As load security is very important I would be very interested
to know what you use and what job you are doing. I have used
ratchet straps in my last job of strapping vehicles down on car
transporters but not bigger than 3.5 Tonnes and I have
used them to secure kitchen appliances ect when I was a
drivers mate. I have seen on tippers where there is a big like
bungee ■■■■■■■■ the sheet and they pull that down and hook it
on to the hooks on the tipper body but do not know about those
new easy sheet ones.
I’ve used Ratchet straps ranging from 800kg (25mm) to 10000kg (75mm).
The important thing is that the R.A.S. (Rated Assembly Strength) and B.S. (Breaking Strength) are compatible with the load they are restraining and if it can move or not, or is top heavy.
Once saw an advisory chart but never a definitive list of what to use where, its Drivers call, personally if it was large object over 5 tonne and did’nt sit absolutely flat and square on the trailor bed i’d be lloking for chains and toggles, straps just are not secure enough as they will have some give in them and if the load is not supported, or supportable with timbers it could move under the straps.
Palletised loads are slightly different they are less prone to move if they are loaded properly at the works and then wrapped or banded. Internal straps are usually more than enough.
The cover over tippers have no real mechanical strength, it is there to stop the load picking up moisture (Rain) and pushing you overweight on route or to stop the load, ie sand from blowing away and getting you stopped for an insecure load.
I am sure there are lots here that will tell me I’m not right or think different but if I were the responsible driver and its my neck I would always err on the side of caution, easy for me to sit here and say though, I’m not out there day after day under pressure from a TM or others.
One of the easiest rules of thumb, and one which served me well on General Haulage…don’t try and tie it down with anything you wouldn’t use to pick it up.
It never ceases to amaze me how many people run around with fabricated steel held down solely with straps…would you try and lift a trailer full of girders with 4 straps and then willingly stand under it? I know I wouldn’t…
Thanks for the reply’s. one reason for asking was I wanted
to know what things I might come across like roping, sheeting ect.
If I remember rightly a artic truck with a flatbed trailer lost its load of steel
at the roundabout near the hellaby roundabout where the stockyard is
and closed the road for hours and would of been about 10 years ago.
As for fabricated steel assent that got to be secured with chains to
stop the steel fraying the straps.
I’m doing a stint again this week for a timber company in a curtain sider. When I did my first job for them I got a few tips about securing with straps, one of which was to hook onto the chassis because the edge of the bed was pretty flimsy looking. Lo and behold somebody from the same firm came up to me last week and asked why I was doing the same thing on their fairly new hired truck. I pointed out the aluminium edging on the bed and told him about the advice I had got and he thought it was a good idea!
I was lucky enough to do a rigging and slinging course in my previous life offshore so I probably go a bit mad with straps. I never was convinced that some of the roping I’d seen years ago was safe. We used slings made out of the same stuff as the straps and the main advice we got was to keep them away from oil and to check the stitching regularly.
Gordy
Convoy - there are ways of pinning plate steel on flat that would make it ok to secure it with ratchet straps because the pinning would stop it sliding, however it would only work for thin plate and then in small stacks.
With any steel - Chains and Toggles - EVERY TIME but especially with girders, pipes or fabricated sections, and its important to have the right size C’s and T’s, I have seen girders chained on with something resembling the chain I secure my back gate with.
Gordy - your quite right about the trailor bed edge hooks, they are for securing sheets to not tying down. Rope hooks are on the trailor chassis.
I’ve only done steel once, so know very little, but one thing it did teach me was it’s not strapped down until you’ve stopped 5 minutes up the road to check & if necessary re tighten.
I must admit to being amazed at the number of curtainsiders on the road where the curtain seems to be the only thing stopping the load hitting the road.
I know we all have loads that touch or push against the curtains, but with some trailers you just know it’s a lack of good load restraint.
The funniest curtainsider I have seen was one that
was carrying saw dust and the curtainsider was
really bulging and at the time my instructor said I
bet he cannot see through his mirrors. Good tip
gordy and thats good advice daxi in that you should
check & if necessary re tighten.
convoy:
The funniest curtainsider I have seen was one that
was carrying saw dust and the curtainsider was
really bulging and at the time my instructor said I
bet he cannot see through his mirrors. Good tip
gordy and thats good advice daxi in that you should
check & if necessary re tighten.
