I was chatting to a colleague today and he seems to think he had read it somewhere, that VOSA have now made a statement to the effect that pallets with less than 400kg of product on dont need to be individually secured. Anything over 400kg would need to be strapped.
Has anyone else heard or read about this, if so where?
Ive tried a search but get hundreds of hits and cant be arsed looking through all of them TBH,
Ive also checked on VOSAs website but theres nothing about it on there.
Over to you lot guys…
Depends more on the shape than the weight.
That might help.
Can’t see it. You would just add another board half way down to split the weight
If it falls out the side, you`ll be charged with an insecure load, plus any other damages, maybe manslaughter…so STRAP IT.
toowise:
I was chatting to a colleague today and he seems to think he had read it somewhere, that VOSA have now made a statement to the effect that pallets with less than 400kg of product on dont need to be individually secured. Anything over 400kg would need to be strapped.
Has anyone else heard or read about this, if so where?
Ive tried a search but get hundreds of hits and cant be arsed looking through all of them TBH,
Ive also checked on VOSAs website but theres nothing about it on there.
Over to you lot guys…
What about load security in fridges ? We hardly have any of those bars and the ones we do have are ones that have been left behind. If we pick up a load of bananas which are about 6ft high we can’t restrain them in any way, also some pallets of juice or yoghurts can be quite tall and hefty, but our lot say we don’t bed them.
well if it is true, then it’s [zb]ing stupid. what’s going to move the easiest 400kg, or a 20 ton dead weight?
it all needs securing. but the backroom pen pushing ■■■■ have to start thinking without any practical experience.
how it’s done can’t be summed up in one formula, you’d have to have different securing rules for every product carried by a truck.
bald bloke:
What about load security in fridges ? We hardly have any of those bars and the ones we do have are ones that have been left behind. If we pick up a load of bananas which are about 6ft high we can’t restrain them in any way, also some pallets of juice or yoghurts can be quite tall and hefty, but our lot say we don’t bed them.
Fridges are extremely strong and it unlikely that any normal palletised cargo would ever get out, even in an
accident.
The problem is keeping the back pallets upright, especially if they are not at the back of the trailer and restrained by the doors.
I can see that bananas will stand on their own, those big boxes, banded onto pallets are pretty hard to turn over
and for that matter, not likely to be damaged much if they are.
However, I cannot understand why you would have no bars or straps, supplied by whoever you work for but if you do not,
in any case, it is they and not you who will be footing the bill for any damage claim.
EDIT… I have been issued one strap only where I work but mysteriously have about a dozen now, they’re not hard to find 
and once you have one or two, you can use them on a load you’re not sure about and take them off and keep them when
you have finished.
One day, that’ll save you a lot of restacking, I feel sure.
Regards,
Nick
It’s just tall pallets at the back I dont like and some are tall, several drivers including myself have had a tall pallet of yoghurt go over and its not nice but had no rollicking because they don’t supply anything. It’s that some of our trailers have shutter doors and they are flimsy to say the least.
I think, in your position I would make sure I had my own strap, even if I had to buy one because I couldn’t “find” one.
I have seen them for sale in truckstops, Halfords and even the occasional MSA.
Can you not persuade your company of the value of each driver having his/her own strap?
The cost of a claim on one pallet of yoghurt rejected because it’s been on its back would more than cover the cost of this.
Not to mention the cost to them if a pallet falls out of the back of a trailer onto you or one of your colleagues for the want of a strap.
Regards,
Nick.
Common sense has gone out the window these days!
ncooper:
Fridges are extremely strong and it unlikely that any normal palletised cargo would ever get out, even in an
accident.
According to the experts , ‘containment’ of the load is not enough to ensure legality. The load needs to be ‘secured’ to be legal.
Mike-C:
According to the experts , ‘containment’ of the load is not enough to ensure legality. The load needs to be ‘secured’ to be legal.
If that is the case, it is at this point in the discussion, or thereabouts, that any remaining shreds of common sense or good practice finally blow away and we are left in the hands of textbook trained “experts.”
