Load Securement Question

Whatever you do; I can't preach load securement strongly enough. Think more IS better when it comes to that and no matter WHAT the circumstance don't ever let any circumstance, person or weather condition tempt you to move to ANYWHERE other than the securement station (and do that at "annoy the he!! outta anyone behind you, granny slow") with anything less than full securement. In coil training for the last company I worked for flatbedding they had photos of accidents they had that really brought it home. One was a crushed Nissan (fatality) where the driver only put one chain on two suicide coils of aluminum and was just going to ease on over to our terminal in Oswego which was only a mile and quarter from the plant and finish everything on our yard in an MT shop bay. One left out the plant, one right at a light at the top of a medium hill then a left into the yard. The light at the top of the hill turned on him and he hard braked. The coils shifted forward and broke their chains and on the backshift rolled off the back and flattened a Nissan and a young lady driving it. Those coil racks didn't even slow them down. They were as flat as a pieces of tinfoil. The other was a rollover (too fast on an on ramp that tightened at the end). Truck and trailer on their sides and both shotgun loaded coils of aluminum still chained to the trailer. Had they broken loose they would have rolled at 30MPH into the interstate traffic to the left. Can you imagine two 15,000 pound coils rolling 30MPH (though slowing a little as they went, but still), rolling into interstate traffic going 70? Cancel Christmas for the next 30 years you'd be in prison. The guy with the single chains was charged with negligent vehicular homicide and got 15 years (we heard). Plus he has to live with that the rest of his life. All because we had a heavy snow moving in off the Lake and it was just starting so he wanted to go to the yard down the road and finish the job in the shop. Sad. Don't ever be that guy. If you are confident the rig could roll over and your load would still be attached to your back, it's OK to go. If not - don't go anywhere until it is. Make load securement and tight neat tarping a point of pride for you and every load one you want to take a picture of as an example of how to do it right and you'll be a dam&d fine flatbedder. Based on your posts I am sure you'll be that driver.

Oh, and drive any coil load like it's a liquid tanker loaded with gasoline that if you roll it, it's gonna go BOOM and blow you to kingdom come so extra, extra slow in the curves. Take a Hazmat tanker type attitude with coils. They ain't nothing to mess around with. They seem to WANT to roll the rig. YOU have to be the one to know that and back her way down BEFORE any curve. You gotta have a whole different attitude about inertia and physics dynamics with coil loads. That whole multiple physics dynamics of braking in a curve REALLY comes into play with coil loads. There was a reason some states had a coil endorsement and it wasn't to generate an extra $8 in revenue from a very small driving population. Think about it. You can't fear the coils, but the minute you get complacent, a little slack and lose respect for them you'll be in a world $#!+.

 

just remember you go by the lowest will ratiing if the chain is 6600 lbs and the binder is 7000 lbs you have to go with the lowest will rating as that is the weakest point.