I stick to a very simple formula.
I strap loads that need strapping and I don’t strap loads that don’t need strapping. Simples! 
Own Account Driver:
Some folk out there would dance around with a banana stuck up their jacksie if VOSA told them to.
What a banana you say, yep thats me if VOSA / DVSA told me too I’m your man. Wouldn’t be the first time 
Not that you don’t have an excellent point but that doesn’t put food on my table so until the day comes when your in charge I will do it VOSA’s way.
I could be alone in this but i go to work to maximise my family’s income, if I have to spend 30 minutes securing a load that wouldn’t move in a million years so be it.
Course I also stray from my own high horse if in a rush and lift the axle up so VOSA think i’m empty 
LIBERTY_GUY:
It is up to VOSA (DVSA) to decide what is an unsecured load. If you have a curtainsider it is no longer acceptable to have any kind of unsecured load inside.
So much for “Load Bearing Curtains”.
The situation that frightens me is when you have someone strap a load like on this thread header, and it goes out the side door anyway!
All that H&S lulls people into a false sense of security. If it’s heavy, high, and unstable - it’s going over at the first adverse camber - regardless of how many straps you put on it. 
On the other hand, if you are aware of having a load that is liable to shift if you go around corners on 11 wheels, you might just not take corners like “Tron”.
Harry Monk:
I stick to a very simple formula.I strap loads that need strapping and I don’t strap loads that don’t need strapping. Simples!
Spot on.
If its a delicate load would it not be prudent to just chuck a strap over it and not ratchet it down so tight?
Looks good…only a thought as I have this on a flat bed so any braking or swerving incident I know the load aint gonna move but a visual strap not too tight that may well save the day in a very heavy manoeuvre, its all in the clicks
Harry Monk:
I stick to a very simple formula.I strap loads that need strapping and I don’t strap loads that don’t need strapping. Simples!
Agreed I take it the lad has maybe already been pulled and relieved of some of his hard earned from vosa and maybe told his boss thats it I am stapping everything down from now on 
The only thing that was wrong with the load,was the “shunter” or whoever loaded the trailer didn`t use corner boards to stop ant damage to the cartons
Harry Monk:
I stick to a very simple formula.I strap loads that need strapping and I don’t strap loads that don’t need strapping. Simples!
Exactly! same here, aka common sense.
These new regs have nothing to do with load security (in real terms) and everything to do with raising cash, (DCPC style) and at the same time making it look on the face of things that the industry is doing the right thing when in reality it is doing sweet ■■■■ all (WTD style)… cynical but true!
Harry Monk:
I stick to a very simple formula.I strap loads that need strapping and I don’t strap loads that don’t need strapping. Simples!
Perfect answer. Some loads do not need ‘strapping’ to the load bed, but unfortunately some drivers don’t realise their load is one that DOES need strapping. Far too many I meet think curtains are load bearing and internal straps hold 5 tons each.
My experience over the years is that damage to stock, refused loads, accidents during unloading or trying to restrap a shifted load, damage to vehicles and ultimately road traffic accidents etc all show load security is lacking.
Compare what we do to most ‘major’ European countries. They have much better equipment including the trailers, friction matting, edge protectors and basically far more idea of what they need to do - and as far as I can see that’s all down to avoiding fines and consistent enforcement.
The major difference is that countries such as Germany legally involve three parties - Driver, Employer and loader. All three can be fined or prosecuted to even the despatching company try to make sure the load is correct before it leaves.
waddy640:
Juddian:
the maoster:
Learning to drive and pass your test with an empty vehicle is a pointless exercise, if it were loaded at least you would get some experience of how very different they are.
You are loaded a bit for test now, in artic you have 8t in the back, in rigid you have 5t in the back. Sure that isn’t the same as fully freighted, but better than nothing in terms of preparation for real work!
LIBERTY_GUY:
It is up to VOSA (DVSA) to decide what is an unsecured load. If you have a curtainsider it is no longer acceptable to have any kind of unsecured load inside.
why not?
Why did i see a few Month ago a lowloader having one Strap over the Cab of a Excavator alone holding them down?
I dont think Safety is only for Courtainsider
th2013:
waddy640:
Juddian:
the maoster:
Learning to drive and pass your test with an empty vehicle is a pointless exercise, if it were loaded at least you would get some experience of how very different they are.
You are loaded a bit for test now, in artic you have 8t in the back, in rigid you have 5t in the back. Sure that isn’t the same as fully freighted, but better than nothing in terms of preparation for real work!
And, that load is often liquid, albeit in numerous IBCs, so the load shifts (within the IBCs) on braking / cornering. I guess it, to a point, simulates baffles.
Chris1207:
th2013:
waddy640:
Juddian:
the maoster:
Learning to drive and pass your test with an empty vehicle is a pointless exercise, if it were loaded at least you would get some experience of how very different they are.
You are loaded a bit for test now, in artic you have 8t in the back, in rigid you have 5t in the back. Sure that isn’t the same as fully freighted, but better than nothing in terms of preparation for real work!
And, that load is often liquid, albeit in numerous IBCs, so the load shifts (within the IBCs) on braking / cornering. I guess it, to a point, simulates baffles.
So after forty odd years of driving tests there is some realism in the thing, oh well better late than never.
The question is how many accidents and their consequences could have been avoided if this had been thought about when the tests were introduced. Like everything else we sometimes learn by our mistakes.
Here’s a scenario for you:- A run takes 8.5 hours for the round trip, including strapping, loading, drive time, and paperwork collection etc at the other end.
So… one day, some bod is asked to do this run TWICE. He achieves it of course, by cutting corners, afraid that if he doesn’t comply, he’ll lose the work one way or another. Fear. “Break the law for us my son, and we’ll look the other way, as long as the job gets done”.
Guy is fine, until he gets pulled by VOSA who promply endorse his licence, and fine him heavily for “having an insecure load”.
You can’t decrease the drive time, loading time, or paperwork collection. That just leaves how much time you spend on “strapping”.
There are plenty of drivers out there who think that there’s less chance of being pulled for forgoing this than working 17 hours and “hoping not to get caught”.
This is dangerous thinking of course, but until there are a shortage of people prepared to work for such employers - I’m sure the practice of "blame it all on the driver - we were looking the other way" - will continue.
Immigrant:
LIBERTY_GUY:
It is up to VOSA (DVSA) to decide what is an unsecured load. If you have a curtainsider it is no longer acceptable to have any kind of unsecured load inside.why not?
Why did i see a few Month ago a lowloader having one Strap over the Cab of a Excavator alone holding them down?
I dont think Safety is only for Courtainsider
It is true that securing loads does not only apply to curtainsiders, but there has always been a small element of people driving curtainsiders that have never attempted to secure ANY load hidden behind those curtains. We have all seen bulging curtains where the unsecured load has shifted, or see curtains pulled in yards where not one solitary item inside has any straps over it.
How people drive and do the job is entirely up to them, but when DVSA start targeting trucks for unsecured loads and begin taking hundreds of pounds off drivers… ■■