Operating a Flatbed transport company in a country like Canada presents a lot of challenges. As the second largest country in the world, Canada has a road network of 1,042,300 km that includes over 17,000 km of express highways. With the rise in population and demand for consumer products, the number of large trucks on our roads has surged. Nearly 2,000 Canadians are killed each year and another 10,000 seriously injured in collisions involving a heavy truck. It’s clear that the safe securing of loads – especially steel loads – should be a major priority for flatbed transport carriers and special focus should be on how to secure load on a flatbed.
Transporting Steel Is a Highly Regulated Industry
Rolling down a highway beside a fully loaded flatbed transport can be a bit nerve-racking for the average highway commuter; seeing a flatbed hauling flat-rolled steel products, carbon steel coils, steel sheets, plates, pipes and beams or steel machinery gives instant rise to concerns about how safely those loads are secured. The transport of steel coils on flatbed is a highly-regulated and often specialized type of steel hauling; not all flatbed transportation companies have the expertise or experience of hauling steel coils. Coils, for example, can range from approximately 500lbs – 90,000lbs which are extremely heavy loads for road-travelling trucks. Most of the steel coil securement is done via one of two standard industry methods for securing steel coil loads; this includes direct tie-down or indirect tie-down.
Securing Steel Loads Is Key to Safety
Indirect tie-down of metal coils creates a downward force that increases the friction between the cargo and the decks of flatbed transport carriers. This increase in friction helps restrain the coils and keeps them from slipping off. The second method is direct tie-down. These types of tie-downs provide direct resistance to oppose the forces that are acting on the loads of steel. Regardless of which method is being used by steel transport companies to secure the loads, they have to be carried out with the authority that comes with experience, and that’s where problems can start. It is crucial to consider all safety measures when transporting large equipment. Not all flatbed transport companies retain operators that have the qualifications and thorough knowledge of regulations required to ensure the safe transport of steel freight loads. That’s where a company like NATS Canada comes in.
NATS Canada employs proven experts in the land transportation of steel materials like coils, pipes, parts and metal machinery. When you’re waiting on a shipment of the huge arms used in the installation of electricity-generating windmills, for example, you don’t simply do a Google search for a list of flatbed transport carriers. Instead, you call a company like NATS Canada, an experienced flatbed transport provider with local, regional and long-haul capacity and heavy haul capabilities.
Related Blogs:
Tips to Make Oversized Load Trucking Stress Free
Extensive Transportation Safety Concerns in the Steel Industry
How to Optimize Oversized Load for Safe Transportation
