Basic Truck Loading Safety - Part 1

There are some basic things that a person needs to take note of when in the process of setting up or tearing down a show. The norm would be: loading up the trucks, getting to the venue, unloading the trucks, setting up the equipment, tearing down the gear, and getting it all back to the office. But each of the above listed stages has it own set of dangers. I shall begin with getting the gear onto the truck.

Loading and Unloading

Flat ground is a must. This should not be an issue in most cases, but if the ground is not flat, the vehicle should be facing downslope and never upslope. Why? Unless you strap (ratchet strap) down the cases every 2 meters, they will all fall off the back of the truck - simple physics. Once you take off the strap at the backend of the truck which holds ALL the cases, the total weight will be in the “tons” and the two persons (or more) on the truck WILL not be able to hold back this weight.

If the truck is facing downslope, then no issues as long as the gradient is not too steep as we wouldn’t want the cases to roll towards the truck cabin at rollercoaster speed. The safety should never, ever be compromised. The total weight of all the cases will be towards the front of the truck. Pretty much common sense at work here.

Manpower will be wasted when there are many persons on the truck just to hold this weight back. So, point the truck downslope if needed.

Handling the flight cases on the trucks is pretty dangerous too. Having work gloves on will not prevent your fingers or hand from getting crushed when a case of two PS15’s speakers come rolling at them. Again, its simple physics. A moving case with two speakers inside will come to a stop when it hits another stationary case. Your fingers and hands do not count as a stationary object. They will get crushed.

Always hold onto the flight case on the side which is facing you. Or on top. Move the case while handling the case on the top surface. 

NEVER hold the corners or sides of a case that’s not facing you during a truck loading/ unloading and use the handles if they are available. Prevention is better than getting your fingers mashed. Its ok to hold onto the sides when its an open space where you are at or when you are pushing cases to another location. You can see around your person and if no other cases are around so its perfectly ok. But when it’s a congested area, or when there are other people doing the same thing as you, its advisable to place your hands on the top or the side facing you.

Never unload from a vehicle alone especially when using tailgates. Minimum there should be two of you to do the work. Just think about it, can you handle the weight of that flight case coming off the truck? Will it run over you? Is that flight case top heavy? Will it fall on you when it rolls off the tailgate? Does that flight case have a small wheel footprint? Higher chance of it tipping over when it rolls and stops at the gap between the tailgate and the floor? Are all those big fat 63 Amp power cables on top of that case going to cause it to tip? Will that tool case fall off the flight case when it comes off the sloped tailgate? Take it off beforehand? Is that gap between the tailgate and the floor too large, causing items to possibly tip over? Stop, Look, Adjust and Think “Safety” to prevent accidents. And re-adjust the tailgate when the truck becomes “lighter”. Many accidents can be prevented if a person uses more common sense. If the slope is too steep, don’t even load or unload. Even if the truck is parked facing downslope, you will not be able to slowly and safely glide the flight case to the front part of the truck. If to unload or load safety requires the truck to be parked somewhere else, park it some- where else. It’s just a matter of pushing stuff a bit further. Sweating a bit more is preferable to a case breaking your legs. Never try to lift something that you think you can’t or you might end up in hospital. Wait for manpower.

Never try to push or pull something that you cant. You will injure yourself. Wait for manpower. Never unload/load alone. We are not weight lifters that can handle sudden jerks or sudden pulls against gravity.

Which is more important? You or the items in the flight case? The answer is YOU. If things go wrong, as an example, that a case with the FOH sound desk in it comes rolling off the truck, What do you do? Get crushed by trying to stop it from rolling off? You know that you can’t stop it. There is only one option. You get out of the way. It’s just an example. If maybe it’s a smaller case, you could try to stop it. Things like this happen very fast. You have to make your mind up in a split second - To stop it or not to stop it, Getting crushed or not getting crushed.

Unloading and loading a truck needs your attention at all times. Being attentive, you can make those split second decisions if you have to. Concentrate at the task at hand. Using the phone? That’s a no-no. Talking shop with another person that takes your mind off the unloading and loading is probably another no-no. Keep the chatter to a minimum if possible. Don’t want to push the case off the truck when the tailgate is at ground level do we? Always look around your vicinity. Is there a person on the ground behind that case ready for the next load? 

“I was watching someone pushing a case up the tailgate. It was a cable case,
not that high with a small wheel footprint and had a coil of 63A 30m cable stacked on top. I knew it was going to tip over seeing that there is a gab between the tailgate and the ground. It did. No one was in front and the guy who tried to stop it from tipping got pulled over with it. It all happened in slow motion. So there you go, someone lying on a flight case, on a tailgate”

Are there enough people on the ground to accept the load? Should you wait for two persons? Would that flight case roll off the truck after it got onto it? Are the persons on the truck ready to haul it away? When you get to the venue, be very mindful when the tailgate comes down. During the drive, things might move. Not saying that items will move, but they might have even when their castors are locked and strapped down because of gaps formed from irregular flight-cases dimensions. It’s better to be safe and check, then something dropping off the back when the gate is coming down. The person controlling the tailgate should have their eyes and ears open at all times. One little miss-press of the button and a flight case would tip over and possibly crush someone. Lock every castors that can be locked, or available to be locked. Two or three loading crew on the truck is about right - one in-charge, and two to assist. Too many cooks will spoil the broth as some would say. Might be better to have an in- charge to determine where to slot the cases to minimize gaps instead of just stuffing random cases onto the truck. These are just some pointers on unloading and loading of truck(s). It takes time, It is not a competi- tion, there is no time limit, and it should not be rushed. Do it safely.

Many of you will know about hotel ballrooms and those carpets in them. Lovely isn’t it? There is a case that weights 50kg. Being on carpet, the “weight” might seem like 80kg when you want to move it.

That stationary case will be hard to move and I would like to expand on this topic. Like I mentioned above, our bodies are not build to take sudden jerks nor pulls. How does one get this case with a dead weight of 80kg to move? (a) Make sure there’s a few of you to attend to this flight case. (b) You move it alone. (explained below)
It is relative to each of us, if I know I can handle the weight I can get it to move, and once moving the “weight” drops back down to maybe 60kg, as an example. Once this “60kg” case is on the move over the carpet it is than relatively “easy” for me to push it. A smaller size person might not be able to even kick start this “80kg” deadweight. A larger, or stronger person might be able to make it move, and keep moving it. Never force yourself to move a deadweight, you will injure yourself. Do not get to a case, and suddenly start to push or pull with all your strength. Give it a slight push, a constant push and slowly putting more force into it. If it doesn’t move, forget it. There is no way it will move with you alone. Each person has their limits, and never go beyond your limit.

As to a single person and being able to push it on your own, after testing the weight, and knowing that you can do it, there are two ways for you to get this deadweight on the move. Your hands, which will require a lot of strength, or you can use your lower body – your legs and your hips. Remember, the whole idea is to get the deadweight moving. Once moving, it requires less energy as it becomes “lighter”. You hold the top of the case, turn your body, place your hip against the case, and using your legs, give it a light push, again adding strength. The case will start to move. You than change to using your hands and off you go with that “60kg” case, in fact being only 50kg. Another method is to use your legs - legs against the case, feet on the ground, and push off with your calves, and away you go. (To continue) 

thanks clarence )))))