Pre-Trip Inspection: Safe Loading

3 questions in the bank cover this topic. Everything below is drawn from the sources those questions cite.

Sources: 49 CFR 396 Appendix A

What you need to know

Anything that can fall, and the appendix names the spare tire and dunnage specifically because those are the parts nobody thinks of as cargo.

The spare tire and dunnage are named specifically.

Part(s) of vehicle or condition of loading such that the spare tire or any part of the load or dunnage can fall onto the roadway.

49 CFR 396 Appendix A

A headboard or equivalent.

In a hard stop the cargo keeps its speed, and the only thing between it and the cab is that structure.

Protection Against Shifting Cargo—Any vehicle without a front-end structure or equivalent device as required.

49 CFR 396 Appendix A

Every device on the list, for cracks, breaks, looseness or absence.

It is the same list 392.7(b) makes you responsible for the moment you drive the chassis away.

All devices used to secure an intermodal container to a chassis, including rails or support frames, tiedown bolsters, locking pins, clevises, clamps, and hooks that are cracked, broken, loose, or missing.

49 CFR 396 Appendix A

Check yourself

• What is the loading condition that is an out-of-service defect?

• What is the protection against you from cargo shifting forward:

• What are the six intermodal securement devices you must check?

Answers are in the practice test for this topic.