Anyone out there have experience securing 60 foot lengths of rebar onto a 48 foot flatbed? I have done several loads out of Seattle now and today while loading I had the driver waiting after me asking for advise. He has a 2000 Freightliner Argosy with ~180" wheelbase and 48 foot trailer. With last 2 loads of rebar, he has had a car pull out in front him requiring him to lock up the brakes. The loads shifted and the rebar ended up against the back of his sleeper(Actually it came to rest up against his intake snorkel). He had to call a wrecker to fix the load and it cost him $400-500 each time. Apparently, he thought I may have a better method securing this type of load.

The way I loaded today 8 bundles(the bundles were stacked 5 and 3) weighing 46,000 lbs was 5 feet over the front, 7 feet over the back(5+48+7=60 feet), and used 5 pieces of 4x4" dunnage on the deck. I threw a chain over the front and back end of the trailer since my winch rails don't run the full length. I then throw 3, 4" straps over the load and 2, 4" straps I gut wrapped. I use the gut wrap method to, one, insure that the load can't move side to side. Two, if it shifts forward the strap "should" cinch-up tight stopping the movement. Since I am using 7 straps/chains, this should be sufficient to legally secure the load.

The way the shipper runs their operation is to load the rebar onto the trailer, have the driver scale, then park and secure the load. In the parking area there was 4 trucks all with 60 foot loads of rebar. The driver with the Argosy, myself(2001 Peterbilt 379 with 315" wheelbase; I have almost 10 feet of catwalk between the back of the sleeper and the front of the trailer!), and two other drivers were all discussing the best way to secure(I think there were at least 5 opinions :-) ). Several like to build up their dunnage 2 or 3 high on front to liftup the rebar allowing it to clear airlines and stuff on their catwalk(my truck has the airlines/electrical connection at the rear of the truck and under the trailer so the catwalk is completely unobstructed). Some were using 4-6 chains and 2-4 straps. Everyone except myself was gut-wrapping the chains or using a "modified" gut-wrap like a leash(the chain was wrapped around the load, 1 hook hooked to the chain itself and the other hook attached to rub rail).

I thought all the methods used were good and legal, but I don't know if any would have stop the load shifting forward in a panic stop the way the Argosy driver described. So, my question is there something the 4 of us missed? If you have an opinion, please reply(Yes, I know the adage that 1 more strap/chain can't hurt).

The problem I see with the majority of loads if steel is that no one belly wraps the sreel to keep it tight to itself. Holding a load down is the easy part of the job, a trained chimp can do that. Keeping a load from moving when a driver has to take evasive action is the tough part and where many fail.

So I think you agree with how I am securing this load? When you say "belly wraps", do you mean "gut wraps"? Should I use more gut wraps on this load than the two I am currently doing?

I used to haul 70' rebar, we used a stretch flat bed with a bulkhead, so it was easy to secure

One of the drivers I talked to some years ago said the owner bought trailers specially for long loads of rebar. The kingpin was located nearly at the very front of the trailer to give it more room between the trailer and headache rack. With the fifth wheel slid all the way back, they hauled some pretty long loads. One of the things they did was to use a double half-hitch around a pair of bundles, and have both ends of the chain going back to the rub rails at about a 45 degree angle. With 6 bundles, they had 3 chains. With 7 or 8 bundles, they had 4 chains. The good thing about rebar is that with all the ribs on the bars, they don't have the center of a bundle slide out like they do with angle iron, steel pipe, and small channel iron. And, yes, they had chain binders on both ends of that chain so that no bundle could start to slide. (Where my company gave us 12 chains and binders, theirs gave them 16 chains and 20 binders.)

With the securement regs these days, I'm not sorry to be retired.

Part of the problem with these types of loads is you can do all the fancy tricks but if the shipper didn't have everything absolutely tight, it will definitely move. Having the rebar ramped up like the one driver described is a very good idea because it should also help prevent forward movement. Without a picture of these loads it can be hard to comment. I know a lot of steel loads we haul they put t-blocks in between each bundle and that really helps tighten things up.

One mistake I've seen with steel is drivers that belly wrap every strap. I think this is a huge mistake because those straps never seem to tighten up. I would do at least three belly wraps, front back and middle, then add the necessary straps to be legal. This would be around 10 straps. Adding chain that just wrapped around the rebar and nothing else is a good idea too(not attached to the trailer). Always have the straps as close as possible to dunnage. I'm sure you know most if not all of this.

I see now it's stacked 5+3, I'm assuming 5 pieces of dunnage under the 5, and 5 pieces of dunnage under the 3, a few more tips would work wonders. First make sure the dunnage on the second row is directly above the dunnage on the first row. Second make sure your straps are as close as possible to the dunnage, if this is a problem add more dunnage. Third belly wrap the layers individually. I would do two or three belly wraps on each layer. Belly wrapping everything together doesn't work all that well.

So now you've got 6 belly wraps(two on each layer, front middle and back), keep the front and rear ones on the inside of the first and last piece of dunnage. Now throw a regular strap outside the dunnage. At this point you should have 5 straps on the top. Throw 3 more straps at each additional dunnage, probably just in front of it. That should be 8 total on top, 3 belly wraps in the middle, for a total of 11. That load won't move as long as you keep tightening the belly wraps. If you don't they're useless.

Gut wrap/belly wrap=la meme chose/the same thing.

A cool extendable I saw years ago belonged to J&F Trucking. It was a 48' with a 5' headbord and when you opened up the trailer you dropped the headboard in the gap and you had a 53' solid deck trailer.

Thanks for the input everyone. Since I don't own the equipment, a solution to use a stretch trailer or a different kingpin location won't be a solution. The comment to use a chain wrap around the load and attached to itself with the other end hooked to the trailer at a 45 degree angle seems to have merit. The other suggestions seem overly complicated and time-consuming(Yes, I want the load properly secured but I have HOS and rush hour traffic issues to think about also).

One thing that is confusing in this thread is the inner use of the term belly/gut wrap. It is clear in my mind what each is, but some here use the terms as if they same. With a strap, I think there are 3 basic ways to use it: 1) Throw the strap over the whole load and secure it to each side of the trailer. 2) belly-wrap goes over part of the load with more product on top of the strap and ends are secure to each side of the trailer. This is generally required when the product is 3 or more tiers high 3) gut-wrap loops around some or all of the load like a boa constrictor and is secure to each side of the trailer. This prevents side to side movement of the product and "should" limit forward/aft movement.

Are the differences in terminology like the difference between a Eastern and a Western 6 point buck?

My suggestions aren't time consuming at all, how long does it take for a few extra straps? If you roll out the straps upside down on the trailer before loading, it takes a matter of seconds to throw each end over creating your belly wrap. Doing it after loading can be a real PITA.

The voice of experience!