These trailers are known as bulkliners and have specially strenthened curtains designed to carry woodchip and shavings.
The trailers we use are similar with the vertical straps running through aluminium poles to strengthen the fabric. There are also more straps than on a normal curtainsider, 25 or 26 compared to 19 or 20
For those of you who will be visting EUROPE for the first time the
word load security may mean paying more attention when secureing
the load, I can state how it is in Germany, you will not come away from
the loading place ,when it has not been secured correctly and you will
also in large companies have to sign that your load is secured as
according to German law, The loader is also by law in Germany
responsible for the security of the load, They dö not like loading
curtainsiders with HAZERDOUS if you do not have the required side-
-boards which match a certain height ,you also must use a system
of boards which restrict the movement to the rear of the trailer,
Under your pallets you will be asked to place anti-skid mats made
for this type of work .these help to keep the said pallets from
moveing :If you use straps they must be in good working order and
not damaged at all, and checked 1 a year by a quailified firm and
documented to show and if necessary on paper prove this has been
done, they are more ways of loadsecurity and it is worth learning
and observeing these as it could be some one you love and know
when the load was to be lost from the vehicle that you are driveing…
If you use straps they must be in good working order and
not damaged at all, and checked 1 a year by a quailified firm and
documented to show and if necessary on paper prove this has been
done,
This one is going to cause some problems, we can swap and change straps up to 3 or 4 times a day with other drivers. I can imagine the BAG will also want serial numbers and matching straps and tensioners!
Not saying the idea is wrong but the paperwork would be a ZB nightmare
NO;wheelnut you do not have to take the written proof of atest cerificate
for the straps with you,but if a accident happens which warrents an
investigation by the HSE people they will ask for evidence in writeing
that ,your straps have been tested yearly as according to the law,
If you use straps ,they must be undamaged completely( NO- TEARS OR
DAMAGED BUCKELES-etc.) and that they are of the required strength
for the load which you are secureing them with, IT is safer to use
more straps of a stronger strength as required than getting FINED
for not doing correctly, Plus here when stopped and found at fault
you recieve a FINE and also POINTS which they will put in the
German DVLC on an account in your name, and when this reaches
a set amount you will be banned from driveing in GERMANY for a
duration laid down by this office.
daxi:
I’ve only done steel once, so know very little, but one thing it did teach me was it’s not strapped down until you’ve stopped 5 minutes up the road to check & if necessary re tighten.
It is also very important to re-tension ropes or straps after a few miles with any bagged load, whether palleted or not, that can settle, ie, powders, granules, grains, that type of thing.
CM:
It is also very important to re-tension ropes or straps after a few miles with any bagged load, whether palleted or not, that can settle, ie, powders, granules, grains, that type of thing.
I now check with most loads & if the straps are wet every time, it only takes a few minutes, but the amount of slack you get is surprising.
Here is one site from GERMANY about load security ,it also has a
site in english, try it out I will try and find some more and then out them
all at once in one post on the useful links forum.
CM:
It is also very important to re-tension ropes or straps after a few miles with any bagged load, whether palleted or not, that can settle, ie, powders, granules, grains, that type of thing.
I now check with most loads & if the straps are wet every time, it only takes a few minutes, but the amount of slack you get is surprising.
Good point Daxi, I should have mentioned that all ropes hessian, even modern Polypropolene ropes and web straps will give when they get wet so its even more important to check them regularly when raining, snowing, etc. As well as keeping a watch on them out of your mirrors I always walk around the truck and check fastenings as well as lights, plate, tyres and wheels, etc every time I park up anywhere, whether for a break or not. Not everyone does but I think its a good habit to get into.
I’m in the timber co.‘s tall truck this week, (14’ 6"), and it has the pole and rings under the roof. When would this be used rather than strapping over the load to the chassis?
Gordy
What you refer to I think is the anchor rail for webbing. I take it the truck is a curtainsider. The webbing is usually only used for high cube, low weight packages or palleted items. I would not want to rely on it for anything substantial, if its fitted then it will tell you on a label on it what its maximum capacity is.
Denis F