OOSC, Part II, Item 2. Cargo Securement, a. General Securement - Load Shift

This dry van enclosed trailer was loaded with 12 pallets of totes of liquid cane sugar with a total cargo weight of 35,976#, or approximately 3,000# per tote. The pallets were originally loaded down the center of of the trailer for stability, but with no side to side shoring of any type. The combination was observed leaning heavily to the right side while in transit, and appeared unstable. During the inspection, it was discovered that the driver had hit a "roundabout" curb with the left side trailer tires in Missouri. This caused the load to shift to the right up against the trailer wall which caused the right wall to bulge out slightly and a weight imbalance over the trailer and drive tandem axles on the right side.The driver stated that he felt a noticeable shift in the load, but continued to drive. Upon inspection of the cargo, it was discovered that all 12 pallets had slide to the right side of the trailer, 10 of which were resting against the right side wall. There was a height difference from side to side of 4" on the trailer axles and 5" on the drive axles. Upon weighing the vehicle, it was determined that the trailers stability had been significantly affected. AX 1 LH 6400#, RH 6400#, AX 2 LH 5900#, RH 10400#, AX 3 LH 4500#, RH 11000#, AX 4 LH 3400#, RH 9600#, AX 5 LH 2850#, RH 10250#. There is a 13,600# difference left to right on the trailer tandem axles alone on a trailer that weighs approximately 15000#. This is a violation in the FMCSR's under 393.100 (c) but OOSC, Part II, Item 2. a. General Cargo Securement only lists and OOS condition for 393.100 (b) if items can fall to the roadway. I believe that when there is evidence that the cargo has shifted and caused an instability in the vehicle, an imminent hazard exits (i.e. imbalance in the suspension or some other condition that shows compromised stability).

This type of load shift and weight imbalance is an unsafe condition that should constitute an OOS. A similar issue was presented in action request 16-007-VEH and 21-048-VEH for a similar scenario's. Both items were closed with no action until more evidence could be obtained. This request is not to determine if cargo should or should not be secured inside a enclosed trailer, this scenario is were the cargo has already shifted showing evidence that the trailers suspension is now unbalanced. Should the vehicle need to take an emergency evasive action, it would be at a high risk of rollover due to the suspension already being compromised due to a right side bias from the weight shift.

Amend the OOSC, Part II, Item 2. Cargo Securement a. General cargo securement. Make the current statement under "a." to become subpart (1) under "a." and add (2) Articles of cargo or condition of loading which have shifted to such an extent that the vehicle's stability or maneuverability is adversely affected.