The art of mastering the load

CARGO CONFIGURATION: Simple math, a pinch of physics and good old common sense John G. Stirling

In the trucking industry, dare I say “profession,” there are two types of drivers: those who want the whole world to notice them and their rig and those who like to slip by as quickly and quietly as possible.

I used to be a proud member of the former group, but for the last fiveplus years have been a humble representative of the latter. Why the change? It makes my life so much simpler and these days, simple is my selfimposed middle name.

Every year, the month of June is the time for the annual North American blitz by Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) inspectors to get down and dirty. They go all out — north, south, east and west — in checking out commercial rigs.

They pull us over, crawl over, under and through whatever needs to be inspected, checking everything from paperwork and mechanics to the main subject of this year’s attention: loads.

Checking out a rig, it is a virtual guarantee that something will be wrong, broken or in need of some attention.

With so many parts and such high demands made hourly on all commercial rigs, it is a no brainer.

That’s why, by law, all commercial drivers are required to do a 15-minute pre- and post-trip inspection of their steed. Something will always not be totally up to snuff.

But loads seemed to slip through the net of those CVSA people. Get in a crash or any kind of serious traffic mishap, then the load will be looked at, but still not that seriously.

Of course, if there are warning stickers/signs on the four sides of the trailer/container, then the load will be noticed. If there is lumber all over the highway, then it will be noticed, but generally speaking …

Loading is an art. Simple, straightforward art and one that cannot be taken for granted or tampered with. It is simple math with a pinch of physics and a whole lot of good old-fashioned common sense.

In my industry/profession, common sense is in very short supply.

That is what the inspectors were counting on.

Simply put, if the driver is responsible for loading his van or container, he needs the basics: the weight of each individual unit to be carried, be it a box or a pallet pre-loaded and shrink wrapped.

Then, knowing the total length, height and width of his unit, said driver can quickly figure out just how much they can legally carry. Then things get tricky. You have to figure out how much fuel is in the rig’s tanks and factor that in for total unit weight. Then there’s the fuel consumption and how much lighter will the total load be by the time the unit gets to the weigh scale or the next jurisdiction. Then which states and/or provinces are on the route, as they are not all the same in terms of weight limits permitted.

Then where can the driver re-fuel and how much can he afford, weightwise, to put into his tanks.

The last major consideration the driver should make is where to position the fifth wheel to allow the rig to carry the most weight and still be of legal weight on his steering and drive axles. That positioning will also allow slight weight adjustments as fuel is consumed or pumped back on board.

With all those factors into consideration, loading can commence.

Often, the shipper is very proficient at this task and the driver just needs to stay out of the way. There are other times when the former is necessary and all the above factors need to be taken into consideration or the trip is a freebie.

All profits come out of the jeans to pay the overweight fines.

I speak from experience. Paying fines. Learning to load the correct way. Learning how to adjust the load on the side of the highway.

I also learned how to convince my wife that since she is skinnier than me, she can slide along the top of a load of bananas and move the boxes back six metres.

She didn’t mind too much until I pulled into a special station, where the load was sealed and sprayed to kill any tarantulas that might have tried to hitch a ride. Her bark was worse than any bite those bugs could have given me. Just another painful learning experience for me. Pretty high price, too.

I could fill a newspaper with stories about life on the road, but why not share yours with readers? Send them to Driving editor Andrew McCredie at amccredie@sunprovince.com.

Loading up cargo on a big rig is a simple and straightforward art, writes John G. Stirling, but one, for the sake of safety, that cannot be taken for granted or tampered with.