Do shingle loads really need x-straps.

Well first I said “in the US” for a reason, because I know nothing about Canada so I’m not going to argue with you about Canada. Second I’ve trucked all over and never been bothered when I secured per the regs. I do not for one minute believe North Dakota or Montana have their own securement rules. The static load is absolutely not up to the discretion of the officer, it’s exactly what it says it is.

In regards to your corner boards, I see shingle loads all the time without them so it must be ok for some shippers.

 

I'll add that we are required at both our shingles customers to use edge protection, that is not a law to use them but a requirement of the shipper. We shuttle locally here for a manufacturer and for those loads we don't use edge protection, go old school with none.

 

Can you show any law from any where that says x strapping is required on any load?

 

I want to say... the one shingle load I did for Melton... I put two x straps on the front. None on the rear...

Don’t think it made a #### bit of difference.

 

Montana is one of the most lax states on load securement there is in the NW. WA and ID are far worse as far as what they want to see. Play by their rules and everything is ok. And every load I hauled into and out of Canada was secured the exact way I always did it in the states and I never had any issue.

As for the topic at hand, I would always split my load and load the ends of the trailer so it would ride better. So I’d throw 2 straps on the first row, then singles, then 2 straps on the first row after my gap and then singles on the rest. Was never hassled anywhere and I couldn’t X strap if I wanted to because of how our winches were set up and I’m not wasting time with a bunch of portable winches.

 

I take back what I said...

 

The regs are the bare minimum though. Only working "to the bare minimum" is not what flat deck is about. It's about moving freight down the road safely every single day.

If you feel safe pulling 45,000 lbs of steel bar with only 5 straps on it, then I don't want to be anywhere near you on the road.

 

That's a deceptive comparison, we are talking about shingles. Think about the amount of securement, the minimum, that is on a load of 46K of shingles. Most shingle loads are 16 pallets eight rows with a minimum of nine straps. That's a lot of securement. Before you go barking at me about not enough securement, think about how much securement is actually on that load of shingles, it's more than enough.

 

Shingles aren’t going to come through the cab, and take your melon off.