TORONTO, ON — The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance marks its 30^th annual international Roadcheck inspection blitz from June 6-8, averaging about 17 Level 1 inspections across North America every minute – and cargo securement will receive some added attention along the way.

About one in 10 Out of Service violations during the annual blitz are already for improper loading or improper cargo securement. The most common securement-related violations recorded in 2015, the last time cargo securement was a special focus for the blitz, was failure to prevent shifting/loss of load. Other common challenges included failure to secure truck equipment, damaged tiedowns, insufficient tiedowns, and loose tiedowns.

To review the cargo securement standard, click here.

For the latest guidance and interpretations, click here.

“They [inspectors] first and foremost are looking to make sure the proper amount of securement is being used on a load,” says Bob Dissinger, Kinedyne’s U.S. director of sales, referring to the 2015 results. “Looking to see that it’s bulk-headed, and if not that it has the proper straps, and they’re checking the condition of the straps, to make sure they’re not overly worn, there are no nicks or cuts. And depending on the load, making sure there’s edge protection to make sure straps won’t be cut by the load.”

Jeff Luick, a former driver who is now an account representative for Kinedyne, noticed inspectors were also looking to see if the cargo was properly braced and blocked, and made sure the tiedowns weren’t loose.

“He really made sure the [truck] equipment was secured properly,” Luick adds. “Was the spare tire secure. Was the blocking and bracing material that most flatbeds have on them tied down and secured properly?”

Another violation not related to your tiedowns, Luick says, is leaking/spilling/blowing/falling cargo.

“If there is dirt, gravel, loose debris, even a few pebbles on the deck, they consider that loose or blowing cargo,” he says. “Say you had just hauled a tracked piece of machinery that had dirt on the tracks. The driver makes the delivery and takes off without sweeping the deck off. He gets inspected and there’s dirt on the deck. There’s a ticket.”

One of the tricky parts of load securement is determining the correct number and type of tiedowns. And one of the most common questions Kinedyne’s Luick gets from drivers is the difference between the Working Load Limit, aggregate Working Load Limit, and breaking strength.

As Cargo Equipment explains on its website, break strength is the point at which any point of your tiedown will fail. It’s determined by the weakest point of the strap – the webbing, end fittings, or tensioning device. Working Load Limit or ‘WLL’ refers to the maximum allowed weight. It’s always 1/3 of the breaking strength for straps, so a strap with a breaking strength of 15,000 pounds will have a WLL of 5000 pounds.

For chains, explains Paul Wolford, Kinedyne vice president of sales and marketing, the WLL is 1/4 of the breaking strength.

The aggregate Working Load Limit, as U.S. Cargo Control explains on its website, “is the sum of the Working Load Limits for each device you use to secure your load. To meet safety requirements, the aggregate Working Load Limit of the devices you use must be at least 50% of the total weight of all the pieces of cargo you are hauling.”

So if you have a 10,000-pound piece of steel, you would need 5000 pounds or more aggregate Working Load Limit to meet inspection requirements.

“When we say aggregate Working Load Limit,” says Kinedyne’s Luick, “if you have a 10,000-pound load and need 5,000 pounds of Working Load Limit, and your cargo securement [device] has a WLL of, say, 3,335 pounds for a ratchet strap, you would need two ratchet straps and they’re counted in aggregate.”

To help make things easier, Ancra offers a tiedown calculator app, available for Android or iOS. It helps drivers determine the minimum strap requirements needed to comply with U.S. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration regulations. The app offers the ability to enter custom article length and weight, as well as custom entries for a strap’s Working Load Limit, which it saves for future use.

Some carriers opt to err on the side of caution and go above and beyond government regulations, both for safety’s sake and simply to make it easier to calculate.

One fleet, for example, rates everything at 8000 pounds, whether it’s a chain or a 4-inch strap. So if the load weighs 40,010 pounds, it would demand six chains or straps.

It’s all about keeping everything secure.