DVSA and RHA send mixed message over load restraint design

The DVSA has told Commercialmotor.com it has not given any specific approval to the design of load restraint developed recently for the upper deck of curtainsided double-deck trailers by a Road Haulage Association (RHA)-led working group in conjunction with trailer maker Montracon.

Announcing new guidance in late April on the retention of palletised goods on the upper deck of double-deck curtainsiders (CM 1 May), the RHA said its DVSA-approved guidance notes proposed the use of an internal curtain-and-strap design developed with the trailer manufacturer (pictured).

While the new load restraint design appears highly effective, the RHA guidance document itself makes no specific mention of it, however, and the DVSA has now confirmed that its approval was for the guidance itself, not the restraint system.

A spokesman for the agency stressed it did not endorse any particular design and had no role in the production of this particular product.

The RHA continues to insist the DVSA has approved the design, however, stressing in a statement that the two organisations had been discussing the upper deck issue for many months and that the DVSA “approves the concept for securing pallets on upper decks that has been put forward by the RHA”.

Moving on to the Montracon trailer incorporating the new load restraint design shown recently at the CV Show, the RHA statement acknowledged that the DVSA “does not endorse specific manufacturers,” but added: “We… have no doubt that it implements the concept that has been approved by DVSA”.

The RHA also said its guidance on securing pallets to trucks and trailers was “the most down-to-earth and practically useful to operators that we have seen”.