Cargo Control Store

When it comes down to truck tie down , the ratchet strap and winch strap are playing a important role in securing truck load, ratchet tie down can be used inside the box trucks and on the flat beds , the opposite case is that the winch tie downs usually are being deployed with flat bed trucks with winches installed . For the record truck tie downs are much more than just ratchet straps and winch straps , such as there are grade 70 chains , load binders, e track straps , etc.

There is a special kind of tie downs which have reflective strips on the strap , in dark environment the reflective strips can be seen from far away , this looks like a nice feature, is it? When it comes to safety, even 1 or 2 percent reduction of risk of collision should encourage people to get the reflective ratchet straps. We don’t have enough data to prove the safety benefits of reflective tie downs yet, Its not that difficult to conclude that if the straps on the load can be spotted from afar, it’s pretty easy to avoid any kind of undesired contact with the truck.

Here we are going to see the most important feature of the reflective tie downs, the price, all the offers can be found online nowadays, it’s just a easy search away for you to figure out that the reflective ones are about 10% more expensive then non reflective ones, you will be able to buy a piece for around 10 something dollars, so 10% will increase the price a bit , it doesn’t sound too expensive to me, if you want 10 straps the difference will be $10-$20 we know we can use these straps for a few months or longer, the common knowledge tells us the time frame will be 6 months or even longer, you almost spend nothing to get the security feature offered by reflective tie downs! I don’t what people will do but I will definitely get those reflectives!

The ratchet tie downs are the assembly of tie down strap and ratchet buckle , it’s a widely known fact, by this logic the cam buckle strap is just the cam buckle with tie down strap, why I am not surprised? Most likely these cam buckle straps are used on pick up trucks or passenger cars for luggage tie down, and small cam buckle(1”) are more popular than big ones(2”). Ratchet buckles are different, there are 1” to 4” ratchets, and they can be quite heavy duty and can stand all kinds of abuse, the most commonly used on commercial trucks are 2”, 3” and 4” ratchet tie downs, with 3,333LBS, 5,400LBS working load and a design factor of 3:1, these ratchets have 10,000LBS and 16,2000LBS breaking strength respectively, which are pretty strong for most tie down applications.

So far we talked about tie down devices for flatbed trucks or similar transportation vehicles, in reality semi trailers are much more than flatbeds in numbers, since they are box trucks the tie down needs are different, you will see most semi trailers have E Track installed and use logistic strap . In fact box truck has much bigger share than flatbed truck, the percentage maybe around 80%, of course this is only estimation but you get the idea, and the conclusion is that e tack straps are by far the most popular tie downs. With 1,000lbs safe load  limit and 3,000lbs minimum breaking strength, e track straps are not as strong as flatbed tie down straps, It’s understandable that e track straps have lower working load limit, because the box truck wall will provide strong support for the loads inside, and the truck wall will prevent the loads from falling off, rolling over, tilting and some other dangerous movements. With the help of e track cargo bar, rope tie off and some other e track tie downs and accessories, it’s pretty easy to secure loads inside the box trucks, but easy doesn’t mean not important, you still have to look out for any risks may present in the process of transportation, so secure your loads as reliable as you can, use the right tie down devices for your job.

We already discussed the design factor of ratchet straps, it is 3:1 and for the record all this says is that safe load limit of tie down straps is 1/3 of it’s breaking strength, while grade 70 transport chains which have a design factor of 4:1, that means the transport chains will work in more tough environment than tie down straps, which usually are chose for regular loads. Nylon and polyester webbing are used in making tie down webbing, for different applications people  will choose different material accordingly. The typical application for nylon webbing is motorcycle tie down, while polyester webbing is ideal for tying down concrete pipes. When making the webbing, we have to take following characteristics in to consideration, the breaking strength, elongation, abrasion and the environment. There are mandated criteria for breaking strength and elongation of the tie down straps , while the abrasion and environment are mostly estimation and subjective sometimes, different area may have different requirements. Therefore the manufacturer may have to make these tie downs to different standards.

