How many times have you driven past a trailer load of off-road vehicles wonder to yourself just how do those things stay on the trailer?
The Department of Transportation and your friendly neighborhood patrolman are on the lookout for violators to ticket and the fines are not anything to laugh about.
One Tennessee driver found herself in loads of trouble after the side-x-side she’d saddled up on her flatbed trailer was mysteriously absent when she stopped at a gas station halfway through her drive to the ride area.
Do you think she was distracted? The vehicle came off within twelve miles of a 30 mile trip, but it wasn’t until mile 20 that she noticed it was gone.
She explained that she put the rig in park and even turned the steering wheel to the left all the way so it would stay put. She added one small, seemingly sufficient strap to the front of the ride then hopped in the cab and took off.
The roads near her home were a little rough and she felt the trailer bouncing around, but because there was a large ATV in the bed of the truck she just figured the road was what had made the noise.
The side-x-side bounced enough to break the strap and slid right off the rear of her trailer, then proceeded to slide according to witnesses right off the road and turned over on its side. No one was hurt but she was ticketed anyway.
If you have a 1500-pound machine dangling off the rear of the trailer, use large, load-specific straps like ones from Steadymate in multiple tie-down locations or invest in a Superclamp system to secure your load.
