Actually, I agree with this.
I hauled concrete lintels for the best part of ten years and always strapped them to the trailer. I used to shudder whenever I saw a three-tonne pack of concrete lintels secured to the trailer by another driver by nothing more than a net.
mezzzz1211:
http://flic.kr/p/bVkgqd
hope this helps sorry about the quality
The quality may be OK but I cant see what ever it is …
meanwhile in china
Frankydobo:
The Road Haulage Association needs to get onto VOSA and say if they intend doing this Nationwide then they need to inform companies and drivers correctly or introduce a new law not just wag their fingers after they’ve pulled a vehicle over, typical British do everything arse about face attitude we seem to be bogged down with these days, rumour after rumour without any proper notification, no wonder this countries knackered!
I can see what you are saying - this all seems to have come out of the blue and it isn’t fair not to warn everyone but … this isn’t a change to the law. The law regarding security of loads has been included in the Road traffic Act since something like 1988. All that’s happened now is VOSA are having a bit of a campaign on enforcing it.
According to the HSA there have been a record number of deaths and injuries connected to load security. It mainly came about because in 2010 HSE and VOSA did a joint survey stopping curtainsiders and flats. they found over 90% of loads weren’t adequately secured but on 80% of those cases the driver secured the load at the side of the road with equipment he had with him - so why didn’t he do that in the first place?
Out local Council Health & Safety officers turned up at our to carry out a load security survey and went into how we load and secure items. They watched vehicles being loaded, interviewed staff to see if they had been trained, checked straps etc.
It’s just the latest thing for them to concentrate on - the law has been around for years
I was informed by another driver this effects ALL pallets ■■?
IF true this will cause chaos in RDC’s !
Altho from the letter above it looks like its just concrete based
Fallmonk:
I was informed by another driver this effects ALL pallets ■■?
IF true this will cause chaos in RDC’s !
Altho from the letter above it looks like its just concrete based
The notice I have seen (only within one company mind) says it affects all goods, specifically curtainsiders. If you carry anything within a curtainsider and it isn’t secured VOSA are currently taking a dim view of it.
Even if it’s a pallet where the pallet itself weighs more than the load on it.
From what I was told once at a chat with a VOSA bod at a tea-coli van on a break once “we think of curtainsiders just like a flat bed, simply pretend the curtain isn’t there”
and everyone’s favourite quip when it comes to c-siders “The curtains are not load bearing”
I have to say it’s fine with me, I’m a serial strapper, but some companies really really hate it when you take up their bay/yard for an extra 5 minutes while you strap it all up.
I know theyve been pulling brick and block motors at the Blackwall Tunnel and dishing out fines for ‘insecure loads’, ie netted with no straps or netted with just the end packs and every third pack strapped (as required by some companies before you leave the yard, but til now not by VOSA), up until recentley just netting a load was acceptable so why the sudden change? And why no official word reguarding rule changes? The way we’ve been finding out is by other people getting stopped and fined 
Grayham:
I know theyve been pulling brick and block motors at the Blackwall Tunnel and dishing out fines for ‘insecure loads’, ie netted with no straps or netted with just the end packs and every third pack strapped (as required by some companies before you leave the yard, but til now not by VOSA), up until recentley just netting a load was acceptable so why the sudden change? And why no official word reguarding rule changes? The way we’ve been finding out is by other people getting stopped and fined
As far as i know the rules havent changed they have always been the same, loads must be secure
It wont be long until they all go and visit Germany for some training. Then we’ll all have to put rubber mats under each pallet as its loaded, strap each pallet down with a certified span set with tag intact. Then ofcourse 95% of curtainsiders in the country will have to be seriously modified or scrapped as strapping to the chasis will no longer be allowed and most UK curtainsiders dont have proper built in hook in points for the straps internally at the required spacing to allow for strapping all 26 pallets on the deck. Fun times ahead I think.
As someone thats always either done international work or ferry work in the UK all this strapping down has always been part of my job and its very often caused a massive issue when I’ve had to stay put in a yard to strap up after loading, or indeed before unloading. I can only imagine the chaos when a large RDC that has hundreds of trucks a day will grind to a halt as each one goes from taking 5 minutes to open the sides, to 30 minutes to open up, un strap and pack away the straps etc.
I can see that within a few years the UK will be conforming to EU norms and we’ll all be on 4m high Euroliners, with 30-60 aluminium or wooden boards in the side, and strapping every pallet, often with straps bolted to the side of the trailers etc. The days of lazy drivers getting paid by the hour to sit all day in RDC’s will be over as they’re out in the yard, putting straps over loads, climbing up to put protective corner pieces on to protect the straps from fraying on sharp edges or damaging the load, then putting in all those nice boards back in, before finally closing the curtains.
This will soon be an every day job for every curtainsider driver in the country when our rules catch up with the Germans. That took long enough to strap and re-board and I didnt even use rubber mats and corner pieces.
I bet that before long it’ll be impossible to get a job on fridges and containers!!
Grayham:
I know theyve been pulling brick and block motors at the Blackwall Tunnel and dishing out fines for ‘insecure loads’, ie netted with no straps or netted with just the end packs and every third pack strapped (as required by some companies before you leave the yard, but til now not by VOSA), up until recentley just netting a load was acceptable so why the sudden change? And why no official word reguarding rule changes? The way we’ve been finding out is by other people getting stopped and fined
There hasn’t been a change to the rules … the LAW governing the state of loads has been around for years.
