the back doors even if the trailer is a curtain sider if they won’t allow you access to the trailer so you can secure the load as its loaded ,
How can VOSTAPO fine you for a insecure load in such circumstances as after they have finished loading they usually will seal it too , the same can be said for some of the supermarkets that use curtain siders ,the driver has no say in how the muppets in the rdc have loaded it or is able to check if it is secure but they say that we are responsible for it,
As for those type of straps that dangle from an aluminum tube that runs down the center of the roof, i have always found these to be useless for securing anything unless it was in boxes that contained fresh air, that’s of course assuming that they are not all in a lump tied /tangled together
Good post Tommy. I concur.
zebadee:
ROPE hooks are just that, designed to be used with & to handle a rope as tied by a driver, not to withstand the strains of a ratchet strap.
Ratchet straps can be secured to the side rave or the chassis of the trailer if it doesnt have correct secureing rings in the floor.
Curtains are not a load securing mechanism in any capacity.
Internal straps shold be used as the manufacturer intended, usually as a supplementary load securing device.
Just an observation - that it took 25 posts on the topic before the correct terminolgy put in an appearence.
