Steel Coils on Vans

speaking just for myself, but the LAST thing I would do with a dryvan or reefer is put a coil in the box.


First of it cannot in anyway take that kind of a spot load.

Second, just HOW in earth are you going to secure that sucker down.

But that's just me.

 

Hi,

It is not totally safe except in specially constructed dry vans. In a former life, my fleet would haul coiled copper & brass weighing anywhere from 2,000 to 14,000 pds each. They had to be secured to specially designed pallets and then both the pallets and the coils were secured against movement by the use of tie-downs and nailed in 4x4's.

Like everything else in trucking, the regulations address how to secure metal coils, either eyes sidewise or eyes to the sky, it's in sections 393.100 thru 393.136. Since I've been down that road before with my fleet, let me bottom line it for you: yes, you can haul coils in a van as long as they are secured against movement in the X, Y & Z axis (forward/back, sideways and up/down motions) using securement devices with a WLL (working load limit) appropriate for the weight being transported, WLL is 1.5 times the lateral force exerted (I can explain that later, it can cure insomnia).

Here's the problem, regular freight vans are not constructed to hold that kind of weight, first you have the floor cross-members that can buckle, if you secure the coils with strapping to an e-rail or logistics bar then they could pull off the wall if you stop too quickly and the 4x4's rip out and the coils go sliding forward. By the way, most times when the coils shift they go out of round and that often renders them useless and they have to be re-wound so it's a freight claim.

There are ways to modify dry vans to haul this stuff, I always had them built specially constructed, it was safer that way.

 

Oh yes, to answer your other questions....regarding fault. In the worst case event of an accident or loss, it is the driver and carrier's responsibility to insure the freight is secured adequately for shipment. If during the course of a routine inspection, it is determined the freight is improperly loaded then the truck gets shut down and you will have a big bill to get a rigging company out there to work the load while still in the trailer.

 

Friend of mine called today. He was picking up coils on pallets. I asked if they were secured and he said no.

There was another truck from the same company and his were not either.

Why do companies consider these loads?

 

Well, if ignorance is Bliss then there are a lot of happy people out there.

 

I told him I would not move the trailer.

I hauled copper once and I over did the securing in case it moved.

 

Im leased too FCC, we haul coils in vans sometimes. We have small metal spikes, theyre round as big as a quarter with spike edges. We place them on all four corners of the pallet and the weight of the coil pushes them into the wooden floor. We use straps also, but lets be honest if theyre going, theyre going. All you can do is take your time, drive right Nd leave a following distance twice the usual.