Loading and Towing Vehicles

  • Ensure transport/line managers are familiar with all necessary regulations to ensure supervision, monitoring and auditing are carried out correctly. This includes licensing requirements, e.g. for towing trailers.
  • Advise drivers of cars, vans and trucks to ensure that all loose items have to be secured before starting a journey.
  • Advise your staff not to load or unload in places where they could cause a hazard and could put themselves or other road users at risk.
  • Ensure that drivers are fully trained in procedures to ensure load security and towing, including:
    • Regular inspections of couplings to identify damage or wear.
    • Regular inspections of load-bearing components and cross beams to identify wear-and-tear and corrosion.
    • Securing loads with equipment such as heavy duty strapping, lashing rings on the trailer floor and cargo nets running on inboard tracks.
    • Checking that vehicles are not overloaded either by their gross weight or by individual axle loads.
  • Training for tanker drivers should furthermore include:
    • The danger of roll-overs and wave effects.
    • Venting procedures and the need to follow the correct practice for the product and tanker.
    • The requirement to check for leaks from the tank, valves and pipe work before starting a journey.
    • Dangerous goods regulations.
  • Fit load restraint systems in your trucks, which are strong enough to prevent the load moving forward under severe braking or when steering on any journey.
  • Use truck bodies only if they are suitably reinforced to securely contain the required load.
  • If you operate vehicles that have an overall travelling height of more than 3 metres (10 feet) ensure that the overall travelling height of the vehicles is displayed inside the cabin.