i need advice from a professional

Didn't know that.

I would've thought, with all the dumb laws in the trucking world, that if a strap was twisted it would reduce the rating. Thats what I get for thinking...

 

They will let anyone haul steel now a days. Its sad!

 

The strap does lose strenght. Just take a piece of paper strip and twist it, in order to remain at equal strenght for the full width of the strap, it shouldn't have a twist in it. Hold the piece of paper tight at both ends and twist, the paper will tear starting at the outside edges because that's where all the strain is going to.


Here's a link you might like.

http://www.ashleysling.com/ns2.htm

 

Very few use belly straps. One hard stop and they will learn.

 

Thanks for the replies. The reason I asked about the load rating is my experience on the fire department with ropes. We had both natural fiber and synthetic rope. Our synthetic load bearing rope was usually Kevlar kernmantle rope. There were certain knots not recommended for synthetics because they would decrease the load capacity. We had to use a figure 8 knot or a variation thereof on it, where, with natural fiber ropes, we could just tie it in a knot, but keep it away from the fire itself. We eventually got completely away from natural fiber and went to nylon and Kevlar.

But I was taught that for every knot tied, reduce the capacity by half. It didn't apply to the figure 8s because they aren't true knots.

With straps, though, I would think if there's a twist, it stretches the outer edges ever so slightly, placing the bulk of the load there and thus not utilizing the full capacity of the strap. Or my physics are off a bit. (I already know my physique is...)

 

I don't know about your physique but I do agree with your physics. Thats what I thought but wasn't sure and being that I don't let me straps get twisted and everything I haul is hidden, I never worried about it.

 

I don't see anything there about a twist... am I missing something? I can be pretty good at that.

Just this:

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
Physical Factors Effecting Strength

[/FONT]​

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]TEMPERATURE[/FONT]​

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]IMPROPER LOADING [/FONT]​

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]CUTS, PUNCTURES,
ABRASIONS [/FONT]​

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Web Slings [/FONT]​

Nylon & polyester are seriously degraded at temperatures above
200°F.​

Shock loading, unbalanced
loading, over loading and
inadequate consideration for the effect of angle factors can adversely effect strength.​

Any of these can seriously degrade sling strength. Red core yarns can aid in locating
damaged webbing.​

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Roundslings [/FONT]​

Being polyester, is seriously degraded at temperatures above 200°F. ​

Shock loading, unbalanced loading, over loading and inadequate consideration for the effect of angle factors can adversely effect strength.​

When the sleeve on a roundsling has been damaged so that the inner load bearing yarns can be exposed, the sling MUST be discarded. ​

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Web Slings [/FONT]​

FOREIGN MATTER
Material such as metal chips, weld splatter, heavy grit, etc. can damage a web sling both internally and externally​

ULTRAVIOLETLIGHT
Nylon & polyester web slings are adversely affected by prolonged exposure to UV light, i.e. sunlight or arc welding.​

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Roundslings [/FONT]​

Material such as metal chips, weld splatter, heavy grit, etc. can damage the Roundsling's cover.​

Relatively uneffected by UC light​

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
CAUTION DO NOT EXCEED RATED CAPACITIES[/FONT]​

 

You will find all kinds of odd practices in trucking that are done "because I've always done it this way" to the completely inane "how I secure my load is nobody else's business".

 

I am not an experienced flatbedder like alot of you but I have put a twist in my straps to prevent slapping and flapping. You guys might have a point about more stress at the edges where the twist is but then again, maybe it's not enough stress to amount to anything. I would think some of these manufactures of strapping would have done tests for this sort of stuff.