The North American Cargo Securement Harmonization Public Forum will be held this year in Montreal, Canada on November 23. The Forum, which is coordinated by a subcommittee of the Vehicle Committee of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA), is open to all interested parties, according to the group.
“That is really the greatest part about the Forum,” said Lieutenant Donald Bridge, Jr., of the CT Department of Motor Vehicles, who is a member of the CVSA Vehicle Committee, the current chairman of the subcommittee in charge of the forum and past president of CVSA. “Anyone can register to attend and participate in the discussions about cargo securement with national, state and provincial commercial vehicle enforcement people, truck fleet executives and managers, industry suppliers and others.”
According to Bridge, the Forum has been working on harmonization of cargo securement regulations between the U.S. and Canada since 1994, when it began working with engineers and others to develop a model plan that could be used by both U.S. and Canadian regulators as a basis for load securement rules and regulations.
“There are still some slight differences between the Canadian and U.S. rules for securing cargo, but for the most part, harmonization exists now,” he says.
The public forum has become a venue for productive discussion and refinement of best practices and even regulations, Bridge notes.
“Last year, for example, carriers hauling baled hay had some issues to resolve,” he says. “They wanted to secure their loads according to the regulations, but were having problems doing that. They came up with an alternative means of securing baled hay, some testing was done and it moved forward as an approved securement alternative.”
