Slide & Carry - Roof Retractable Load Securing System

VOSA's wording from their paper on:- Policy Guidance for Load Securing 6. Load Security Vehicle Examinations Load securing is accomplished by using the load securing system. This contains of one or more of: The vehicle structure Intermediate bulkheads, chocks, wells, blocking, dunnage etc Lashings or similar systems The weight of the load alone is not enough to stop movement. Heavy loads can and do move in normal driving conditions. When assessing the load, examiners should ask themselves four questions: Can the load slide or tip forward or back? Can the load slide or tip off the side of the vehicle? Is the load unstable? Is the load securing equipment in poor condition? If 'yes' is the answer to one or more of these questions, the examiner will have to carry out a full assessment of the load as it may not be secure. The load does not necessarily have to have already moved for it to present a likely risk of danger to any person as defined under the Road Vehicles (Construction & Use) Regulations. However, if it has already moved, then the securing system is demonstrably inadequate. Note on curtain-sided vehicles The curtains of a standard curtain-sided vehicle are provided for weather protection and are not load securing. Anything attached to the superstructure, including buckle straps hanging from the roof rails, is not loaded securing. There are two exceptions to this general rule: 1. Systems where ratchet straps or load securing tarpaulins are retained on bungee cords attached to the roof rails. The bungee cords are not used for load securing. 2. Vehicles constructed to the EN 12642:2006 ‘XL’ standard. These are reinforced vehicles that allow the curtains alone to be used to contain 40% of the rated payload under certain conditions. Examiners should check that: The load is loaded from the headboard and fills the length of the load bed The gap between each side of the load and the curtains is approximately three inches or less The total weight of the load does not exceed 14.4 tonnes (18 tonne vehicles), 19.2 tonnes (24 tonne vehicles) or 21.6 tonnes (27 tonne vehicles). If any of these conditions are not met, the curtains are not sufficient and the load needs to be secured inside the vehicle.