Hauling Super Sacks

When I ran a flatbed up in New England a couple of years ago during one summer I had one of the guys tell me not to twist the straps. It was the first time I'd heard of this so a couple of states up that way must have said something also. He told me to not put the chain end of the strap through a stake pocket like I'd always done but rather over the edge of the flatbed and attach to the frame of the trailer underneath. I didn't know if the rules had changed as it had been several years since I had run a flatbed.

 

A twist will not cause a strap to loose its tension. Where did you get that idea? It makes no sense.

 

The reason not to go through the stake pocket is because you only get half the rating of the stake pocket. If you go around the outside of the stake pocket, you get the full WLL of the stake pocket.

 

say this again? are you saying not to use the stake pocket at all? Is there a standard WLL for stake pockets? I never looked it up so have no idea. I was told to put the straps between the rub rail and the trailer and go straight under the trailer. Before I always put a half circle around the rub rail and used the tension of the strap on the buckle to make sure it was tight. If using a chain I used the stake pockets. Is there an actual rule against doing this?

 

The rules do allow use of the stake pocket. However, how it is used effects the rating. Stake pockets do have a WLL rating. Each trailer manufacturer will list a rating for them. Some even apply a sticker to the trailer, listing the ratings. To get the full rating, of the stake pocket, drop the chain down, behind the pocket and bring it up, in front of the pocket, completely encircling the pocket. Hook the hook either on the chain, itself, or to the rub rail. This will give you the full rating of the pocket. By dropping the chain through the pocket, you are only using one side of the pocket, not both sides, thus cutting the rating in half. The general rating for a stake pocket is 6600 pounds WLL, although it will vary per manufacturer.

 

i tried it once, didn't care for it

 

So find out the load rating for the stake pockets of the trailer you are hauling, divide that by 1/2 and use that to determine the number of straps put on the load. Sounds good to me but I'm wondering how many arguments with a scalehouse you might have if the officer is having a bad day or a cop on the side of the road heck bent on writing tickets banking on the company just paying them rather than fighting them.

 

Why divide by half? Just use the whole stake pocket and get the full rating.
I've never had a cop look twice, when using the full stake pocket, but they will if the chain drops through the pocket, instead of around it.

 

I was referring to the second 1/2 of your post going directly through the pocket cutting the wll in half.

 

Snowman it makes perfect sense.
I will explain why.
A strap is nothing more the threads besides each other.
Put it straight and all the threads are the same lenght thus the tension is the same on all the threads.

When you twist it,parts off the strap will be under tension sooner as some off the threads are shorter, so you are only really using part off the strap.

Would you use a strap that is twisted 10 times?
No,you wouldn't because you know it will not push down as hard as a straight strap.
Twisting it once and saying it is ok is like a women saying she isn't pregnant just a little pregnant.

Just my 2 cents.

If you disagree,feel free to put forward your arguments.