Revised OOS on cargo securement regarding CFR 393.102

The recently revised Out-of-Service criteria for cargo securement do not address the requirements of CFR 393.102. The OOS criteria regarding the minimum strength required by cargo securement systems deal only with CFR 393.106, which stipulate that the aggregate working load limit of a securement system must be at least 50% of the weight of the article or articles being secured. There are circumstances where the requirements of393.106 could be satisfied, but the requirements of 393.102 would not. In such cases the securement system may not have adequate strength to restrain against the forces which can occur in normal driving. Consequently compliance with 393.102 alone is not sufficient to prevent shifting or loss of cargo. Such losses could occur shortly after an inspection has been carried out.

As the new cargo securement regulations will become mandatory in January 2004, further discussion and clarification of the relationship between 393.102 and 393.106 is urgently needed. It may be necessary to amend, or include clarification in, the Out of Service criteria to support consistency in inspections and to ensure that vehicles which are inspected do not return to the public highway with inadequate cargo securement.

Further discussion of the issues and implications by the Vehicle Committee is recommended.