Just like speed limits. Around for years then they brought in speed cameras to enforce it. The limits were the same
Now they are having a go at enforcing the load safety bit and they have written a guideline to work from
what about woring at hight rules ,so no going up on trailers
Grayham:
I know theyve been pulling brick and block motors at the Blackwall Tunnel and dishing out fines for ‘insecure loads’, ie netted with no straps or netted with just the end packs and every third pack strapped (as required by some companies before you leave the yard, but til now not by VOSA), up until recentley just netting a load was acceptable so why the sudden change? And why no official word reguarding rule changes? The way we’ve been finding out is by other people getting stopped and fined
In my eyes this is a good thing the amount of cowboys I see goin out of some brick yards with only one ■■■■■■■■ the front pack and one on the back, or a ■■■■ poor net barley attached with a few bits of string,I my self find using a net tie in it down properly with decent bits of rope and using six ratchet straps to be more than adequate at the end of the day an extra 15 mins in the yard securing the lOad is well worth avoiding a fine or even worse an accident
Ok. This is the first I`ve heard of this VOSA clampdown.
So, l go to pick up a load of steel and decide on how many chains/straps to put on, then while out on the road VOSA stops me, can they then fine me for an insecure load…even though nothings moved, simply because their opinion differs from mine?
If I put 5 chains on, how do I know they won`t deem 6 necessary? If I put 6 on, what if they reckon 7?
I understand that if there`s NO load restraint in place like,say, on a load of dumpy bags they can say its insecure because nothings in place to secure it!
But how can they get a case to stick when its secured and hasn`t budged?
Anyone?
With steel the first thing they will look for is that it’s loaded to the headboard, and the headboard is in good condition.
The next thing they look for is that nothing is so high that it can overshoot the headboard and hit the cab.
Then they are looking for sufficient restraints, properly attached to the vehicle to stop the items from falling off. It’s not just a case of have the items moved, they will be looking for restraints that are strong enough and positioned correctly to stop it from moving.
so you will need to know the weight of the items you are carrying, and the rated strength of your straps and chains, and use you skill and judgement to position them properly.
It’s just common sense, really.
Print yourself off a copy of this
webarchive.nationalarchives.gov. … hicles.pdf
and follow it.
This is probably the most important bit
the combined strength of the load restraint system must be sufficient to withstand a force not less than the total weight of the load forward, so as to prevent the load moving under severe braking, and half of the weight of the load backwards and sideways (see Fig 3). Vertical movement may occur but this should be overcome if the above conditions are met. This applies to all vehicles no matter what the size, from small vans to the largest goods vehicles. These principles are based on the maximum forces that are likely to be experienced during normal road use. Greater forces may be encountered if the vehicle, for example, is involved in an accident. The principles should therefore be regarded as minimum requirements.
have a look on the CM site, fertilizer is another probem, the bods enforcing the rules dont know themselves!!!
you cant make it up they are seeking advice! from the RHA/FTA of all places! just look at the supid ideas, loose pallets on top of bags!!! to stop ratchet straps bursting bags ! what about nails,sharp, corners?
Our mob used to pull curtainside trailers for another company, and the curtains clearly stated on them that they were load bearing re-enforced. I think they were called ‘armour sheet’ curtains. It obviously stated that live loads, cages etc would require other means of restraint. So I would say that for straight forward loads on pallets, I wouldn’t need to add any more straps/ropes. But does anyone think VOSA would agree or not?
Moose:
have a look on the CM site, fertilizer is another probem, the bods enforcing the rules dont know themselves!!!
you cant make it up they are seeking advice! from the RHA/FTA of all places! just look at the supid ideas, loose pallets on top of bags!!! to stop ratchet straps bursting bags ! what about nails,sharp, corners?
This has always been an issue in Germany with big bags of whatever. There, when they stop you, they not only check if its strapped but also put their strap tension device on it and do you if its too loose. As we all know, you can strap big one ton bags down when they’re loaded, but once you get up the road they’ll have settled and the straps are then slack, and so on and so forth. Like everything else in the EU these days, its just another set of one rule fits all scenario that gives them free reign to do as they want at the detriment of drivers licences and the industry at large.
robinhood_1984:
Moose:
have a look on the CM site, fertilizer is another probem, the bods enforcing the rules dont know themselves!!!
you cant make it up they are seeking advice! from the RHA/FTA of all places! just look at the supid ideas, loose pallets on top of bags!!! to stop ratchet straps bursting bags ! what about nails,sharp, corners?This has always been an issue in Germany with big bags of whatever. There, when they stop you, they not only check if its strapped but also put their strap tension device on it and do you if its too loose. As we all know, you can strap big one ton bags down when they’re loaded, but once you get up the road they’ll have settled and the straps are then slack, and so on and so forth. Like everything else in the EU these days, its just another set of one rule fits all scenario that gives them free reign to do as they want at the detriment of drivers licences and the industry at large.
Big Bags are more properly known as IBC or an Intermediate Bulk Container, whether they are a plastic tank in a steel frame or a large sack with lifting straps.
The simple way I carried them was to lay my side boards over the bags and use them as corner boards and interlace the straps through the lifting rings. If you can lay your hands on 26 free pallets, all the better at around £3 per pallet 
Moose:
have a look on the CM site, fertilizer is another probem, the bods enforcing the rules dont know themselves!!!
you cant make it up they are seeking advice! from the RHA/FTA of all places! just look at the supid ideas, loose pallets on top of bags!!! to stop ratchet straps bursting bags ! what about nails,sharp, corners?
As a dgsa, i would take a very dim view of anybody using a wooden pallet on top of the bags as wood is a flammable substance. Obviously vosa/rha/fta have thought this through and not actually asked the people who actually do the job.
N14ERF:
Obviously vosa/rha/fta have thought this through and not actually asked the people who actually do the job.
And that surprises you, How?