Surveys of transport practice have revealed that almost seventy percent of all packed containers, swap-bodies, road and rail vehicles or other cargo transport units exhibit shortcomings in packing and load securing which could result in damage. The aim of this section of the Container Handbook, "Securing the product in the container", is to prevent damage due to negligent packing and inadequate load securing.
The author's original intention was to present mainly good examples of packing and to complement these some bad examples as a deterrent. However, the real situation was so bad that he was unfortunately compelled to write the Handbook in such a way that lessons could be learnt from the load securing errors which had been made. Detailed comments are provided as to how these errors could be remedied or avoided. The author very deeply regrets the fact that so very few properly secured container loads could be found in practice which could serve as good examples for a Handbook.
Even a Handbook which has been edited and updated over many years cannot take account of all the variants encountered in practice, and the present Handbook itself cannot make any claim to completeness, being less than comprehensive or perfect in many parts. Nevertheless, it is being made publicly available in its present form in the hope that it will make at least some contribution to preventing damage and loss. The author hopes that it will be possible gradually to update this Handbook so that it will become a useful source of advice to anyone responsible for packing and securing cargo transport units.
Comments
Quotations from laws, regulations and other rules were valid at the time when the text was written. One or another regulation may have been rescinded, supplemented or amended since then. Please bear this in mind appropriately.
