Logistic Done Right

E Track tie down system usually has two parts, the E Tracks and the logistic straps or hardware connector, aka E Track straps or tie downs. The E Track will be installed inside the box trucks , the most used are 2 variations , horizontal E Track and vertical E Track, the sizes usually are 5 feet and10 feet section. E Track tie downs have some varieties, there are e track cargo bars with e fittings at both ends, ratchet e track straps, cam buckle e track straps, rope tie offs, wood beam socket, they all have e fittings at the ends, and on the floor we have chocks for stop vehicles from moving. Of course all of these need to have E Tracks installed and secured on the trailers, let’s see how do we do that.

When it comes to the setup of E Tracks, the safety is our top   priority.

Now we’re going to mount the E Track onto the trailer wall, first thing we do is to find the wall studs, this is same for the floor installation. The wall studs are a big channel with a few flat spots to put the plywood on, we will do the same to the E Track and bridge the stud and the E Track, now we need to use screw to hold the E Track in the place, the trick is the same as any other handy jobs. Use deep threaded wood screws on these E Tracks is a good idea, and if it’s possible, you should put one screw in each hole on the track, and run the track as far as you can(spread the load), then you’re pretty safe as long as for regular loads. The outside wall is about 2 inches away, so make sure the screws are not longer than that.

When finish setup E Track, you will need to put it to test , just hook a rope tie off into the E Track, drag it all you want, see if there are any weak spots, loose ends or whatever feels not well secured, if there are any problems fix them before you put the system into real use.

Tie Down means totally different stuff to different people, we will focus on trailer tie downs in our discussion, specifically, we are going to talk about flat bed truck this time.

People can and will put all kinds of different loads on their flat beds, or they have no choice some times, they will need all kinds of different tie downs to get the job done .

Talking about flat bed trucks, quite some of the flat beds come with winches installed, or you can install by yourself at a later time, then you can use winch strap to do the job .

For most flat bed trucks, truck winch and winch straps are what we need, some trailers come with winches installed you have to get winch straps.

Some trailers come with weld on winches installed, not all trailers have winches installed . When the trailer have the winches installed, we can use winch tie down straps to tie down loads on the trailer , usually we tie down steel coils, concrete pipes, skids, anything that not too heavy for the the straps’ safe load limit . Winch straps usually come with flat hooks, since we usually hook the straps on the edge of the trailer , of course the wire hook can be used too. There are 2” and 4” truck winches and 2” and 4” winch tie downs, depends on different situation , the length of strap can be ranging fro 20′ to more than 50′ .

Now let’s talk about ratchet strap , which are the most popular tie downs ever seen on the truck.

Ratchet straps are most popular tie down devices due to their adaptability , you can use them almost anywhere when it’s applicable. The ending comes with quite some varieties, flat hooks, wire hooks , chain anchor , snap hooks, endless and more. And it’s width can be 1” through 4”, length can be a few inches to more than 50 feet . On commercial trucks ratchet tie downs are the most used tie down devices for truckers , those flat bed trucks without winches installed will find ratchet straps pretty useful .

To get these tie down straps, you can buy them from local stores or online retailers , depends on your available options , sometimes buy them locally is an good idea , sometimes online sales are much better idea, it comes down to time and cost, if you need them the same day you have no choice at all, even next day will be cost prohibitive, think about the shipping charge! So plan ahead of time you will save big with online order, especially with low price and free shipping, such as this cargo securement retailer. And you can review the online store reputation, including service, products and shipping before you tip the water.

Ratchet straps are assemblies of ratchet buckles with all kinds of straps with or without hooks, endless or not. The straps part of the assemblies can be made of nylon or polyester webbing , and the working load limit can be less than 100lbs to more than 1000lbs , the width of the strap should be  1” to 4” , usually we can see hooks, loops or chain extension at both ends of the assembly .

The handle of the ratchet buckle have a few varieties, steel handle, aluminum handle or plastic coated handle.

The straps are made of nylon webbing or polyester webbing, nylon webbing is used in many applications where shock absorption properties are important because nylon webbing has better elongation than polyester webbing of the same construction and strength, such as motor cycle tie downs, polyester webbing is used where low elongation and low creep are desirable, such as flat bed tie down straps, we don’t want the load on the truck bed to move.

Webbing cab also be coated with suitable materials that will improve desirable characteristics, such as abrasion resistance, sealing to prevent penetration of foreign particles and matter, increased(or decreased) coefficient of friction, ultra-violet light resistance .

Last but not the least, the quality of the straps is the critical characteristic, to use these straps properly and safely is imperative. Now we need to find low price yet high quality straps. Usually your local dealer will have quite some varieties of straps, and the quality probably is OK but the price will be somewhat high. And don’t forget the online store are the best place to find a lot of products, include tie down strap, but there is a problem, you can’t touch the real products before they got delivered, it’s almost unrealistic to have vendors to send you a sample when you only need a few straps, here we can go online to read product and service reviews of these online stores, usually you can read a blog, such as Running Tire, or specialized  online opinion sites.

Grade 70 Binder Chains and chain binder are tough tie down devices , both chains and binders are made of carbon steel, the WLL of the chains and binders are higher than most comparable tie down straps , let’s look at 5/16” transport chain(WLL 4700lbs) vs. WLL 3333lbs 2” ratchet tie down straps ,  3/8” chain(WLL 6600lbs) to 4” tie downs(5400lbs) , you will see that compare to tie down straps, binder chains are much stronger, and chain binders are even stronger than same size chains, for instance, 5/16”-3/8” binder has WLL 5400lbs which is stronger than 4700lbs WLL of 5/16” grade 70 chain . Another reason chains and binders are considered heavy duty, is their design factor is 4:1 while webbing tie downs have 3:1 typical design factor, see “Design Factor” for reference .

According to NACM recommendations, the carbon steel used in making grade 70 chains should meet following criteria: no more than 0.35% Carbon, 0.040% Phosphorous and 0.050% Sulfur . When the material meets NACM recommendation, the manufacturing process are under strict quality control, and the final products meet or exceed  DOT requirements, you can put the chains and binders on your 18 wheeler and haul away .

To tie down big rigs such as forklift, bulldozer is what we use grade 70 transport chains and binders for, tie down straps have no chance against these tough guys, the only choice is binder chains and binders , the most popular chain size for these  kind of load are 3/8”, for some light equipment which is still too heavy and hard for straps 5/16” will be ideal chain size. 1/2” and up are mostly for really heavy stuff, for example, military applications, say to tie down battle tanks, you will definitely need 1/2” even 5/8” grade 70 chains to tie those bad boys down.

Grade 70 tie down chains can be used on anything but overhead lifting, you need at least grade 80 alloy chains for overhead lifting. We see people use transport chains to drag the trees, tow the docks, and to tie down the logs out of the the trees, you can go around to find more creative uses of these chains and binders, you also can read trucker’s deal reviews and recommendations before you make any purchase.