Transporting Your Stuff With Care
Whether you’re using a truck, pickup, trailer or rooftop carrier, you’ve got to be really careful when transporting large objects.
We’ve all seen people taking big risks and overestimating their vehicle’s capacity, especially on moving day. This is compounded when their decisions don’t take into account road or weather conditions.
If you’re hauling a heavy load in a trailer or the back of a pickup, check that none of your stuff is at risk of falling, spilling, detaching or flying away. The load shouldn’t block your vision, lamps or lights. And, of course, the weight of your cargo shouldn’t throw off your vehicle’s handling or stability.
Heavy or not, transported objects need to be secured with cables or rubber tie-down bands. Strong winds, especially on the highway, can move objects around the pickup bed or trailer. Any abrupt movements, such as accelerating, braking or taking corners, can also cause your things to shift.
The most common mistake is to put a large flat object (like a mattress or sheet of plywood) on the roof of a car. The vehicle’s aerodynamics send air from the hood toward the roof, creating a serious risk of launching that cumbersome item up into the air. This can obviously be very dangerous for other drivers.
Drivers should make a point of always respecting their vehicles’ unique loading and towing capacities, as it’s the best way of ensuring good road handling and vehicle balance. It’s also a good idea to keep a safe distance between you and the vehicle ahead of you, taking into account that the weight of your cargo means you’ll need more room to brake.