Close call

[Working Class Patriot]

I left Tampa Tuesday afternoon headed back to Wisconsin with a 5000# aluminum coil and one 2000# stack of sheet steel under the tarp. I had three 4" straps over the coil(eye to the sky) plus a trip chain around the front and three 4" straps on the sheet steel. In the construction zone on 75 North of Tampa the lanes shift to the right. I was in the right hand lane going into the shift at about 50 (speed limit was 55). I come out of the lane shift and straighten out when I catch something out of the corner of my eye in the passenger mirror. To my shock something big and round is cartwheeling down the lane behind me. My first thought is "Holy **** I lost my coil"!!! I start to step on the brakes and keep watching the mirrors thinking that somebody is gonna hit it when it makes one bounce and lands in the shoulder like a lawn dart. That is when I realize that isnt my coil and think to myself "Where the **** did that come from?". I then notice a guy with a flatbed passing me on the left dragging two blue straps and I say to him "Hey flatbed, I think you just lost a piece of pipe. He jams on the brakes and hits the shoulder and when I pass him he has four pieces of pipe about 30" in diameter and 8-10' long each laid down the center of his trailer with just two straps over each one, no blocking or chocks or anything. If he had passed me before the lane shift it would have come off in front of me.

I'll bet that woke you up big time.....

[Working Class Patriot]

Kansas I respect your experience, but I don't think you would catch me with 14 straps on 10,000lbs, I just hauled 2 pieces of steel ingot that weighed in at 10,200lbs total that were a 2 feet wide and 20 feet long the other day and I felt that 2 chains was plenty....maybe I'm wrong here?

No one has ever received a ticket or lost their load by using "too many" chains or straps....

[Pedigreed Bulldog]

You guys cant imagine the sheer tearor of thinking you lost part of your load and the sheer joy just seconds later when you realize "Hey, That wasnt mine".

Sure I can. I was flatbedding....bobtailing to a customer to pick up a load. I KNEW my tractor was 12' tall at the stacks and the amber light on the roof, so when I saw the 12'8" clearance sign, I didn't think twice about rolling under...

...until I heard that "thunk".

My heart raced as I wondered what I just tore up on this brand new truck (I got in it with only 400 miles on the odometer...and I hadn't had it very long)....until I remembered that my CB antennas still reached 13'6". Sure enough, when I stopped, there was no damage to the truck....but for those few moments....

Kansas I respect your experience, but I don't think you would catch me with 14 straps on 10,000lbs, I just hauled 2 pieces of steel ingot that weighed in at 10,200lbs total that were a 2 feet wide and 20 feet long the other day and I felt that 2 chains was plenty....maybe I'm wrong here?

http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/rules-regul.../cs-policy.htm

Minimum Number of Tiedowns

When an article of cargo is not blocked or positioned to prevent movement in the forward direction, and the item is longer than 10 ft in length, then it must be secured by two tiedowns for the first 10 ft of length, and one additional tiedown for every 10 ft of length, or fraction thereof, beyond the first 10 ft.

You should have had at least 3 straps or chains on that 20 foot long piece. It goes up from there, depending upon the weight of the cargo being secured...but that is the MINIMUM required.

[Jumbo]

On my way home Friday I spotted two flatbed trucks from a local company pulled over to the side of the road with "DOT Tom" parked behind them. Ten bundles of lumber on each truck (three in a pyramid on each end with two side by side in the center ) with................ONE strap over each pile. First driver was ticketed for speeding and insecure load, second truck ticketed for following too close and insecure load. People are just stupid and lazy.

[48Packard]

On my way home Friday I spotted two flatbed trucks from a local company pulled over to the side of the road with "DOT Tom" parked behind them. Ten bundles of lumber on each truck (three in a pyramid on each end with two side by side in the center ) with................ONE strap over each pile. First driver was ticketed for speeding and insecure load, second truck ticketed for following too close and insecure load. People are just stupid and lazy.

Exactly my fear. More and more of this type of carelessness is coming down the pike.

[Logan76]

Thank you bulldog, I should've thrown a strap over the middle, It didnt move any on me and was a nice solid load, but I'm not looking to get into a bind with the law.

[Pedigreed Bulldog]

Back when I was flatbedding (dang...that was 7 years ago already), the first 2 straps had to be within 2 feet of each other...and then another strap every 10 feet. I usually went every 8 feet with the rest of the straps because there is no such thing as "too much" when it comes to load securement. Don't know if that has changed or not, but 2 in the 1st 10 feet with a strap every 10 feet thereafter sounds pretty similar.

[Semi Crazy]

re OP, if he had four pipes layed down the middle of his trailer each 8-10' long, 2 straps on each is perfectly adequate. That would be a total of 8 straps.

Granted it would be easier to load the pipes side by side. One after the other is an odd way to load pipe!

[AZS]

Every time someone jumps on the radio to warn about something amiss and only say "flatbed" or "step deck" to describe who they are talking to.

Too many people checking mirrors and wondering if its them.

I hate that, I always ask which one just in case it is me.

[SSgTom]

Hey, but it keeps everyone on their toes, doesn't it?