Here is the fact about truck tie down , they probably are talking about totally different things depends on the context, for instance, ratchet straps for truck are definitely 2” and ten thousand lbs tie down while ratchets for pick up will be 1” and 500 lbs tie down, we’re only going to discuss about truck tie downs here, more specifically, we are going to talk about flat bed truck this time, because we can see those tie downs on the highway.
So many different loads can be put on flat beds, the choice of tie downs will be really complicated, they will need quite some different tie down devices to get the job done, such as e track straps for box truck . When it comes to flatbeds , the first thing comes up will be the truck winches, you can see those flatbeds with truck winches at one side on the highway all the time, with those winches it’s easy for the driver to tie down loads with just winch straps with the help of winch bar .
Traditionally truck winch and winch straps are most popular tie down devices for flat beds . When you work with truck winches and winch straps, there is one thing you can’t live without: winch bar, these steel bars are essential for your job, so get one if you don’t already have one.
Of course we just can’t leave out the most used trailer strap for transportation businesses, ratchet strap. What we call ratchet straps are actually assemblies, the ratchet buckles with short straps, one foot or longer, and the long straps, 6 feet or longer.
Ratchet strap is most popular trucking accessories due to their flexibility , you can put them almost anywhere when it’s applicable. With flat hooks, wire hooks, cloth loops, chain anchors, even endless, ratchets just can’t have enough variety, how can we don’t love these ratchets? Width of the ratchets measured from 1” to 4” and the length can be anything from inches to more than 50 feet, the ratcheting mechanism really has it’s advantage. The reason we say that ratchet straps are most popular tie down devices for most trucks can be found in this paragraph, even for flatbeds which use winch straps massively may find ratchet straps attractive if there are no winches installed on the truck.
In order to buy these tie down straps, you have the choice between local stores and online retailers. Depends on different situation , sometimes acquire them in local store is a pretty good idea , sometimes online options are much better. Nowadays there are a lot of forums, blogs and online opinion sites out there, you just need to read some reviews, customer feed backs to figure out the product and service quality of the vendors, there is no need to take chances.
In the world of webbing tie downs for commercial trucks , the ratchet strap and winch strap are playing a huge role in securing truck load, cargo strap can be used inside the box trucks and on the flat beds , while winch tie downs almost in all cases are being deployed with truck winches on flatbed only . As we all know truck tie downs are much more than just ratchet straps and winch straps , for instance there are grade 70 chains , load binders, logistic strap , etc.
We’re not going to talk about regular tie downs but the reflective straps which have reflective strips on the webbing , in dark environment the reflective strips can be seen from far away , this sounds like a nice feature, is it? When it comes to safety, even 1 or 2 percent reduction of risk of collision should encourage people to get the reflective ratchet straps. Due the reflective tie downs are relatively new on the market, we don’t have much proof of safety benefits, though we can understand that if people can easily see the straps on the truck in low light, the probability of collision will be reduced.
Now compare the price of regular tie down to reflective tie down, get online you will find a lot of interesting information, a simple search tells us that the reflective ones are about 10% more expensive then non reflective ones, tie down straps are usually sold at $10-$12, reflectives will increase the price by $1 to $2 , IMHO it should be more expensive, spend extra 10 dollars or more to get 10 reflective tie downs is not bad, these straps will last more than a few months, the conservative estimation will be at lease 6 months, you almost spend nothing to get the security feature offered by reflective tie downs! If its me I will go all the way for the reflective straps.
We all know that when assemble tie down strap and ratchets together we get ratchet strap, when the ratchet buckle is replaced by cam buckle then you get the cam buckle straps. Cam buckle tie downs are only for light duty use, and 2” cam buckles are the biggest size we will see in the real world use, and it’s still light duty. Compare to cam buckle the ratchets are stronger and more widely used, the available sizes of ratchets are 1”,2”,3” and 4”, and the ratchet buckle generally has higher working load limit than the cam buckle, they have working load limit of 3,333lbs, 5,400lbs and 5,400lbs respectively, these assemblies have design factor of 3:1, thus the minimum breaking strength is 10,000lbs, 16,200lbs and 16,200lbs respectively.
So far we talked about tie down devices for flatbed trucks or similar commercial vehicles, in reality semi trailers are much more than flatbeds in numbers, since they are box trucks the tie down needs are different, you will see most semi trailers have E Track installed and use logistic strap . It is estimated that 80% trucks are box trucks, and the e track tie down system is just for box trucks , so logistic straps are most popular tie down straps. With 1,000lbs safe load limit and 3,000lbs minimum breaking strength, e track tie downs are not as strong as flatbed tie down straps, It’s understandable that e track straps have lower working load limit, because the box truck wall will provide strong support for the loads inside, and the truck wall will prevent the loads from falling off, rolling over, tilting and some other dangerous movements. With the help of e track cargo bar, rope tie off and some other e track tie downs and accessories, it’s pretty easy to secure loads inside the box trucks, but easy doesn’t mean not important, you still have to look out for any risks may present in the process of transportation, so secure your loads as reliable as you can, use the right tie down equipment for your job.
