From The Editor

Today is the First of May, which means you’ve probably already begun celebrating International Cargo Securement Awareness Month, an event too big for one of those 30-day months.

OK, in all seriousness, you probably are no more aware of International Cargo Security Awareness Month than you are its fellow May consciousness-raising events: Haitian Heritage Month, National Bike Month or National Guide Dog Month, to name just three. But to the operator or key decision maker of a metal distribution company, cargo securement is a pretty big deal.

Hauling coils or long products is an inherently risky proposition, among the most perilous of all standard commercial trucking tasks. Properly securing a load is not just important to protect the material, but the public as well. Steel coils that were not adequately tied down have done significant damage to others on the road.

Most service centers do not own their own truck fleets, instead relying on third-party carriers to handle that piece of the supply chain. But others do. And the entire metals industry benefits when every precaution is taken to secure loads. Avoiding accidents or citations keeps more precious drivers in the seats, more trucking companies in operation and, ultimately, insurance and freight rates down.

From June 4-6, the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance International Roadcheck will be conducted in the U.S., Mexico and Canada. In 2018, 2,080 out-of-service cargo securement violations were issued, which followed the 2,938 citations the year before.

To better prepare the industry for the three-day enforcement event, Kinedyne LLC is offering a free cargo securement training webinar from 2-3 p.m. on May 28. Signing up for the webinar can be done here.