Photo of the month − September 2007 Version 1.0.0.07

[German version]

"A box on the run"

The intention was to transport a high-quality precision machine weighing some 3 tonnes to Asia by air. The precision machine was packed in a wooden box for transportation to the departure airport as air freight by truck (Figure 1).

The expert who was to inspect the state of the packaging and oversee loading could not believe his eyes when the driver of the truck that was to be used for transporting the cargo to the airport opened up the vehicle (Figures 2 and 3). The trailer was a reefer trailer fitted with a lifting roller bed and hence suitable for transporting air freight pallets. The trailer already contained around 95 boxes of refrigerated goods (pharmaceuticals) and two boxes on a separate pallet each.

The driver initially intended to stow and transport the wooden box behind the goods already loaded without securing it in any way. Under braking, the wooden box would have squashed the rest of the load as if in a press and may have been damaged itself.

After "searching" for some time, the driver found 4 lashing belts in his vehicle for securing the load. It was not, however, possible to secure the load with these belts, as the vehicle had no suitable securing points. Nor was it possible to fill the gaps to the side of the load or to render them harmless by other securing methods. This meant that it was also not possible to secure the load to the rear.

Because an expert was on site at the time, the cargo was not loaded. Instead, a different vehicle with suitable load securing points and equipment was ordered (Figure 4). The cargo was able to be transported safely and on time with this vehicle.

Thank goodness for the expert!

The center of gravity of this 3-tonne box is 1.5 meters from the end wall, which puts it within the load distribution curve.

Back to beginning