Securing loads

Road traffic surveillance is becoming increasingly stringent. Whereas a number of years ago only the driving behaviour and the state of the vehicle were inspected, nowadays more and more attention is being paid to how the loads are secured.. Moreover, trucks losing their load are becoming a daily news item and unfortunately the consequences are often very severe. As a result of this, the surveillance on whether loads are correctly secured, will probably increase even more and higher fines will be applied. Probably the (stringent) German legislation will become the general rule in the European Union.

For that matter the transport sector felt the need to pay attention to the subject of "securing loads". This will become very clear during the coming trailer show in Kortrijk. As the safety of the drivers and of the other road users is involved, and as Van Dievel Transport wants to take good care of the customers' goods and does not want to see them damaged, the VDT drivers recently met in the auditorium of the De Nayer Institute to discuss the various aspects of securing loads. Here comes a short survey of what was said.

Legislation

The Belgian legislation does not say much about securing loads. The traffic regulations only contain a number of general clauses and lay down rules for the maximum dimensions of the load (e.g. the protruding part) and the signalisation (see articles 45 through 47 of the traffic regulations).

In Germany the situation is very different: if the load is not (or insufficiently) secured, the German traffic police consider the driver (and any third parties) to be ‘in breach of the law’, even if nothing has happened yet. The minimal fine amounts to 50.00 euro plus 3 penalty points in Flensburg and the vehicle is immobilized until the load has been competently secured.

Moreover, any damage due to gross negligence is at the expense of the person being negligent, irrespective of whether this is the driver or any of the other above-mentioned parties.

Several parties

In general several parties are involved in securing a load: the driver, the shipper, the owner of the vehicle, the sender and/or the carrier. To ensure a safe transport, it is extremely important that everybody knows his task and that the division of tasks is agreed upon in advance.

Impacting forces

Various forces impact on the load during the road transport, the most important ones being the gravitation of the load, the backward or forward force of the load due to accelerating or slowing down, the centrifugal force in curves and the frictional force the floor exerts on the load. This does not take into account the upward force when driving on bumpy roads.

The following diagram shows what happens when the weight of the load equals 1.0 G:

• When slowing down, the forward force can increase to 0.8 G (80 % of the weight of the load)
• When accelerating, the backward force can increase to 0.5 G
• The sideward force in a curve can also amount to 0.5 G

This means the driver must compensate these maximal forces by means of adequate material and correct techniques for securing the load.

The driver also knows that the frictional resistance of the floor is very important: the higher this resistance, the more stable the load remains during the ride.
The attached table shows the relation between the frictional resistance and the material of the cargo floor and the type of load.

The Greek character ‘µ’ (‘mu’) refers to the sliding resistance. The higher the sliding resistance, the more stable the load. In the table you can see e.g. the counterforce exerted by an antiskid mat (µ = 0.60).

Material

Usually VDT drivers secure the load by means of guy ropes or load straps and corner guards. For Delhaize they also use chains.
Examples of other devices that can be used for securing the load:

• wall ties, partitioning, clamp beams
• filling material: dunnage bags, foam rubber cushions, wood (beams, wedges, pallets)
• beams, wooden wedges, chocks
• antiskid mats
• various: nets and tarpaulins, rails in sidewalls or in the floor

Methods

• When lashing down the load, the driver presses the load against the cargo floor by means of the guy rope or load strap. New guy ropes or load straps are equipped with a technical label stating the amount of tension the guy rope can endure: when outstretched and when used in a U-shape
  
  The (unclear) picture shows that a DR4 guy rope or load strap can absorb up to 2500 daN (decaNewton ⁽¹⁾) if it is outstretched over the load, and even the double amount if it is stretched over the load in a U-shape.
  
  
• When stowing the load, the goods are stored in the trailer in such a way that they occupy the smallest space possible and that they are butted up well in order to ensure that they remain in position.
  There are two methods for stowing loads: (1) restricting the cargo space by putting up a partition or a clamp beam, and (2) filling the empty space with filling material.
  
  

^{(1)1 kg (force) = 0.9806 daN (decaNewton); a force of 1 Newton accelates a mass 1 kg at a speed of 1 m/sec.}

VDT-practice

• Loads on pallets: in this case, stowing the load is the best option to secure it. In exceptional conditions a pressure-resistant ‘palletized load’ can be lashed down.
  Empty pallets can be lashed down or can be secured through a combined method of stowing the load and lashing it down.
  
  
  
• Rolls of paper: if they are transported in an upright position, there is a danger that they might turn over and shift. If they are transported in a horizontal position, there is a danger that they might roll and shift.
  To avoid this, the following methods are used for securing the load:
  
  - antiskid mats
  - stowing the load
  - securing the rolls to the cargo floor by means of kegs
  - forming blocks
  - lashing down the load, with or without using a tarpaulin.
  
  
• Lying concrete elements are often best secured by means of a combination of the following methods:
  - correctly positioned chocks
  - correctly positioned guy ropes or load straps used in combination with corner guards
  - stowing the load in the front
  - filling the free space above the top element.
  
  
• Special pallets and boxes can be used for barrels and bottles (see HoekLoos, FarmaDomo).
  When transporting tubes or metal profiles, special boxes can be used (see Reynaers).
  
  

Drivers can prevent problems by behaving professionally.

Role of the driver

The role of the driver is summarized in a separate annexe which the VDT driver keeps in his driver's manual after having read it thoroughly.

Conclusion

Quite often the most convincing arguments for making sure a load is secured efficiently are own experiences and experiences of colleagues. In this respect, ‘near-misses’ are always worth mentioning. Your colleague might be less fortunate…