The well recognized fact is that the assembly of tie down strap and ratchets usually called ratchet tie down, by this logic the cam buckle strap is just the cam buckle with tie down strap, why I am not surprised? Most likely these cam buckle straps are used on pick up trucks or passenger cars for luggage tie down, and small cam buckle(1”) are more popular than big ones(2”). Ratchet buckles are different, there are 1” to 4” ratchets, and they can be quite heavy duty and can stand all kinds of abuse, the most commonly used on commercial trucks are 2”, 3” and 4” ratchet tie downs, they have working load limit of 3,333lbs, 5,400lbs and 5,400lbs respectively, these assemblies have design factor of 3:1, thus the minimum breaking strength is 10,000lbs, 16,200lbs and 16,200lbs respectively.

Of course what we discussed above is mainly for flatbed trucks and some other kind of vehicles, there are another category of ratchet straps for semi trailers, ratchet e track strap , these tie down equipment will be used with E Tracks installed inside the semi trailer. In fact semi trailer has much bigger share than flatbed truck, the percentage maybe around 80%, of course this is only estimation but you get the idea, and the conclusion is that e tack straps are by far the most popular tie downs. The e track straps usually have working load limit of 1000lbs, which is only 30% of the 2” flatbed tie downs, and the breaking strength is only 3,000lbs based on design factor 3:1. the low working load limit of e track straps stems from box truck wall provides support for the loads inside the truck, come to think of it,  the loads won’t fall off the bed, not going to roll over, it’s much safer than the cargo out there on the flatbeds, therefore low strength tie downs can be used to secure the loads. Coupled with e track cargo bar, rope tie off, e track hardware(such as D ring with E fitting), shoring beam, e track tie downs can be used to secure any kind of loads, and secure them reliably, but you still have to pay close attention to the safety of your cargo, easy to secure is not an excuse for careless tie down practice.

As we mentioned in the first paragraph, the design factor of ratchets is 3:1, that means the working load limit is 1/3 of the minimum breaking strength, in the mean time the design factor of grade 70 tie down chains is 4:1, so the chains can support heavier load, and are more resistance to abuse, such as high/low temperature, moisture, while tie down straps usually only work well under normal condition. The most common materials in making tie down webbing are nylon and polyester, which serve different tie down applications. Nylon webbing has better elongation than polyester, so for shock absorption wise nylon is ideal material while polyester usually is used to make tie downs for heavy equipment. Elongation, tensile strength, abrasion and environment, these have to be taken into consideration when making tie down strap. When making tie down strap , manufacturer has to follow the recommendation of breaking strength and elongation requirements, when it comes to abrasion and environment, there are much more variations to be considered.

E Track tie down system usually has two parts, the E Tracks and the logistic straps or hardware connector, aka E Track straps or tie downs. The E Track will be installed inside the box trucks , the most used are 2 settings , horizontal E Track and vertical E Track, most seen sizes are 5 feet and10 feet section. The E Track tie downs have quite a few varieties, such as rope tie off, D ring with E fitting, cam buckle straps with E Fitting, ratchet straps with E Fitting, wood beam sockets, wheel chocks which usually seen with E Tracks installed on the truck floor for bike or vehicle tie down and  there e track cargo bars with e fittings at both ends. But any E Track tie downs need E Track to be installed to work, so the most important thing is to install the E Track properly.

Here we will discuss E Track setup and safety tips .

When you mount the E Track you will have to look for the wall studs on the trailer, we will focus on doing it on the wall but the same principle applies to the floor as well. The wall stud is basically a big channel with a couple of flat spots on top to attach the plywood to, we just have to do the same to the E Track and bridge two of them somehow, when you figure that out you can use screws to hold the E Track up, you will need deep threaded wood screws or tec screws to get the job done. Basically this is all about installing E Tracks on the wall, and you will have to make sure the E Track sit as flat as possible on the wood. Use deep threaded wood screws on these E Tracks is a good idea, and if it’s possible, you should put one screw in each hole on the track, and run the track as far as you can(spread the load), then you’re pretty safe as long as for regular loads. The outside wall is about 2 inches away, so make sure the screws are not longer than that.

Before you call it a day, you will have to test your installation out a bit, just put a rope tie off in the e track, use your hand or some other stuff to drag it hard to see if there are any cracks or easily spotted loose ends, if you do find problems please fix them before hitting the road.