Despite me showing several pictures of flat loads with crosses front and back for security, especially in the old days of roping and sheeting, they still don’t get it in N. America.
I questioned the lack of headboards on flat decks and was told it was because it was to allow front overhangs as well as rear ones on long loads.
I know this bloke, a regular poster, has his load well strapped but they wouldn’t stop that lot shifting in an emergency stop.
Click on it once for a better view.
I’m with you there Spardo. I can see there are plenty of straps and they’re probably murder-tight, but I wouldn’t want to take that out even with a headboard fixed to the front. Those top boards could still demolish the cab if you stopped suddenly and they were still doing 60 mph.
I knew it as a Scotch cross.
Transport of ■■■■■■■■■■■■
Or as I knew that, possibly, as C umbernauld. 
Very neat, but are they “made to measure” sheets for a regular load?
If not then a very good job.
Still haven’t got the hang of this new setup but I’m attempting to respond to Spardo’s comment regarding securing loads on a flatbed trailer .
In my limited experience , it would appear that the bulk of material transported by road in North America is carried in 53 ‘ dry vans .
Obviously however , 60’ steel beams cannot be transported in a box van and I’m in total agreement with previous comments inasmuch as webbing straps won’t save you in the event of a cataclysmic shunt .
I’m not entirely certain that a headboard or chains would have much effect either to be fair .
I’ve witnessed the aftermath of incidents on the interstates in the U.S . and I’ve also clocked the speed of some of the trucks that have overtaken me . On one occasion , I followed a truck from Flagstaff to Williams on interstate 40 at over 100 mph .
I understand that American truckers are generally paid by the mile , but falling victim to Morpheus at those kind of speeds … well …neither chains nor straps are going to prove to be much help with 20 odd ton of steel up your jacksey .
Did notice the load sat in the middle of the trailer so the driver may be lucky if collusion is in a straight line Buzzer
I’ve just had another look at it and it is clear that the front RH stack is hardly held at all, just where the straps go over the corner, no downward pressure at all. But a traditional (to us) cross would have made all the difference in normal circumstances.
I once lost all braking (not full air) on a steep hill on the entrance to a village in Cornwall. Because there was a sharp bend at the bottom where the houses started I threw the wheel hard left into the soil banked wall. The wagon came to a halt, unit badly damaged steering wrecked, but the load of plasterboard on the trailer, tightly sheeted, roped and crossed, never shifted. 
Get what you say @eddie_heaton , but there is a long thread on that forum devoted to flat deck photos and also heavy load specialists.
BTW, there was a follow up to that accident. Shaken, I stayed in the cab for a few minutes, then walked down into the village and knocked on the police house door. The copper listened to what I had to say then, without a word, grabbed his crash hat and walked straight past me, got on his Velocette and buggered off. I found a little tea room and spent an hour over several cups calming down, then walked back up to the crash site where he was still directing traffic. His first words of the whole day to me were 'where the hell have you been?
My reply to him would need a lot more than a few spaces to get past the new TN censor.
You’re going to love this one, Spardo!
The front, left stack is virtually insecure. The straps are only going to stop it going off the side, provided the right side stack doesn’t move too.
Bungee straps on tarps? Obviously they dont have tropical storms over there, if they did, that tarp job would only be marginally better than holding a beach brolly over the load.
Ha ha, I left an appropriate comment but only went into detail when warning him of severe back problems long before retirement, lifting a rolled sheet like that. 
Some Yanks do have standards apparently, this photo was published with the caption:
I bet this looks great going down the road. It’s a friendly tarp job, it waves at everyone.
Good comment! 
It’ll not need a fly sheet. Just shake off the water as it drives along.
Air brake? MPG reducer? Mirror blocker?
We had a fire brigade driver in at our Lowton depot when I drove for Inter-City transport in the 1970’s to cover for the holiday period, He had a class 1 licence but no experience.
I came across this guy coming back from Proctor & Gamble on the east Lancs road & it looked like I was following a trailer with a parachute, Gaffer wasn’t too happy with him & guess which Billy Muggins had to re-rope & sheet it. 
This guy didn’t turn up again.
And at least one American recognises that forward motion should be arrested at all costs, something that I hadn’t seen till now.
The comment with this photo was
By the look of the back of his cab, he has learned a lot about coil securement in his career.
Click once for a better look
Either that or a jack-knife?
It bit off topic @spardo , but have you tried talking to your US mates about employment rights?
I do remember Pat Hasler talking about his medical issues and the expenses involved, but there are other differences too.
This young lady is far more pleasant than me with it all. https://youtube.com/shorts/3DQ079m5qcs?si=2Pji-FZMRlDw1XtZ
Yes, but I think the point is that some drivers at least think about forward movement and how to avoid it, previous posts seem to ignore the subject altogether, relying solely on multiple side to side ratchet straps when a simple cross correctly placed would make a massive difference. I did comment the other day on one load that did get my approval. He had a big metal box on containing some kind of electrical stuff and around 8 feet cubed in size, At the bottom there were some sort of skids and, not a strap over the top in sight, he had placed 2 chains fore and aft over the edges of welded skids. Exactly as I would have done.
In complimenting him on a safe load I did enquire if the sender or receiver had complained about scratches on the lovely yellow paint work and he replied that he had put strip of rubber, which he carried for the purpose, under the chains. I’ll dig it out and post it when I can.
Regarding the video, can’t remember being told that I can’t have a sandwich at the wheel when parked up on a break, but I did note that the French one failed to mention that, yes, we have a very good social security set up here but it has to be augmented by a private health insurance. I am 81 and retired and mine cost me €1,400 this year, about 1200 quid. And between them they still only paid about a 5th of my €4,000 hearing aids.
On the other hand, a few years ago I had 2 prostate operations, the 2nd with a full team on a Sunday which cost me nothing at all, and I would have had it done almost immediately but for the French love of summer holidays which made me wait a couple of months till September.
No, I haven’t touched on such things, their humour is not the same as ours, they can be very vicious with it but at the same time can take offence easily. Add that to the common lorry driver rather right of centre views, there and in UK, I think any mention of social security could well cause an anti-commie backlash. I was very surprised to read that a 60 year old who has had to layoff driving for a couple of years for health reasons, and may not be able to return, mentioned he was living off social security, no mention of private insurance. As there were no replies I must assume that it isn’t as bad as we might often think it is.
What sort of chain tensioners do they use US ?
I used to use the over-center lever dogs/togs, and a length of scaffold pole, but that is (rightly) never(?) used now.
I’m not sure, if I find the picture you can decide for yourself but I think the scaffold tube is the favourite. Used correctly they are safe enough, I still have a short length now to make sure the caravan jockey wheel is properly locked. 
I never broke my head open when tensioning a chain…but the screw type do seem very much safer.
No advantage I can see to the old type? The newer type seem safer, so no contest IMHO.
Cheaper too!
