Dont forget to tie down your load

[mrghm06]

do you double check if your load is secure.

http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopS...an_296719.html

[gman396]

I seen a car hit a buck going 65mph , flipped over the car hit a 2008 chevy pickup in the wind shield. The buck disintegrated into the front seat. Blood, guts and hair covered the inside. Some how nobody got hurt. It made your insides turn just looking inside the cab.

[StephenS]

Actually the title should be

"Don't tailgate a Carpenter" or "Red flag extended planks"

The scenario in the news report doesn't follow the laws of physics. Wood planks travel forward when the brakes are applied. I googled and found the same story with the details stating the victim rear ended the trailer.

[philthegreek]

True about the rear ending, but still, many contractors do not know what they are doing when it come to securing their load. I've seen guys insist on having forklifts put a load of lumber on ladder racks that were never designed for the loads they were applying. On vans, just two bars clamped to the roof gutter lips, etc. Also. overloading their vehicles to the max. A 1500 (150) series vehicle is design to carry 1000lbs total cargo (including passengers) max. The braking systems, suspensions and tires CANNOT endure these overloads for long and this causes many preventable accidents. Unsecured lumber is a huge issue. There was an accident near me in which the lumber flew off like a missle from the rack. There were wooden sound screens along the highway and the projectile lumber totally obliterated them. Thank goodness no one was hit.

[bkerley]

Duct tape doesn't work well as a tie down. Many years ago - as an apprentice - I loaded 200' of 4" PVC on the ladder racks secured with duct tape and rolled out of the shop. Everything was fine for a while and then I had to hit the brakes fairly hard. It was like watching a cartoon in slow motion. The 20' lengths of PVC slid forward off the racks and one by one hit the hood before sliding into the street in front of oncoming traffic. Everything just stood still for a few moments and then the other apprentice and I reloaded all of the PVC and went on our way.

Nobody got hurt and no other vehicles were damaged. My hood looked like it had a severe case of the mumps. Staring across that hood every day for about six months served as a good reminder not to use duct tape for a tie down.

[Happy Home]

I read in one of the mags a few months ago I believe it was in FL that the troopers are now writing unsecured load tickets quite often. Its from a new reg that says you must use the cam type hold downs.

In response you now see the orange hold downs on vehicles even here in NC. I guess they're supposed to show they are the proper ones.

[David Meiland]

you must use the cam type hold downs.

I've always used 3/8" polypropylene truck rope. With the cleats on my rack and the type of knot I tie, it is impossible to remove the load without untying the knot. I also have some ratchet straps but I can more easily imagine one of them breaking under load than a rope/knot failing.

IMO the main risk when tying loads is not positioning them so the rope or strap is fully tight and cannot be loosened by the load shifting sideways. I see guys tying lumber on racks and they have not moved it tight against the side of the rack, so that if the lumber slides sideways when going around a corner the rope will loosen.