Flatbedders: Headache Racks REQUIRED?

I dunno - I think they make it pretty easy anymore to figure out how many chains are needed for backohes/trackhoes/dozers and other equipment - they put little signs all over the things and show you were to chain it! lol

 

Chain these bad boys down..I dare ya



and how do you all suppose we chain this baby: down?

 

You guys seem to know a bit about flat-bedding, so I've got a question for you.

Can a skinny guy get along OK in the flat-bedding business? Obviously, not as well as a more husky guy when it comes to tying down the loads, but what's your input?

 

Headache racks are no longer required as long as you add 1 extra sequirement device to the front of the load. Unbeliveable yes, but true.

 

You have to be "smarter than the things you work with" as my step dad would always say. Why not? I've seen guys much smaller than me work in construction like in pipeline and water jobs; and those jobs weren't easy even for some boys off the farm to do.

 

Yeah, well I'd still use a headache rack. One can never be too safe

 

Thanks, Ron-MARS.

 

I missed who posted it and am too darn lazy to go back and look it up. I've just spent the past 30 minutes looking at FMCSA site - can't find a single *requirement* for a headboard/headache rack. Not one.

393.110 specifies that if there is no headache rack/headboard, additional securement is needed.. to quote:

... it must be secured by at least:

(b)(1) One tiedown for articles 5 feet (1.52 meters) or less in length, and 1,100 pounds (500 kg) or less in weight;

(b)(2) Two tiedowns if the article is:


(b)(2)(i) 5 feet (1.52 meters) or less in length and more than 1,100 pounds (500 kg) in weight; or


(b)(2)(ii) Longer than 5 feet (1.52 meters) but less than or equal to 10 feet (3.04 meters) in length, irrespective of the weight.


(b)(3) Two tiedowns if the article is longer than 10 feet (3.04 meters), and one additional tiedown for every 10 feet (3.04 meters) of article length, or fraction thereof, beyond the first 10 feet (3.04 meters) of length.

That's FMCSA. OSHA, on the other hand, DOES address it via DOT.

http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=DIRECTIVES&p_id=1533

49 CFR §393.106 FRONT-END STRUCTURE

Sec. 393.106 Front-end structure.
(a) General rule. (1) Except as provided in paragraph (g) of this section, every cargo-carrying motor vehicle must be equipped with a headerboard or similar device of sufficient strength to prevent load shifting and penetration or crushing of the driver's compartment.

...

(g) Exemptions. The following motor vehicles are exempt from the rules in this section:
(1) A vehicle which is designed and used exclusively to transport other vehicles, if each vehicle it transports is securely tied down by devices that conform to the requirements of Sec. 393.102.
(2) A pole trailer or semitrailer being towed by a truck tractor that is equipped with a front-end structure that conforms to the rules in this section.
(3) A full trailer being towed by a vehicle that is equipped with a front-end structure that conforms to the requirements of this section for a front-end structure.
(4) A full trailer being towed by a vehicle that is loaded in such a manner that the cargo on the towing vehicle conforms to the requirements of this section for a front-end structure.
(5) The rules in paragraphs (d) and (e) of this section do not apply to a motor vehicle manufactured before January 1, 1974.



In other words, if your tractor doesn't have a headache board, the trailer has to.

that's the way I read it.