TT Club urges care with coiled cargoes

TT Club has issued specific guidelines on packing and securing coiled materials in containers. In general, investigations into incidents along the international supply chain – whether on roads, rail, inland waterway or at sea – can often be attributed to poor practices in the packing of cargo transport units (CTUs) and coiled materials are a particular hazard. The Club said it has dealt with many incidents where coils, mostly of steel, have been improperly packed and insufficiently secured in the container, leading to the cargo shifting inside the unit and usually breaking out, resulting in injuries or damage to property. The packing process is critical given the forces exerted on the freight during a typical journey, such as braking or turning of a road vehicle, variable handling techniques at port terminals and significant, sometimes violent motions of a ship at sea. Coils have even been known to break through the floor of a carrying unit and escaped into traffic. In short, improperly secured coil materials can have significant and fatal consequences.