They can play by the rules or get shown what the rules are . why bend over for them just cuz they carry a badge ?
Probably about as much as I appreciate having my livelihood ####ed with because they are to lazy to know the laws they are enforcing.
Just curious if you can provide the cite that backs that up. I know there is an exception rule for strapping a load that isn't oversized but that is too wide to get straps into the rub rail areas, but other than that, as I read the regulations, whenever possible, the strap is to be kept inside the rub rail. The next consideration is whether or not the rub rail is rated as an anchor point, it's WLL rating, and whether or not it is an appropriate anchor point per the manufacturer that has been tested and verified. From a welding point of view, there is a big difference in ratings between steel and aluminum rub rails and whether there are simply tack welds on the spools connecting them to trailer and rub rail or actual full circular weld, let alone the testing regimen to verify the WLL capability of the rub rail, so that cite would be interesting to note. In an earlier missive, years ago, I related how I had to task the safety department with providing me the trailer specs for the anchor points on the trailers, since they didn't, at that time, have them labelled on the trailers. I got them, and still have them for posterity.
I had a few trailers that our "safety" guys wanted us hooking to the wrong spot, i just did silly things like knowing what to actually do because the trailer clearly stated that they were wrong. They did a bunch of handwaving, cited a 20 year old green book and i just continued to ignore them. Dont remember if it was the rub rail or frame rail they wanted me hooking to, the trailers i pulled were piles of scrap and not the ones that everybody else had. Once a month theyd complain that "someone" was strapping wrong.
Can you site the actual regulations saying securement has to be inside the rubrail? (In the usa). If something is not prohibited, it’s legal. also anchor points are not required to be rated. You can legally hook your chains or straps anywhere.
Like I said, legally, straps don’t have to be inside the rail. As in you can’t get a legitimate ticket for that in the us, Canada is different. Once you get away from flats and steps you’ll find most trailers don’t even have rubrails and unrated anchor points are used often. These are two things widely believe in the open deck world, but both easily disproved.