12
| HIRE
AND
RENTAL
NEWS
| AUGUST 2013
INDUSTRY IN FOCUS
Urban myths surrounding the issue of
securing loads has seen a huge increase
in sales and the use of cargo nets on utes,
trucks and trailers as well as tall stories
circulating about huge fines people have
received for insecure loads.
It seems tradies everywhere have
been beset by concerns regarding the
requirements of securing their loads and
what type of fines they can expect if
they’re caught out.
Mark Hughes, Manager at City Hire
which is based in Kelvin Grove and Red Hill
in Queensland became aware of the issue
and decided to do some investigating.
“
Tradies have told me various stories
including a story about a tradie who was
fined for each loose item in his ute at $70
apiece and he had 11 items; a tradie who
had a pair of work boots in the back of a
ute and got a fine for each one; and the
sighting of a road block style blitz where
every tradie was getting pulled over.
“
The majority of what I have seen and
heard is ‘Urban Myth’, Mark said.
“
However, the fact of the matter is there
is a huge amount of rubbish along the side
Securing your load – is it really a police focus?
of suburban roads and highways which
has fallen off vehicles. Drivers swerving to
miss objects waylaid by the roadside can
easily collide with vehicles in adjoining
lanes or worse still veer in to the path of
oncoming traffic or on to the footpath and
hit pedestrians.
“
It seems legislation is not specific
regarding methods and equipment
required for securing loads but, it does
clearly state the equipment used to secure
the load must be fit for purpose. In other
words it must have adequate breaking
strain in relation to the weight of the
items being secured.
“
At the end of the day people must
realise a net is not the solution for all
loads. A combination of rope, webbing
style ratchet straps, chains and ratchet style
binders and nets should be used. Elastic
style straps are frowned upon as they will
allow the load to shift and pose a Health
and Safety Risk to the user if they break or
flick off easily hitting a person in the face.
“
I personally called the Queensland
Police and Queensland Transport and got
the following information regarding fines.
“
Both groups said they would only fine
for any one vehicle or trailer not by the
number of items. So a ute with a shovel,
pair of boots and an esky that were all
unsecured would only be fined once. If this
person also had a trailer with unsecured
items they could be fined twice.
“
Queensland Police said the fine was
$256.00. 0 Demerit Points.
“
Queensland Transport Inspector said
the fine was $220.00. 0 Demerit Points.”
More information on the best ways to
restrain and cover different types of loads
is available at The National Transport
Commission’s Load Restraint Guide at
www.ntc.gov.au
or at your nearest Motor
Vehicle Registry. (Also, see the heavy
vehicle guidelines on load restraint.)
Another misconception making its
way through tradie lore is it is legislative
change that has led to this sudden focus
on load restraint and why load restraint
has become an area of focus for police.
While there may be some minor truth to
this rumour, there is in fact no truth to the
thought the law has actually changed.
The NTC guide has been reformatted