This Is Why Securement Is So Important

When you look at the photo, you will see that one semi rear ended another. That is not a drop axle at the back of the box trailer, that is the front axle of the tractor that rear ended the trailer. What you see in the cab of the tractor is a steel coil.

This is why securement is so important. The driver was killed in this one. Heck the rear end collision was enough to kill the driver then you have a coil coming from the back and he did not have a chance.

I don't know what those coils way but it looks to me like he may have been overloaded. Maybe not since I have never hauled a coil.

Now if you look closely at the photo, there is no damage to the rub rail. This means that he was using the in bed chain securement.

If that was the case then there is no way possible that he had enough securement on that coil.

What happens, is that after years of experience people tend to get lazy or careless or both.

We haul some pretty heavy stuff and they are not as mobile as a coil of steel but when you have something that is top heavy to begin with you have more of a chance of side to side movement. When we have something like that the 1/2" chain comes out and it gets secured to the frame of the trailer. Not gonna chance a load like that to a rub rail or in bed securement. Here is an example of what I mean, if you look at the chains that come off the sides of the boxes you will see that they are anchored on the frame and not the rub rail. Might have to click on the photo to make it bigger.

Be safe out there and remember, no cargo allowed in the sleeper.

Pat, the last coil that size that I hauled weighed 45,000 pounds. Four coil racks under the beveled hardwood, and 12 chains on it as tight as I could get them.

Thanks Pat. Reality like this is a good reminder. Also your instruction on tieing to the frame is superb. Just got my permit and going to Prime orientation next week, so I didn't know about tieing to the frame.

Pat, the last coil that size that I hauled weighed 45,000 pounds. Four coil racks under the beveled hardwood, and 12 chains on it as tight as I could get them.

The reason I said he may have been over weight is because it seems like there were 2 coils but maybe not. In the second photo the coil is secured to the deck again.

From what I have seen of trailers and the chains in the deck and the damage to the trailer he would have only had 4 maybe 5 chains on that load and those anchors are only rated at 5k pounds each. At most there would have been 3 pulling towards the back. Once one goes it is all over.

Thanks Pat. Reality like this is a good reminder. Also your instruction on tieing to the frame is superb. Just got my permit and going to Prime orientation next week, so I didn't know about tieing to the frame.

That is just what we do. Otherwise we would be doing a lot of welding to rub rails because these things rock side to side because most of them go into construction zones and they are not always smooth sailing.

Way too many stupid/lazy/reckless flatbedders.

I have a 42k load of steel tubing on my trailer right now with four belly traps and eight top straps on it. Two separate stacks of 20 foot pipe. A driver at the shipper who knows it all because he drives an old box nose Pete said to me "wow, you like strapping!"

I just told him that I like to be sure and it doesn't take me that much extra time to throw a few more.

Now on this load, most drivers would throw six straps over the top and be perfectly fine and legal, and they'd throw two bellies and almost always be just fine. So I threw four more than the norm.

I figure it takes me 90 seconds to throw a strap over a load, hook it, wind it through a winch and crank it. Probably takes me 60 seconds on the back end to pop the winch, pull the strap and wind it back up. That's ten extra minutes total for my four extra straps.

I can cut that ten minutes back off of my day by not eating a hot dog inside of Love's while flirting with the 16 year old cashier.

While actually being loaded, I prefer to conserve my time by doing things like having my equipment conveniently ready, visualizing exactly how I'm going to secure the load while it's being loaded, trying to be good and efficient at tarping... rather than conserving my time by not putting on as many methods of securement as I'd like.

You will always be here to say "Man I put a lot of securement on that load" You may not always be here to say "I wish I would have put one more strap/chain on that load."

Last year I hauled a 64k pound loader to the shop and the owner's son said "Man you did not want this to move." I had 6 each 1/2" chains and 2 each 3/8" chains on the loader. Well this thing did not have any brakes at all and obviously no park so yeah I over secured. Plus you have to throw one on the forks. I told him "You will never have to worry about something coming off my trailer."

Besides, if you over secure your load, DOT can see that and normally let you pass without the need for a proctology exam. They see this and think to themselves that this guy has his stuff together.

A good example is all the scrap that I hauled this winter. Not one time did I get pulled into the scale house to check paperwork and I was HEAVY every time between 103 and 105k on every load.

Excellent post Pat!

I just told him that I like to be sure and it doesn't take me that much extra time to throw a few more.

Now on this load, most drivers would throw six straps over the top and be perfectly fine and legal, and they'd throw two bellies and almost always be just fine. So I threw four more than the norm.

I figure it takes me 90 seconds to throw a strap over a load, hook it, wind it through a winch and crank it. Probably takes me 60 seconds on the back end to pop the winch, pull the strap and wind it back up. That's ten extra minutes total for my four extra straps.

I can cut that ten minutes back off of my day by not eating a hot dog inside of Love's while flirting with the 16 year old cashier.

Dude, that's the kind of thinking that will keep you safe out there. I love that you've thought out the risk/reward ratio of using extra securement.

The risk you would be taking for average or below average securement? You get killed or you get someone else killed.

The reward for taking that life or death risk? You save 10 minutes.

Simple math, right? Do I want to risk my life and the lives of those around me in order to save 10 minutes that in reality I don't need? Or should I take 10 extra minutes to put a ridiculous (in a good way) amount of securement on the load and know I've eliminated that particular risk from the equation?

The answer is simple and obvious if you'll take the time to reason it out.

Kudos to you guys for stressing safety and bringing great lessons like this to everyone.

I've done a lot of risky things in my life and I will continue to for many years to come. But I've never broken a bone, never had a stitch, and never made that big mistake. Why? Because managing risk takes a certain mindset, which I have. You have to have the ability to reason out situations and formulate a strategy the way a computer would. Computers don't make lazy decisions. They don't take things for granted. They don't make assumptions. They take the facts and data they're presented with and evaluate them using pure logic.

It takes serious discipline to keep your emotions and wishful thinking out of the decision making process and instead do the safe and logical thing every single time. Very few people have that discipline. Instead they get lazy, complacent, and start believing the odds don't apply to them. They'll get lucky a time or two and start to believe that things will continue to work because they have in the past. How many times have you heard someone say, "Oh it will be fine. I've done it like this for years."

That's the kind of thinking that will get someone killed.

Have the discipline to think things through properly and make the safest, most logical decision every single time. You don't tailgate people thinking they probably won't slam on their brakes. You don't pull out in front of someone figuring they'll likely see you and slow down in time. And you don't settle for average or less load securement simply because you haven't taken a coil in the back of the head yet.

Think things through and do it right every single time. That's called managing risk. You can't control everything but you d*mn better be sure you're controlling the things you can control if you want to make it home to see your family and friends again someday.

Pat, the last coil that size that I hauled weighed 45,000 pounds. Four coil racks under the beveled hardwood, and 12 chains on it as tight as I could get them.

The reason I said he may have been over weight is because it seems like there were 2 coils but maybe not. In the second photo the coil is secured to the deck again.

From what I have seen of trailers and the chains in the deck and the damage to the trailer he would have only had 4 maybe 5 chains on that load and those anchors are only rated at 5k pounds each. At most there would have been 3 pulling towards the back. Once one goes it is all over.

Yeah, it depends on the coil... they can be deceiving, since a slightlysmaller one of a different alloy may only weigh 20,000 pounds. Fortunately they are all given a label, so you can figure out how many chains to use pretty easy. Either size would be plenty to tear through a cab and squash someone like a bug.