Night-time load shift on a secondary road

Stop as soon as it is safe and practicable, i.e. at the petrol station forecourt 6 km ahead, driving slowly with hazard warning lights on; do not continue to the destination.

Reasoning:

• The symptoms (pull to the right, vague steering, bulging dropside, slack strap) indicate the load has shifted and the restraint has failed. A moving load changes the centre of gravity and can cause rollover or loss of control, especially in bends and under braking.
• The load must be secured against forward, backward and sideways movement. Two straps over bagged pallets on a flatbed, with no side restraint and no check of the dropsides, is inadequate for 11 t. The bulging sideboard shows the load is pressing on a component not designed to contain it.
• The law requires the driver to ensure the load is stowed and secured so that it cannot move, fall or endanger other road users, and to check the securing before and during the journey. Continuing 22 km with a known defect is a deliberate breach, regardless of the depot closing time.
• The narrow grass verge with no hard shoulder is not a suitable place to work on the load at night; the lit forecourt is far safer and allows proper re-securing or transhipment.

Assessment and correction:

1. Park clear of the pumps, switch off, apply parking brake, put on hazard lights and a high-visibility vest, and use a torch.
2. Inspect the dropsides and their hinges/latches for deformation; a bulging sideboard may already be distorted and may not close or latch properly. Do not simply hammer it shut and reload against it.
3. Check the pallets: if bags have shifted, restack so weight is distributed evenly and low, with the heaviest items at the bottom and against the headboard, not against the sideboards.
4. Re-secure with an adequate number of straps in a proper pattern (at least cross-strapping or a combination of longitudinal and diagonal lashings), tensioned to the strap manufacturer's marking, with edge protection where straps bear on sharp corners. Check tension again after a few kilometres.
5. Record the check in the daily walk-around/defect record if the vehicle has been damaged.

If it cannot be made safe:

• Do not move the vehicle on the public road. Arrange transhipment of the load or recovery by a fitter/breakdown service, and inform the operator/dispatcher. The farm depot closing time is irrelevant to the safety decision. If the dropside is structurally damaged, the vehicle should not be driven loaded.

Rest and driving time:

• You began at 22:10 after a 9-hour daily rest, so the 9-hour reduced daily rest is used. A reduced daily rest may be taken only three times between two weekly rests; if this is the third, the next daily rest must be a full 11 hours.
• By 02:40 you have driven about 2.5 hours (assuming no other work), well within the 4.5-hour rule, but the stop at the forecourt counts as other work, not rest, and it interrupts the driving period only if it is at least 45 minutes (or a valid split of 15 + 30 minutes). A short stop does not reset the 4.5-hour clock.
• The 9-hour daily driving limit and the 10-hour twice-weekly extension must also be tracked; you have plenty of margin tonight but the delay eats into the shift.

Before departing:

• The tachograph must record the correct mode: switch to 'other work' during the load check and to 'rest' only if you genuinely take a break. Do not leave the mode on driving while stationary.
• Note the delay and the reason in your records for the operator, since the depot deadline will be missed. If the delay makes the schedule unachievable within driving limits, the plan must be changed, not the limits.