Regards,
Nick.
toowise:
I was chatting to a colleague today and he seems to think he had read it somewhere, that VOSA have now made a statement to the effect that pallets with less than 400kg of product on dont need to be individually secured. Anything over 400kg would need to be strapped.
Did he mention anything about THIS whilst he was on?
ncooper:
I think, in your position I would make sure I had my own strap, even if I had to buy one because I couldn’t “find” one.
I have seen them for sale in truckstops, Halfords and even the occasional MSA.
Can you not persuade your company of the value of each driver having his/her own strap?
The cost of a claim on one pallet of yoghurt rejected because it’s been on its back would more than cover the cost of this.
Not to mention the cost to them if a pallet falls out of the back of a trailer onto you or one of your colleagues for the want of a strap.
Regards,
Nick.
Too true, I always strap the rear items in my trailer, simply for that reason if not so I don’t have to pick it all up.
You spin round in a yard, then reverse on to the bay or into position, stops with a nice shudder through the full load, open doors and wearing yoghurt, no thanks…
I do wonder though, how long you’d work for a firm that refused to supply a strap without simply going and buying 1, even just a thin 1, for yourself - but also, the firm sounds like a load of crap too.
I think he is reffering to the VOSA guidance matrix here http://www.fta.co.uk/_galleries/downloads/loading_of_vehicles/vosa_enforcement_matrix120307.pdf
A pallet of less than 400kg is a type C. With no load securing that would become a C1 which would result in prohibition. With innadequate load securing it would be a C2 which results in advisory only.
As for other comments in this thread about fridges etc - if you check the top bit of the VOSA guidance matrix it states the primary targets are flate, low loaders, curtain siders etc. Fridges are on the don’t worry about them list … containment is sufficient in a fridge (or so they say)
waynedl:
ncooper:
I think, in your position I would make sure I had my own strap, even if I had to buy one because I couldn’t “find” one.
I have seen them for sale in truckstops, Halfords and even the occasional MSA.
Can you not persuade your company of the value of each driver having his/her own strap?
The cost of a claim on one pallet of yoghurt rejected because it’s been on its back would more than cover the cost of this.
Not to mention the cost to them if a pallet falls out of the back of a trailer onto you or one of your colleagues for the want of a strap.
Regards,
Nick.
Too true, I always strap the rear items in my trailer, simply for that reason if not so I don’t have to pick it all up.
You spin round in a yard, then reverse on to the bay or into position, stops with a nice shudder through the full load, open doors and wearing yoghurt, no thanks…
I do wonder though, how long you’d work for a firm that refused to supply a strap without simply going and buying 1, ev
en just a thin 1, for yourself - but also, the firm sounds like a load of crap too.
Culina I work for. Was thinking about getting my own strap but it’s getting it back when dumping a trailer which has a seal on it.
Not much you can do about a sealed trailer, whether you are loading or tipping it.
It sounds as if Culina need to have a think and either re-equip all their trailers with bars
or start issuing straps to the warehouse for them to fit.
If, as I suspect, the problem has arisen because, over time, all the bars have been left at various RDCs because of
careless drivers or magpie warehouse staff, they can be tied to the trailer by wire so they can be taken off the load but
not off the trailer.
Turners have these in their newer trailers, a pain sometimes, for the driver, but at least they’re never short of a load restraint.
Fowler Welch supply straps, which are just about good enough for the job but not good enough to “find”, that seems to work.
For the times when the trailer is not sealed and you can see tall pallets at the back, your own strap is the best answer.
You can always take it off just before you back the last few feet onto a bay, better for the warehouse staff and you will not have to
ask for it back when you’re tipped.
I have “gained” a few bars and cups by doing this, chucked back in when they can’t remember if they took one off or not. 
Regards,
Nick
Straps just aren’t good enough… ask the Gist driver who left a few trays around m6 j40 roundabout this morning. his load was only strapped, not barred… the straps broke through and his load smashed one door open.
We don’t do trays but they generally need to be restrained at several points throughout the trailer and not just on the back end, but straps should still hold them if used properly surely.
