Dubai: The horrific accident in Oman late Thursday that killed eight Emiratis and another two people has raised key safety questions on properly securing loads on heavy vehicles.
Gulf News spoke to road cargo transport operators to shed light on the safety standards that all transport cargos must observe in order to avoid road accidents and deaths.
“Any load falling off simply means that it had not been fastened properly,” Sunil Mathew, operations and transport manager of Roadlink Transport, told Gulf News.
“If you are transporting high-value or sensitive cargo, you should put dunnage or wooden plywood in between the low bed truck trailer and the load. In this case, the power generator is made of steel and if it was placed on top of the low bed, which is also made of steel, there will be more chances of skidding and slipping,” Mathew added.
Truck operators and drivers must also make sure that all loads are tied securely to the truck with appropriate chains depending on the weight of the load.
“You should calculate per 10 tonnes. For example, if your load is 60 tonnes, then use six chains to fasten the load properly to the low bed,” Mathew said.
Abdul Nazer Puthiya Malikakkal, manager of San International Cargo, told Gulf News that regularly checking the load is a must to ensure a safe journey.
“The first check should preferably be done after a few kilometres’ drive at a safe place to stop. In addition, the securing [belts and chains] should also be checked after a heavy braking or another abnormal situation during driving,” Malikakkal said.
He further said that truck operators and drivers must be given defensive driving training, firefighting and accidents training, as well as fatigue management training to avoid accidents.
Morever, whatever the speed limit is, loaded trucks that are turning on a curve must reduce their speed to 15 to 20km/h otherwise the truck will be difficult to control and could overturn.
