ANECDOTAL evidence suggests police forces across mainland Europe are robustly enforcing laws on cargo security which require anyone transporting palletised loads to be able to demonstrate that the pallet wrap used to secure each pallet has been applied to measurable parameters.
If pallet wrap is found to be insufficiently sturdy to ensure safe transport of a load, the haulier is forced to wrap the pallet again so that the freight is deemed to be securely fastened before continuing his journey.
“We understand that Belgian and German police forces are taking a particularly aggressive stance on the issue,” says Martyn Sumner, managing director of Golden Valley Pallet Wrap Specialists.
“It seems that it is more important than ever to ensure that palletised loads are securely wrapped with a material that will provide load stability and protection from the warehouse or manufacturing plant right through to the end user destination.
Golden Valley contends that the use of the wrong type of pallet wrap or inappropriate or poorly maintained pallet wrapping machinery are the things most likely to cause a load to fail to meet the standards laid down by EU laws.
Current UK legislation demands that “the load carried by a motor vehicle or trailer shall at all times be so secured, if necessary by physical restraint other than its own weight, and be in such a position, that neither danger nor nuisance is likely to be caused to any person or property by reason of the load or any part thereof falling or being blown from the vehicle.”
