Load Restraint the next Focus

Load Restraint the next focus

Load restraint is a key component of Chain of Responsibility and each participant in the supply chain has a legal responsibility to ensure compliance.

The National Heavy Vehicle Regulator states:

“If you consign, pack, load or receive goods as part of your business, you could be held legally liable for breaches of the Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL) even though you have no direct role in driving or operating a heavy vehicle. In addition, corporate entities, directors, partners and managers are accountable for the actions of people under their control. This is the ‘chain of responsibility’ (COR).

The aim of COR is to make sure everyone in the supply chain shares equal responsibility for ensuring breaches of the HVNL do not occur. Under COR laws if you exercise (or have the capability of exercising) control or influence over any transport task, you are part of the supply chain and therefore have a responsibility to ensure the HVNL is complied with.

The law recognises that multiple parties may be responsible for offences committed by the drivers and operators of heavy vehicles. A person may be a party in the supply chain in more than one way. For example they may have duties as the employer, the operator and the consigner of goods.

Legal liability applies to all parties for their actions or inactions.”

The parties in the supply chain include Consignor/consignee, loading Manager/Packer/ Loader, Transport Company/Manager/Scheduler/Driver.

Where there is responsibility there is liability.

Responsibility in Load Restraint includes:

• Ensuring goods are packaged for transport,

• Ensuring Dunnage or packaging required for transport is available before loading,

• Ensuring equipment can safely load and unload goods to and from the vehicle,

• Placing the goods in a safe position on the vehicle, so they will not fall of the vehicle,

• Selecting the correct vehicle to transport the goods,

• Drivers and Loaders are trained in understanding weight distribution for positioning the goods on the vehicle,

• Accurate weights are provided for the goods to be transported,

• Load Restraint guidelines exist to assist the driver provide correct load restraint.

The frequency of incidents and fatalities caused by poor load restraint and non-compliance to Chain of Responsibility has caused both NSW Police and NSW RMS to target specific operations i.e. Operation Steel and Operation Austrans; in an effort to focus on the main issues facing heavy vehicle safety in 2015.

Being given advance warning by both Police and RMS your business should be giving consideration to Load Restraint. Remember Managers and Directors can be held personally liable in respect of corporate load restraint offences.

Only a month ago in Queensland two Chinese tourist were involved in a fatality when a section of pipe fell from a truck near Gladstone in Queensland.

Resources such as the National Transport Commission Load Restraint Guide provide good quality guidance on load restraint and how each party in the supply chain needs to recognise their individual requirements to ensure compliance.

An area that needs consideration is the packaging of goods into a container.

There are not a lot of resources available to assist with this requirement. We are aware of two incidents in NSW as a result of load shift inside a container.

Thursday 28 June 2012 about 10.45am a semi-trailer conveying a container packed with wood products rolled at an intersection in Liverpool NSW. The semi-trailer and loaded container rolled lover and landed on top of a motor vehicle, crushing the vehicle and the occupant

A second incident on Tuesday 10 July 2012 when a B-Double carrying two export containers with steel products failed to take a bend on the Princes Highway at Sylvania. The containers struck several vehicles and caused major traffic disruptions.

Load Restraint for Containers

Containers need to be safely transported on the road before arriving at the Port for shipment and then for delivery when arriving at the destination port. Container damage or movement can occur at sea, and the consignor is responsible for any resultant damage. A shipping line can refuse any future consignments.

Do not assume a container can support a load during transit,

At Modal Logistics we can provide a gap analysis audit on your current load restraint to assist you to understand the areas where improvement is required, or train your people in Load Restraint.

Our objective is to bring harmony through your logistics and your safety responsibilities, Load restraint is a key responsibility.

Call me to discuss your Load Restraint responsibilities on 0417 220 712.