Think Twice Before Helping a Courier Strap Down your Outgoing Freight
It’s a familiar scenario for many businesses, not least the
many wholesalers and retailers who ship bulky goods daily out from their
premises. The courier rushes in with his open 1-tonne ute or a larger truck.
It’s 3pm, he’s apparently had a rough day. Hoping to make life a bit easier for
him on his last leg, you, the obliging business owner, wave him in as close as
space permits to the outgoing consignment, and then proceed to load up the
heavy boxes. The driver doesn’t complain, instead springing up onto the tray of
the ute, proceeds to stack the outgoing delivery neatly against the front of
the tray. It’s a large consignment, almost 2 full pallets, but the goods aren’t
actually stacked on a pallet. All the more reason to give the poor guy a hand,
it’s not unheard of for a transport company to on-charge any demurrage resulting from
an excessive hand load or hand unload. And few people would question the ethics
of this either, you’ve got to draw the line somewhere between the incidental
loading and unloading which comes with the job of being a courier driver.. and repetitive
heavy manual labour.
All these thoughts are running through your head as you lug
up the last heavy box. The driver smiles gratefully and gestures with his hand.
“Here, grab hold of this strap! Just fix it under there on the other side..”
You grab the strap, noticing how worn it appears. Frayed and faded, it has no
doubt seen years of wear and tear, and been subjected to whatever customers and
the weather could throw at it. Fumbling, you fix the metal end hook of the
ratchet to the most secure piece of metal you can find underneath the side of
the steel tray, and call out to the driver on the other side that it’s good to
go.
The familiar sound of the ratchet strap ensues, and the
gradual tightening confirms that the courier is on the case. You peer around
the side of the load. “Not too hard there mate – don’t want to squash those
boxes, there’s some fragile glassware in those..” The driver obediently eases
off and commences to toss over the second strap, and the procedure repeats
itself. Not long after, the load appears secured, you’ve signed the dotted line
on the drivers smart phone confirming pickup of the goods.. and he’s on his
way. As the courier ute disappears around the corner, your mind remains fixated
on the top boxes - - maybe a couple more notches of the ratchet strap wouldn’t
have gone astray…?
Chain of Responsibility
– (practically) Everyone is Responsible
In Australia, courier drivers are
required to ensure that their vehicle doesn’t exceed mass or dimension
limits, and to ensure that anything loaded onto the vehicle is properly
restrained. However “loaders” and “packers” also have responsibility.
Specifically, a loader’s responsibility includes placing goods in such a way
that they do not become unstable, move, or fall off the vehicle. As such, it
would seem logical for the “loader” to try to avoid getting involved with the
tying down of the load, and potentially exposing themselves to a negligence
claim if it turned out that the goods were not tied down correctly, and this
resulted in an accident. However don’t just turn a blind eye to what the
courier is doing, if you notice something, speak out and help keep the courier,
the public, and of course your precious cargo safe while en route to its final
destination.
Disclaimer: Freight
Quote is an
Australian freight broker company, specialising in the transportation of bulky
goods for Australian businesses. The information in this
article in general in nature and is not intended to be legal advice.
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