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Loads That Shift Weight
Maintaining the control of a truck is difficult when weight slips
especially on poor road conditions. Livestock shifts weight when
turning corners or when making sudden swerves. Liquids in tanks will
slosh back and forth when baffles are not installed in the tank.
On September 27, 2002, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
(FMCSA) published new cargo securement rules. Motor carriers operating
in interstate commerce must comply with the new requirements beginning
January 1, 2004. The new rules require motor carriers to change the way
they use cargo securement devices to prevent articles from shifting on
or within, or falling from commercial motor vehicles. The changes may
require motor carriers to increase the number of tie-downs used to
secure certain types of cargo. The intent of the new requirements is to
reduce the number of accidents caused by cargo shifting on or within,
or falling from, commercial motor vehicles operating in interstate
commerce, and to harmonize to the greatest extent practicable U.S.,
Canadian, and Mexican cargo securement regulations.
FMCSA has adopted new performance requirements for cargo securement
systems. They must withstand those performance criterions concerning
deceleration in the forward direction, and acceleration in the rearward
and lateral directions. Deceleration is the rate at which the speed of
the vehicle decreases when the brakes are applied, and acceleration is
the rate at which the speed of the vehicle increases in the lateral
direction or sideways (while the vehicle is turning), or in the
rearward direction (when the vehicle is being driven in reverse and
makes contact with a loading dock). Acceleration and deceleration
values are commonly reported as a proportion of the acceleration due to
the force of gravity (g). FMCSA requires that cargo securement systems
be capable of withstanding the forces associated with following three
deceleration/accelerations, applied separately:
Cargo must be firmly immobilized or secured on or within a vehicle by structures of adequate strength, dunnage (loose materials used to support and protect cargo) or dunnage bags (inflatable bags intended to fill space between articles of cargo or between cargo and the wall of the vehicle), shoring bars, tie-downs or a combination of these. Articles of cargo that are likely to roll must be restrained by chocks, wedges, a cradle or other equivalent means to prevent rolling. The means of preventing rolling must not be capable of becoming unintentionally unfastened or loose while the vehicle is in transit. Articles of cargo placed beside each other and secured by transverse tie-downs must be:
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The Scarlett Law Group: Trucking Accident Lawyers
The information presented regarding trucking accident injury, semi-truck accidents, big rig accidents, truck accidents, auto-truck collisions injury, wrongful death or other legal information related to the practice of trucking accidents litigation on this site should not be construed to be formal legal advice nor the formation of a lawyer or attorney client relationship. Any results set forth here were dependent on the facts of that case and the results will differ from case to case. Please contact a trucking accident injury lawyer, personal injury attorney or wrongful death lawyer at our San Francisco California law firm.