I was born and raised in the state of Alabama. Just about every relative I can claim is from Alabama with a few from Tennessee and Georgia. My daughter along with my 4-month old granddaughter and my son-in-law live in Madison Alabama. Madison is a small but booming and heavily populated town outside of Huntsville. [...]
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/LifeOnTheRoad-TruckingNewsBlog/~3/1fIIntZK8v0/10340.html
There are strict rules and regulations for the big rigs on the highway with any loads, the top priority is the safety of road, this includes the safety of the trucks and the motorists around it, and I think we don’t have to reiterate how important it is.
Cargo control, a.k.a cargo securement is that truckers must secure the loads on their trucks, the way to secure the load and the devices used for securement have to meet FMCSA and local rules and regulations, for example, the generic rules for tie down devices is that the aggregated working load limit must equal to or greater than one half of the load, which means if the load is 10,000lbs, and you’re using tie down straps which have WLL of 2000lbs, then you need at least 3 such tie down straps to secure the load, this is under the assumption that these tie down straps’ anchor points are on the truck, if the tie down has one anchor point on the load, then only half of it’s WLL will be counted, for instance, you use 4 grade 70 chains to tie down a 12,000lbs backhoe, each chain will have an anchor point on the backhoe, then only the half of the WLL of chain will be counted toward the aggregated WLL, one half of the load is 6000lbs, so each chain must have 3000lbs WLL at least, and consider the extreme conditions the load might be in, we say the WLL of chain should be 6000lbs or greater, so you need at least 3/8” grade 70 binder chain which has WLL of 6600lbs, or even 1/2” ones with WLL of 11,000lbs.
Now you can see generic rules are just generic rules, you need to stay on the safe side when it comes to cargo securement. Before you make any decision, you need to ask your self a few questions, such as are the tie downs I have or going to purchase made to the specification? Are the tie downs have marks which indicate working load limit on them? Are there any damages to the tie downs? Do I have enough tie downs to cope with extreme conditions? And for specific tie downs you may have to ask slightly different questions, for instance, you will ask “Any rusty on the chain” for binder chains and “Any scratch or burn on the strap” for the ratchet strap.
When the rules and regulations are strict, truckers should really pay attention to quality of tie downs and from where they should buy them, and truckers will have to strike a balance between the quality and cost. Generally speaking, high quality comes with high cost, but it’s not always true, especially in the highly competitive online retailing, and the deals are right at your finger tip, just search for tie down free shipping, then check out reviews of listed merchants, done! It’s as simple as that. One last important thing is that you should look for those merchants who have mobile version of their websites, since more and more people have smart phones, a mobilized website is a must for online business, an ecommerce site without mobile version is just like a Berger King without drive thru lane, it just doesn’t make any sense anymore.
I hate to keep beating on a dead-horse, but US Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood or Obama is guilty of falsifying the facts. It more than likely is both but…
Source: http://www.truckdriversnews.com/which-one-is-distorting-facts-obama-or-ray-lahood/
The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance will hold its annual Roadcheck event June 7-9, it said in a statement.
Source: http://www.ttnews.com/articles/basetemplate.aspx?storyid=26578
Trial is beginning in federal court in Seattle Monday for a Lynden man who put a spotlight on a low-flying Customs and Border Patrol helicopter.