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Monday, February 10, 2025

CVSA Looks to Hold Shippers Responsible for Sealed Improperly Secured Loads

The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance is seeking input on how to hold shippers accountable for improperly secured loads.

Who’s to blame for load securement violations of sealed loads in cargo van and intermodal containers? Right now, if a cargo securement violation is found in a sealed container, it’s the driver who may end up with a violation ticket or citation and could be placed out of service.

The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance wants suggestions on how to hold shippers responsible for improperly secured loads.

In a letter sent to regulating agencies in the U.S. and Canada – including FMCSA Administrator Ray Martinez – CVSA executive director Collin Mooney writes that issuing citations or out-of-service orders to drivers “does not address the root cause of the improperly secured load” because those loads are initially secured by shippers that don’t always let the driver inspect what’s in the trailer.

“Shippers need to properly secure the contents of the load prior to sealing, therefore not risking the safety of the driver or the motoring public,” the letter states. “Loads that move from the shipper to a motor carrier in the current practice place the responsibility on the receiver of the freight. When loads change hands while in transit, the responsibility is on the receiving party that last signed responsibility of the load, which includes ensuring that all proper cargo securement requirements have been met. This practice is often difficult for the driver because many shippers have a policy that drivers cannot break the seal to inspect the load.”

CVSA says it has developed a working group made up of law enforcement and industry officials to identify solutions to these problems and is seeking feedback from regulators as well.

In the letter, the alliance asks the agencies to look into how responsibility for load securement violations can be properly assigned.