Secure that load
Page 84
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INADEQUATELY secured loads cause many accidents, an can easily make minor accidents into major ones.
The fact that a truck strews a load of metal girders tubes all over the road may not do much damage, but almost always causes a big delay for the other vehicles on th road. And many of them go away cursing the haulag industry.
QMycompany has a fleet of vehicles plated to carry 10,161kg (10 tons) but they are all below 3 tons unladen weight. Previously our driver/ salesmen did not need an hgv driving licence. It is proving difficult to recruit staff who are eligible for an hgv licence and we would like to get the vehicles replated to a maximum of below 7,500kg (7.38 tons) gross.
The local DoT staff has informed us that we would have difficulty in getting them replated and that, in any case, as the vehicle is designed for operation at 10 tons gross it would still require a driver with a Class 3 hgv licence limited to 10 tons gross.
They suggest that this is a fine legal point and it would need a test case in the courts before it could be clarified. Could you advise us?
AThe DoT in London, has assured us that the criterion for hgv drivers' licence requirements is the plated weight. If the gross weight of the vehicle is not in excess of 7,500kg (7.50 tonnes or 7.38 imperial tons) then the driver need not have an hgv driving licence. The design weight has no relevance once the vehicle has been plated.
When a notifiable alteration has been made to a goods vehicle then the Goods Vehicle Centre at Swansea must be informed and the plating certification amended by the DoT. Provision for this is made in Part IV of the Goods Vehicle (Plating and Testing) Regulations 1971.
Regulation 41 describes a notifiable alteration as ''a an alteration made in the structure or fixed equipment of the vehicle which varies the carrying capacity of the vehicle; b an alteration, otherwise than by way of replacement of a part, adversely affecting any part of a braking system with which the vehicle is equipped or of the means of operation of that System, or c any other alteration made in the structure or fixed equipment of the vehicle which materially renders the vehicle unsafe to travel on roads at any weight equal to any plated weight shown in the plating certification for that vehicle.'' Though the DoT seems to be reluctant to reduce the plated weight of a vehicle, sub-paragraph (c) gives an operator an opportunity of changing the equipment on the vehicle permanently so that replating can be required. This simplest course is to dovvnrate the tyres and this should be done in consultation with the dealer or tyre company. So a well-secured load is not just a safety measure,. it is a bit of a public relations exercise for hauliers.
Perhaps the worst offenders are those who still attempt to secure a 20-ton container to a trailer with ropes. These days, when most platform trailers can be equipped with the proper fixings,, there's no excuse.
Ineffective methods are often used to secure crates of bottles as well But here at least there is no simple solution, especially on a flat platform, so there is some excuse.
Of course, the reason for the poor fixing is that drivers and loaders just don't realise the potential energy of a 10-ton load.
If the load is unsecured, only the friction of the load on the platform prevents it moving when the brakes are applied or the vehicle goes around a corner.
What happens when the brakes are applied is that the vehicle decelerates, while the sload tries to carry on at an undiminished speed.
During check braking, the friction force may be enough to hold the load still, but if the brakes are applied hard, there may be a force of five tons trying to push that 10-ton load forwards — and you need more than friction to counteract that sort of force.
On cornering, the forces are likely to be quite a bit smaller, but since the vehicle rolls, there is a tendency for the load to slide off' anyway.
Although brewery vehicles are almost invariably designed to retain the crates positively,
platform vehicles, which wer. not specially built for the job are often used to distribut, other bottled goods.
A typical case was Oil vehicle that threw half its loai off when leaving a roundabout causing a four-mile queue ti build up, and a delay of 4! minutes.
The vehicle was a flat witl no sides and negligible chocl rail above floor level. Meta crates had been stacked sever layers high, and there was ric interlock between crates, no had any rope been used tc retain the load.
Instead, a waggon sheet hac been doubled over and laid fla on the load, with the shee' strings tied to the bottom crates -not to the truck at all
So here was a typical case o. a load being retained by thE friction between the crates anc the platform.
Although the load hac stayed put when the driver negotiated the roundabout, thE "flick,as he pulled the truck out of the roundabout, was enough to produce a high instantaneous lateral acceleration, and a high roll angle -and off came half the load.
In contrast to this situation, you will often see vehicles operated by the well-known names in the business with the load sat securely on special platforms canted down from each chock rail, with sensible straps and sheets to retain the load properly to the vehicle, These days, there is such a wealth of cargo-lashing equipment available that there are really no excuses for inadequately secured loads.