Is it legal to haul lumber boards unsecured in a dry van?

They’re not “pallets”. And they’re longer than 8ft or else they’d just load them sideways.

 

That would be a lesson I learned also.

In Black and Decker at the warehouse, distribution sometimes we have the big 30,000 pound forklift throw down two sets of chains with 4 inch links almost a inch thick against a tackle block attached to the product inside the van trailer. then dead slide the product clean off the van trailer's floor onto the warehouse floor hopefully close enough for the overhead craine to get to it.

What does this have to do with me? Well when they are engaged with unloading by chain it's about a foot off the deck under a great strain. I come along with the electric mail truck bouncing along fat dumb and bored until I run over the chain set which would have been kept tight so it does not wrap around me and scatter the mail over everything. The first time you get yelled and verbally abused for being stupid. The second time they take you around the corners. Lumps and tender spots are applied And that should be the end of it safety wise.

If there is a third time they might not even bother to take slack, you get to dance with the chain and end up being hospitalized.

 

I took this pic of my friend passing me a few years ago. This is basically what they’re loading. It’s a unit of lumber, not a pallet. And you can see how the stickers are banded to the unit on the bottom. They have to lift one end up and slide it because if they just pushed on the sticker with their fork it would break the band.

 

When they load product like this particle board that is only 96” long they just pick it up with the lift and drive straight into the trailer with it.

 

The apitong nailers on your flatbed came over from Asia loaded just like that in a 20’ container.

 

I've taken loads of paneling or plywood in a van, loaded sideways, straight in. I don't remember any problems.

 

West Coast flatbed rates have sucked ever since they figured out how to load dimension lumber in dry vans.

 

#### those door closers! LOL

 

I thought it was because of those pickup trucks pulling flatbed freight. Most of them will probably be gone this year, though. It’s a sad world.

 

Hauled a lot of 20ft 2x12's years ago in a van. Also hauled a few Backhoes in a dropdeck van. Never did like hauling those giant rolls of paper from the mills. No mater how much they nailed stuff in to the floor. Seen a few rolls come through the trailer.