Abstract
The securing of cargo on road vehicles gets more and more an internationally important matter of safety in the chain of goods transportation. According to the German Road Traffic Regulations, the cargo is to be secured in a vehicle so that it will not move, fall down, roll around, be shed or generate avoidable noise. In doing so generally acknowledged rules of technology have to be considered. In Germany the VDI guideline 2700 ff is one of the basic regulations concerning the securing of loads on road vehicles. An example of international recommendations is the European Best Practice Guideline on Cargo Securing for Road Transport. Professional securing of cargo has to withstand the forces acting under normal conditions of operation including full braking, emergency braking, braking in a curve, driving in a curve and fast lane changing. The basis for a proper securing of cargo in commercial vans (N1-vehicles) includes a robust partitioning system which fully or partially separates the occupant compartment from the loading space as well as lashing points. The partitioning system retains the cargo during braking, for example. Lashing points serve to accept lashing devices to secure the cargo, e.g. lashing straps for tiedown lashing. Partitioning systems and lashing points for commercially employed new vehicles covered by the scope of the Accident Prevention Regulation for Vehicles (BDG D29) are mandatory in Germany since 1996. DIN 75410-3 “Securing of Cargo in Truck Station Wagons (Closed Body)”, apply here as the national technical regulation. In order to anchor the tried-and-tested requirements regarding partition systems and lashing points in the globally applicable regulations, the ISO/TC22/SC12 set up the workgroup WG9. On a voluntary basis nongovernmental organisations including OEMs created the standard ISO 27956. As the result the national standard is not only transferred into English but also further developed with, amongst others, a new test procedure for lashing points. The first edition of the standard ISO 27956 was published in March 2009. The paper will report on the necessity and the background as well as the contents of this standard which may be used for self certification, for example. Prospects of possible further developments of the standard to cover latest additional equipment for load securing in delivery vans will be given, too. There is a need for more harmonization of lashing devices (e.g. lashing straps) which interact with the lashing points in commercial vans. A proposal to this matter is also given by the workgroup WG9.
KEYWORDS – Standardisation, Cargo Securing, Commercial Vans, Partitioning System, Lashing Point