A Strap That Crosses Counts Twice as Much

Half credit if both ends land on one side. Full credit if the strap crosses the load.

Two identical straps. Same rating, same condition, same load. One pair counts twice as much as the other, and the only difference is where you hooked them.

That is not a trick. It is written into the rule, and it is the part of cargo securement that trips up people who have been strapping loads for years.

The number you have to beat

Federal rule 49 CFR 393.106(d) sets the target: the aggregate working load limit of the tiedowns securing an article must be at least one-half the weight of that article.

Ten thousand pounds of cargo needs at least five thousand pounds of aggregate working load limit. That part most people know.

How the aggregate is counted, and this is the part

The rule then spells out how to add it up, and it does not add the way you would guess:

Half the working load limit of each tiedown that runs from an anchor point on the vehicle to an anchor point on the cargo itself.

Half the working load limit of each tiedown that leaves an anchor point on the vehicle, goes over or around the cargo, and comes back to an anchor point on the same side.

The full working load limit of each tiedown that leaves an anchor point, crosses over the cargo, and attaches on the other side of the vehicle.

Read those last two together. The same strap, with the same rating, counts half if both ends land on the same side and counts double that if it crosses the load.

What that does to a real load

Say you are running four straps with a working load limit of 1,000 pounds each.

All four anchored on the same side: 500 + 500 + 500 + 500 = 2,000 pounds of aggregate. That covers 4,000 pounds of cargo.

All four crossing to the other side: 1,000 + 1,000 + 1,000 + 1,000 = 4,000 pounds of aggregate. That covers 8,000 pounds of cargo.

Same straps. Same truck. Twice the legal capacity, for free, because of where the hooks went.

It also works the other way, which is the dangerous direction: a load you thought was covered by four straps may be covered by only two, on paper and in physics.

Two more lines from the same rule

Anything that can roll has to be stopped from rolling. Chocks, wedges, a cradle or something equivalent. And the rule adds a condition people skip: whatever you use must not be capable of coming unfastened or loose while the vehicle is in transit. A wedge that walks out on the first bad joint was never securement.

Pieces sitting side by side, held by straps that run across them, must either touch each other or be stopped from shifting toward each other. A gap between two crates is a gap they will close, and when they do, the strap over them goes slack.

Where this rule stops

Being precise matters here, because cargo securement is a place where a half-remembered rule is worse than no rule.

This section covers all cargo except bulk commodities with no fixed shape — liquids, gases, grain, wet concrete, sand, gravel, aggregate — carried in a tank, hopper or box that is part of the vehicle's structure.

And there are commodity-specific rules for certain loads. When those add requirements, they take precedence over this general section. If you are hauling something with its own rule, the general rule is your floor, not your answer.

What to do on your next load

Read the label on your straps. The working load limit is marked by the manufacturer. If you cannot read it, you cannot count it.

Count the way the rule counts, not the way it feels. Half for same-side, full for crossing. Do it once on paper for the load you run most often, and you will know your own numbers from then on.

Look at where the hooks land, not just how tight it is. Tension is not the measurement. The anchor pattern is.

We do inspection and repair on pickups, trailers and heavy trucks in Houston, Dallas and Monterrey: thetrucksavers.com.

Original source: 49 CFR 393.106, What are the general requirements for securing articles of cargo?