[ftp]

Say you buy a van like a Despatch for example and you want to run a delivery service - first job and the customer wants a full pallet of metal plates or paper or a pallet load of patio slabs taken up the motorway to Scotland - what are you going to do about securing it? How do these firms secure their loads 

[Nathanael Jones]

Say you buy a van like a Despatch for example and you want to run a delivery service - first job and the customer wants a full pallet of metal plates or paper or a pallet load of patio slabs taken up the motorway to Scotland - what are you going to do about securing it? How do these firms secure their loads 

They don't,.. at least not properly!
Because our loads are considered permanent fixtures in the van, our legal responsibilities are greater.

[matt]

Say you buy a van like a Despatch for example and you want to run a delivery service - first job and the customer wants a full pallet of metal plates or paper or a pallet load of patio slabs taken up the motorway to Scotland - what are you going to do about securing it? How do these firms secure their loads 

they dont

same with builders with a cement mixer and pallet of bags of cement in

i was once a passenger in a van ( passenger seat ) and in the back were 2 lads, 1 sat on a upturned bucket, the other on the wheel arch

in the back was 20 sheets of  1inch thick sterling board, also known as OSB, just leant agaisnt the inside of the van, we are driving up a by-pass and hear, arrrggggggg help

the sheets had fallen over and trapped these 2 lads, both of them couldnt push them back, we stopped and jumped out and saved them, 1 of them was taken to hospital with a crushed shoulder 

[matt]

13th July 2007 FTA test !  Find anything new post it here.

The Freight Transport Association (FTA), with the help of consultants TRL, is researching the importance of safe securing of loads in vans, with a view to establishing a best practice guide for load retention. Launching the project last week, TRL conducted two van crash tests to demonstrate the importance of secure loading.

In the first test a van body was mounted on a sled, and accelerated at a force of up to 28g - the equivalent of van-to-van impact of 30mph. In the back were bricks, a generator, road breaker, stone cutter, various other tools and retrofit shelving. No part of the 515kg load was secured, but a bulkhead was fitted.
"The result was shocking," says James Hookham, FTA deputy chief executive. "The improvised racking crumpled and broke away from its mounts, making missiles out of the objects that were on it. They distorted and penetrated the bulkhead, crumpling the driver's seat. The driver would have been seriously injured or killed." The second test featured a van body kitted-out with a purpose-built storage system, which had been designed with crash safety in mind. The load totalled 350kg, and the aftermath was far less explosive. The bulkhead was not penetrated and the driver ran no risk of being hit by the cargo.

Paul Wood, MD of Vehicle Leasing Services, and a member of FTA's Utilities Working Group, says: "Our goal is to make vehicles safer and stay one step ahead of the legislation.”Against the background of zero injury expectation, irrespective of the incident, along with the imminent Corporate Manslaughter legislation, it is necessary for operators and enforcement agencies to establish a reliable, reasonable and above all practical guidance on these issues." This research will conclude at the end of the year.

have a search for the thatcham crash test with the box of mans tissues, im not sure its on the net, i was shown is by some1 at ironics, it really shocked me, not enough to spend silly money on a system from them though 

its all about risk and how much you want to take

[AuRavelling79]

13th July 2007 FTA test !  Find anything new post it here.

The Freight Transport Association (FTA), with the help of consultants TRL, is researching the importance of safe securing of loads in vans, with a view to establishing a best practice guide for load retention. Launching the project last week, TRL conducted two van crash tests to demonstrate the importance of secure loading.

In the first test a van body was mounted on a sled, and accelerated at a force of up to 28g - the equivalent of van-to-van impact of 30mph. In the back were bricks, a generator, road breaker, stone cutter, various other tools and retrofit shelving. No part of the 515kg load was secured, but a bulkhead was fitted.
"The result was shocking," says James Hookham, FTA deputy chief executive. "The improvised racking crumpled and broke away from its mounts, making missiles out of the objects that were on it. They distorted and penetrated the bulkhead, crumpling the driver's seat. The driver would have been seriously injured or killed." The second test featured a van body kitted-out with a purpose-built storage system, which had been designed with crash safety in mind. The load totalled 350kg, and the aftermath was far less explosive. The bulkhead was not penetrated and the driver ran no risk of being hit by the cargo.

Paul Wood, MD of Vehicle Leasing Services, and a member of FTA's Utilities Working Group, says: "Our goal is to make vehicles safer and stay one step ahead of the legislation.”Against the background of zero injury expectation, irrespective of the incident, along with the imminent Corporate Manslaughter legislation, it is necessary for operators and enforcement agencies to establish a reliable, reasonable and above all practical guidance on these issues." This research will conclude at the end of the year.

The first test = 515kg load = more damage
The second = 350kg load = less damage

Surely the loads should have been similar in weight?

[David Slater]

Surely someone could come up with a skid system and then various mounting kits for different vans? You can buy towbars for every vehicle so why not a mounting kit to fit a universal base? Even if it was the strongest type ratchet straps to hold the base this would give you some adjustability. A car transporter can carry various different vehicles and likewise a flat bed can carry different sized and shaped loads securely.
All vans have a chassis running under the floor so maybe four adjustable mounting points could be drilled through the chassis?

Now this is a very good point!.

Its one of Yes and No answers...

Let me explain -

You can buy a towbar which is universal  - it will fit a mini or a Range Rover. You could link up a 6 berth carvan to this towbar.

That does NOT mean to say a mini is capable of pulling such a large heavy load safely....

This is what I meant by 'standard' and 'bespoke'. Just because we can physically get a system into our vehicle, may not actually mean it is wise to do so.

WFP is becoming more common and more systems are being built/sold. This will increase the likelyhood of accidents of vans with WFP systems. I would expect HSE to take a very keen interest in a few years time. No doubt we'll end up with a set of guidlines (not unlike van mounted cherry pickers).

At the moment, the WFP industry is still fairly small and we're flying under the HSE radar.