Securement Question

Stacks of what?

 

Sheet rock all too often is loaded, strapped, and tarped by someone else.

But yes, strap between 2 and 3, then over top. Sheet rock plants will just strap over top.

Lumber you normally can strap wherever you want.

 

Yeah. There's a lot more friction though keeping sheet rock together than a lot of other products. Guaranteed more of it is moved without that extra securement.

DOT will write it up though if they see it

 

There isn’t really a one size fits all type of answer here, as it really depends on the load. In most cases, strapping between the second and third layer is going to be sufficient, but you can certainly add as many as you need. With tall loads, it helps to utilize winches on both sides of your trailer if you have them, so you don’t have all your straps pulling in the same direction. Also helps to carry plenty of 2 inch ratchet straps, they come in pretty handy when you need a little extra coverage here and there.

Also, if you will be picking up preloaded trailers, you will want to carry some sort of a pole or reaching tool for pulling belly straps/chains through the load.

Good luck!

 

Do what makes you comfortable. I tend to be the guy who uses more securement than required, just because I have seen plenty of drivers going down the road(or parked on the side of the road) with shifted freight, and I don't want to be the next one sitting there next to them.

And like other have said, it depends on what the load is. I pull a lot of aerospace loads where I have a bunch of pallets of sheet aluminum 15-18' long, 4' wide, but only 1' high. Many times they are stacked 6-7 pallets high. With those I might add several belly straps over the same layer. Sometimes we get narrower pallets of sheet metal stacked on top of the wider ones, which I add extra straps to in order to keep the top layers from moving, and I will add a belly strap or two over the wider bottom layer as an extra precaution.

 

Everyone has given you good answers. We like "Mr Overkill" people around here, as that means there is at least one more person looking to keep our families and loved one's safe on the road from bad loading practices.

That said, you have to understand as you begin your career, that the "DOT required" way, is the MINIMUM way that you can secure a load. Nothing prevents you from taking the responsibility to secure it better. Get that clear first. Your trainers are trying to show you the minimum securement possible, to not be found in violation of the rules and regs for securing cargo. MINIMUM. This is to protect them from shoddy work by people getting violations against the carrier and give them a reason to terminate a driver, with flagrant violations of the minimum required securement regulations.

Maybe they only suggest that you make sure that you belly wrap between layers 2-3, because that comes into the layers/height regulations that requires you to strap a layer if:

the maximum height for the middle tier that must be secured may not exceed 6 feet above the deck of the trailer; or​

Reading regulations requires that you read the descriptions carefully, for the minimum as legal descriptions to the layman looks like they meander all over the place, but if read carefully, you'll find that they self reference and indeed, re-reference other sections and try as much as humanly possible to describe every situation they think needs to be covered. They aren't always successful, but there are plenty of people who just blatantly disregard them even if they were minutely detailed in a much finer granulated way. This way, according to the above, if that second tier is going to be close to that 6 foot height, and the third will definitely be over that 6 foot height, then you MUST strap that tier.

If you notice, by continuing to read the regs, that section 4 even allows strapping each layer like it was the only layer is also allowed here:

(4) Secured by tiedowns over each tier of bundles, in accordance with §§ 393.100 through 393.114 using a minimum of two tiedowns over each of the top bundles longer than 1.52 meters (5 ft), in all circumstances; or​

What the trainers were showing you, most likely, is a common layout, and the minimum way to secure that type of load. All they are giving you, is the basics for you to build on, once you are on your own, and are able to understand some of the concepts, terms and such that are used to describe certain ways of securing a load. It helps build your confidence and give you a base of knowledge to expand upon.

I hope this wordy and reference laden answer will help you to understand what is going on for you right now...and that there is way more to learn and that when you get on your own, you are the captain of your ship, because what happens out there will be dependent on how well you understand the basics, how well you can read the regulations and how committed you are to your craft. Not everybody can do this work, and not everybody should. If they can't get that this isn't just a brain dead job, then they shouldn't be here. In fact, securing is what I liked about this job as it's not always the same way for every load. If your load is say slippery metal, this way of loading won't be sufficient to ensure it's securement. That's why you need to know the basics and expand your knowledge on that base.

Good luck.