TEA PAM 55-20 Tiedown Handbook for Truck - Military Surface ...

FOURTH EDITION SDDCTEA PAMPHLET 55-20
SECTION II. MILITARY CARGO VEHICLES
A. GENERAL
A commercial truck driver is responsible for securing exposed loads. Therefore,
military personnel will rarely secure loads on commercial flatbeds. Even when military
personnel load and help tie down cargo, the commercial truck driver is still responsible
for ensuring that the tiedown arrangement is safe.
The driver of a military cargo vehicle is responsible for the safety of the load. The
unit is responsible for loading and unloading the vehicle. Securing the cargo is a shared
responsibility between the two. The truck driver will advise in securing the load and
check to ensure it is safe for movement.
Table 1 summarizes common military flatbed semitrailers. The following paragraphs
contain detailed information on some of these semitrailers. If several different types of
cargo vehicles are available, the user must select one with an adequate load rating and
cargo bed area. The lowest and lightest acceptable cargo vehicle will usually cause the
fewest conflicts with highway weight and vertical clearance limits.
You should usually run chains or cables in a same-side pattern (fig 2). You should
cross chains or cables when:
1. There is interference with a same-side pattern (fig 3).
2. Two chains use the same tiedown fitting on the payload vehicle. In this case,
one chain may be same-side and the other may be crossed (fig 4).
3. When the same-side pattern results in a chain length that is too short for the
appropriate loadbinder (fig 5).
4. Same-side may not provide adequate lateral restraint, if the tiedowns have no
lateral angle. In the end view, the two tiedowns would appear nearly parallel to each
other and/or vertical if they have no lateral angle. In this case, a cross pattern should be
used to secure the payload vehicle (fig 6).
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