Cargo & Freight · Driver Training VideoChains, Binders & Working Load Limits

Every load you chain down comes with a number attached to it, whether you go looking for it or not. That number is the working load limit — the WLL — and it's stamped or tagged on every chain and every binder you own. Not the breaking strength.

Here's the rule that runs the whole job: the total working load limit of everything holding that cargo down has to add up to at least half the weight of the load. Not half of what you think it weighs — half of what it actually weighs, off the bill of lading.

Length sets your minimum count

Anything under ten feet needs at least two tiedowns. Past ten feet, add one more for every additional ten feet or fraction of it. That's a floor, not a target — awkward shapes, shifting cargo, or a rough route means more, never less.

Inspect the chain before it ever touches the load. Stretched links, cracked links, cuts, or any sign it's seen fire or heat damage — that chain is done, no exceptions. Damaged chain doesn't announce it's lost strength; it just fails when you need it most.

Binders get their own respect

Never slide a pipe or a cheater bar onto a binder handle for extra leverage — that overloads the binder past its rating and turns it into a spring-loaded hazard. When you release a lever or ratchet binder, stand clear of the swing path, not in line with the handle.

Your company standard: match every binder to the chain's rated capacity, protect the chain anywhere it crosses a sharp edge, and never load past the weakest link in the system — the chain, the binder, or the anchor point, whichever rates lowest.

Recheck your securement within the first fifty miles of every trip, then again every three hours or hundred fifty miles, or any time you change duty status. Chains loosen. Loads settle. That recheck catches it before the shoulder of the highway does.