NC laws for securing equipment to a trailer

dieselfuelonly

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 9, 2008
Location
Chapel Hill, NC
Can someone let me know what the NC laws are regarding securing equipment to a trailer? For my Bobcat, do I need 2 chains, one for the front, and one for the rear, and two binders, 1 for each side? Or do I need a chain and binder in each corner?

Or do I need something completely different?

Thanks.

Dennis
 
that info should be on the DOT website. I remember stuff like that being on my CDL test...but um...i don't remember the answers now...
 
More tie points is better, obviously. When moving our skidsteer or dozer I use 2 points on the equipment (centered front and rear) and 4 points on the trailer (1 at each corner) like this: |>[equipment]<|
This prevents side to side and forward to rear movement. If the tie point on the equipment is centered, in order for it to shift to the side, the tension in the chain must increase, and since chains basically don't stretch the equipment is secured.
One thing I learned early on is to use 2 binders per chain, as a single binder cannot pull tight on both sides of the tie point, and as things shake and shift, the chain always finds a way to loosen with 1 binder.
 
It's in the CDL manual. This is why they ought to keep the Class A license requirement for towing heavy trailers. There is no way people are going to know this info exists otherwise.

"Cargo Tiedown

On flatbed trailers or trailers without sides, cargo must be secured to keep it from shifting or falling off. In closed
vans, tiedowns can also be important to prevent cargo shifting that may affect the handling of the vehicle.
Tiedowns must be of the proper type and proper strength. The combined strength of all cargo tiedowns must be
strong enough to lift one and one-half times the weight of the piece of cargo tied down. Proper tiedown equipment
must be used, including ropes, straps, chains, and tensioning devices (winches, ratchets, clinching components).
Tiedowns must be attached to the vehicle correctly (hook, bolt, rails, rings).

Cargo should have at least one tiedown for each ten feet of cargo. Make sure you have enough tiedowns to meet
this need. No matter how small the cargo, it should have at least two tiedowns holding it."
 
I've been told that all 4 corners of equipment are required to be tied down but I haven't seen it in writing. I would err on the side of caution, it's not much of an additional expense to go from 2 to 4 points of tie down.
 
Guys, I posted above the CDL requirements for NC. 1 tie down for every 10 feet of load length with a minimum of 2 tie downs. More is always better but those are the minimum required.
 
Per U.S. DOT 4 tiedowns per machine/vehicle. note you may use two tiedowns for equipment that weighs less than 10,000 LBS. Hydraulic attachments (such as blades,scoops,shovels,buckets and backhoes) must be lowered and secured.
Working load limit for the four primary tiedowns must total half the weight of the equipment.
So with that being said any thing under 10,000 pounds only requires 2 tiedowns.
 
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