In an effort to reduce accidents caused by shifting or falling cargo, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) Sept. 27 announced a final rule to ensure all heavy-duty truck loads are properly secured.

The rule represents the culmination of a multi-year research effort to evaluate current U.S. and Canadian cargo-securement regulations. The goal, which would make life easier for all truckers in the NAFTA age, is for Canada, the United States and Mexico to adopt the same cargo securement rules.

But there have been problems.

"The effort to harmonize rules among the three countries has been a long process because each province in Canada had different securement rules to start with, and research had to be conducted upon which this new performance standard could be based," said John Siebert, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association's Foundation project manager.

The Foundation is producing the official 30-minute train-the-trainer video for eventual use by carriers, drivers and enforcement personnel.

"After the harmonized standard was completed in May of 1999, the Canadians began a process of each province adopting it by reference," Siebert said. "That way, the wording of the standard would be identical in all provinces.

"The U.S. FMCSA, however, is bound by law to go through the U.S. rulemaking process which takes extra time, and allows interested parties to comment before the rules go into effect. Since the final U.S. version is very similar to the harmonized North American Standard, the Canadians as well as the Mexicans will probably adopt this new version," Siebert said.

The rule goes into effect Dec. 26, 2002, but will not be strictly enforced until Jan. 1, 2004. It clearly spells out the way truckers should secure their cargo so it does not move, leak, spill, flow, or fall from the truck.

Individual sub-standards were developed for 11 cargos deemed most difficult to secure including logs, dressed lumber, metal coils, paper rolls, intermodal containers; cars, light trucks and vans; heavy vehicles, equipment and machinery; flattened or crushed cars; roll-on/roll-off containers; and large boulders.

The final rule can be viewed by searching for docket number FMCSA-97-2289 at http://dms.dot.gov/. It gives motor carriers until Jan. 1, 2004, to comply with the new requirements. Training materials for motor carriers and enforcement officials are being developed and will be available from the FMCSA before the compliance deadline for the final rule.
-- Dick Larsen, senior editor