I remember that in So’ton the Dockies would refuse to handle trucks without twist-locks.
I thought it was a local rule rather than an actual law. All being in the same Union T&GWU although different branches the drivers wanted to have twist-locks and not be undercut by those without them, so asked the Dockies to refuse to load unsafe trucks.
That would have been the 70’s when boxes were still relatively new.
I can remember some sheds were still off-loading general cargoes in the late 70’s, although most were containerised by then.
Years ago I stayed overnight in Leeds. When I left in the morning the road was blocked and I had to take a detour.
A lorry loaded with steel pipes had been parked up near me and his vehicle was now totally blocking a junction. The pipes were stacked on the flatbed trailer in a pyramid – 4, 3, 2, 1, and chained down with three chains. The trailer was a standard 40-footer and I guess the pipes were a few feet shorter, so they were loaded at the centre – not against the headboard.
The driver had been forced to brake hard at the junction and the top two layers of pipes had slid forward and sliced right through the cab. The driver did not survive.