In first paragraph we talked about design factor of ratchet tie downs, which is 3:1, so the working load limit is 1/3 of maximum breaking strength for ratchet straps, in the mean time the design factor of grade 70 tie down chains is 4:1, so the chains can support heavier load, and are more resistance to abuse, such as high/low temperature, moisture, while tie down straps usually only work well under normal condition. The standard material of which tie down webbing is made is nylon webbing or polyester webbing, depends on different tie down applications. The typical application for nylon webbing is motorcycle tie down, while polyester webbing is ideal for tying down concrete pipes. Elongation, tensile strength, abrasion and environment, these have to be taken into consideration when making tie down strap. There are mandated criteria for breaking strength and elongation of the tie down straps , while the abrasion and environment are mostly estimation and subjective sometimes, different area may have different requirements. Therefore the manufacturer may have to make these tie downs to different standards.
The ratchet straps are just the assemblies of ratchet buckle and tie down webbing, but if we use cam buckle in place of ratchet buckle in the assembly we have cam buckle tie down, it’s as simple as that. Cam buckle tie downs are only for light duty use, and 2” cam buckles are the biggest size we will see in the real world use, and it’s still light duty. Unlike cam buckle, ratchet buckle are much stronger, and 2”,3” and 4” ratchet buckles are used in industrial grade applications, such as heavy duty transportation, the typical working load limit for 2” tie downs is 3,333lbs, for 3” and 4” which is 5,400lbs, since these tie downs have design factor of 3:1, the minimum breaking strength is 10,000lbs and 16,200lbs.
Of course what we discussed above is mainly for flatbed trucks and some other kind of vehicles, in reality semi trailers are much more than flatbeds in numbers, since they are box trucks the tie down needs are different, you will see most box trucks have E Track installed and use logistic tie downs . It is estimated that 80% trucks are box trucks, and the e track tie down system is just for semi trailers , so e track straps are most popular tie down straps. And these straps are not as strong as the one we use on flatbed truck, the working load limit of typical e track straps is 1,000lbs, with minimum breaking strength of 3,000lbs. It’s easy to understand that why e track straps are not as strong as regular ratchet tie down straps, inside the box truck the loads already have strong support, at least there is no risk of falling off, all the e track straps will do is to fixate the loads more than tie them down. You also have e track cargo bar, shoring beam, e track tie off, etc. at your disposal, with e track tie down straps you will be able to secure any kind of cargo , make the transportation experience as it should be , but remember that you can never be more careful when it comes to your precious truck and load , make sure your cargo are tied down properly all the time.
We already discussed the design factor of ratchet straps, it is 3:1 and for the record all this says is that safe load limit of tie down straps is 1/3 of it’s breaking strength, while grade 70 transport chains which have a design factor of 4:1, that means the transport chains will work in more tough environment than tie down straps, which usually are chose for regular loads. The standard material of which tie down webbing is made is nylon webbing or polyester webbing, depends on different tie down applications. Nylon webbing has better elongation than polyester, so for shock absorption wise nylon is ideal material while polyester usually is used to make tie downs for heavy equipment. Elongation, tensile strength, abrasion and environment, these have to be taken into consideration when making tie down strap. Breaking strength has to reach the recommendation level no matter what, and elongation has to meet the requirement, abrasion and environment sometimes are not that clear cut, when designing tie downs we may have to consider the most extreme conditions these tie down straps may be in, or we may just consider the normal transportation environment.
Truck tie down means a lot different stuff to different people, we will focus on big rig tie downs in our discussion, specifically, we are going to talk about flat bed truck this time.
People can and will put all kinds of different loads on their flat beds, or they have no choice some times, they will need all kinds of different tie downs to get the job done .
Talking about flat bed trucks, quite some of the flat beds come with winches installed, or you can install by yourself at a later time, then you can use winch strap to do the job .
Portable winch and winch strap are most popular tie down devices for flat beds .
Some flat beds come with winches installed, not all trailers have winches installed . When the flat bed have the winches installed, we can use winch tie down straps to tie down loads on the flat bed , usually we tie down steel coils, concrete pipes, skids, anything that not too heavy for the 5400lbs working load limit . Winch straps usually come with flat hooks, since we usually hook the straps on the edge of the trailer , of course the wire hook can be used too. We can find 2” and 4” truck winches and 2” and 4” winch straps , depends on different situation , the length of strap can be 20′, 25′, 27′, 30′, 35′, 40′ or more than 50′ .
Of course we just can’t leave out the most used tie down device, ratchet strap .
Ratchet tie down is most popular tie down equipment because of their flexibility , you can put them almost anywhere when it’s applicable. The ending comes with quite some varieties, flat hooks, wire hooks , chain anchor , snap hooks, endless and more. And it’s width can be 1” through 4”, length can be a few inches to more than 50′ . On big rigs ratchet tie downs are the best tie down devices for shippers , those trailers without winches installed will look at ratchet straps seriously .
Before you go out or go online to get these tie down straps, you will have to know how to get most out of them with less spending, first thing to consider is the quality of the straps, maybe you know the local store stuff quality, but for online stores you need to find out by read other people’s the reviews, trucking blogs, customer feed backs, or some other venues to determine if the products and service are good or not.
