ForConstructionPros.com

As an owner, manager or driver, you are responsible for the load on your trailer. It’s as simple as that.

“It’s your responsibility to tie down your load properly, securely and legally,” says Jim Ladner, national sales manager, Landoll Trailers. “When you transport equipment, you accept the responsibility for any accident that may occur on your site, at a customer’s site or on a public highway.”

Yet, there can be many factors that distract you from properly securing a load. Maybe it’s raining, it’s cold or you’re only moving that excavator a few miles down the road. But while you may be anxious to get done in a hurry, you are responsible for the lives and safety of the people in the immediate area, says John DeGeorge, national sales manager, Eager Beaver Trailers. So slow down and take the time to load equipment safely.

The consequences of not properly securing equipment — especially heavy construction equipment on a lowboy, flatbed or large tag trailer — prior to transport can run the gamut from a small workman’s comp claim to an all-out securement failure that results in serious injury or death.

“All trailers are designed with a certain amount of bend or flex,” says Terry Campbell, general manager/director of operations, Transcraft Corp. “But if you don’t have the load secured properly and firmly, it can shift during an emergency maneuver or procedure, which can make it difficult to maintain vehicle control or, in the worst-case scenario, [cause it to] flip. If you have to make a sudden weight shift, this could change the entire handling characteristics of the vehicle combination.”