Overview
According to AAA's Foundation for
Traffic Safety, poorly secured loads
are responsible for more than 25,000
crashes and approximately 90 fatalities
in this country each year. And on top of
that, there are all those nonfatal
injuries to drivers behind you and
damage to their vehicles. Guess who's
responsible if something falls off your
truck and injures somebody? Yup, you.
We checked with experts to find the
best ways to secure loads on a pickup.
Then we drove our pickup to the nearest
Menards home center and loaded it
with common DIY materials to show
you how to properly secure them. You
may think our tie-down methods are
over the top, but securing a load to your
vehicle isn't just about making sure it
all gets home. It's about getting it all
home without harming anybody.
You can use these methods when
you’re moving furniture and other
household goods too. They're just as
likely to fly off your vehicle and cause
injury, and you'll be just as liable.
Know the ropes—er, ratchet straps
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Get the right equipment
Rule No. 1 in safely securing your
load is to buy a set (four minimum) of
heavy-duty 15-ft. ratchet straps (minimum
1,000-lb. load limit/3,000-lb.
break strength). Sure, rope and bungee
cords work fine if you drive slow and
don't hit any bumps or get into an accident.
But in the real world, you have to
be prepared to swerve or come to an
emergency stop, without ejecting your
cargo. That's precisely when rope,
bungees and twine fail.
Stay away from wimpy straps. Buy
heavy-duty ratchet straps (1-1/4 in. or
wider) and store them in a box in your
cab to protect them from moisture and
sunlight.
Hauling is Dangerous!
- In California, 155 people were killed
in a two-year period by objects
spilled onto roads.
- In Georgia, 66 percent of road
debris is the result of junk flying off
vehicles.
- In California, an estimated 140,000
cu. yds. of road debris is the result
of improperly secured loads.
Wrap flimsy materials
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Protect against breakage
Just about every home improvement
job involves hauling 10-ft. lengths of
some type of flimsy material. But
things like drip edges, flashing, plastic
conduit or siding will all flop around
and get damaged on the way home. So
while you're at the store, buy a roll of
stretch cling film.
Wrap both ends. If lumber is part of the
load, wrap the fragile bundle with it for
added support.
Bundle long boards
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Stop wood from bouncing out
If you're hauling a large load of long
lumber, don't rest it on a raised
gate—it just can't handle that kind of
weight. Start by laying out two or
more ratchet straps along the bottom
of the bed and load the longest and
heaviest lumber over the straps.
Then stack shorter lengths on top. Secure the cab end, the middle and the
trailing end with the straps.
Next, anchor the bundle to the truck
bed with two ratchet straps. Crisscross
the ratchet straps across the load,
attaching one end to the cab end
anchor rings and the other end to the
farthest bundle strap.
Support and protect drywall
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Ratchet straps help you push the envelope safely
If you have a 6-ft. bed, you'll have to
haul a large load of sheet goods with
the tailgate down. We're showing you
an extreme example by loading 4 x 12-ft. drywall in a 6-ft. bed. Start by laying
out two ratchet straps across the truck
bed. Then lay out at least two 12-ft.
2x4s to help support the overhang
(check the load limit of your truck and
the weight of each sheet). The 2x4s will
also protect the drywall from any
water, rocks or crud on your truck bed.
We scrounged up some cardboard corners
to protect the edges of our drywall
(check the trash bins in the store or
lumberyard). Then tighten the bottom
straps to secure the bundle. Next, run
two straps from the truck bed anchor
rings around the back edge of the
sheets and down to the bumper.
Use a cargo net for bulky loads
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Stop flyaways
There will come a day when you haul
bundles of light materials like insulation.
Don't just throw it in the bed and
hope it stays put. It needs to be secured
too. The best way to do that is with a
cargo net. Buy one at a home center or
online (such as the Allied No. 84067
CargoLoc Adjustable Truck Net; available through our affiliation with
amazon.com). Then snap the retainer
clips into the anchor points on your bed.
Tailgate can be up for light 8- to 10-ft. loads
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Don't be casual about small loads
Light loads can rest on the tailgate.
But they still have to be secured.
Don't fool yourself into thinking
they'll stay put because the longest
portion is inside the bed. Use ratchet
straps on the bundle in two places
and secure each end to the anchor
rings on the bed.
Red-Flag It
After you've secured your load,
make sure you attach a red flag on
the end. It's required by law. Most
home centers provide them for
free. Just make sure you staple the
heck out of it to prevent it from
ripping off while you're tooling
down the highway.
