Safe Loading: It's Everyone’s Duty

Load Safety Is Essential for Protecting Drivers and Strengthening Fleets

When we think about road safety, we often focus on speed limits, distracted driving, or weather conditions. There’s one critical factor that doesn’t always get the spotlight it deserves — safe vehicle loading. For businesses that operate fleets or employ drivers, this issue can mean the difference between safety and serious harm.

Why Safe Loading Matters

Driving is one of the riskiest activities your team will undertake at work. Overloaded or improperly secured loads can have devastating consequences, not just for your drivers, but for everyone on the road.

An unsecured item or an unbalanced load can shift unexpectedly, affect vehicle handling, and in worst cases, lead to catastrophic incidents. This isn’t just a matter of best practice — it’s the law.Why Safe Loading Matters

Driving is one of the riskiest activities your team will undertake at work. Overloaded or improperly secured loads can have devastating consequences, not just for your drivers, but for everyone on the road.

An unsecured item or an unbalanced load can shift unexpectedly, affect vehicle handling, and in worst cases, lead to catastrophic incidents. This isn’t just a matter of best practice — it’s the law.

Your Legal Responsibilities

Under Regulation 100 of the Road Vehicles (Construction & Use) Regulations 1986, both employers and drivers are legally required to ensure that loads are safe and secure. Enforcement agencies take this seriously, and failure to comply can lead to prohibitions and penalties.

While the legal consequences are serious, the real cost of neglecting load safety can be far greater: lives are at risk when loads are poorly secured.

Who’s Responsible? Everyone. 

It’s not just the driver’s job. Whether you're managing a fleet, overseeing drivers, or simply working in logistics, safe loading is a shared responsibility:

• Drivers must check their loads even if someone else did the loading.
• Managers and supervisors must ensure that everyone is properly trained and understands the risks.
• Businesses must have clear policies, risk assessments, and ongoing training in place.
   

Support Your Safe Loading Strategy with Geotab Solutions

At Geotab, we understand the critical importance of load safety. Our telematics and fleet management solutions provide the insights and tools you need to proactively manage vehicle loading risks and driver behaviour:

• Vehicle weight monitoring (via integrated sensors and third-party hardware) to help prevent overloading
• Real-time driver feedback and alerts for unsafe driving that could be impacted by shifting loads
• Customisable driver scorecards and coaching tools to reinforce safe driving and loading behaviours
• DVIR (Driver Vehicle Inspection Reports) to ensure load checks are completed and documented
• Fleet-wide data insights to identify trends, flag issues, and implement targeted improvements
• Policy compliance reporting to support legal responsibilities and internal safety protocols

By leveraging Geotab’s platform, fleet managers can take a data-driven approach to load safety, reducing risk, improving compliance, and protecting their drivers and assets.

Take Action Today

Ask yourself:

• Do our driver policies clearly outline safe loading practices?
• Are our drivers and managers trained to spot and correct unsafe loads?
• Do we regularly review and update our risk assessments?

Don’t wait for an incident to happen. Building a culture of responsibility around safe loading is one of the most effective ways to protect your people, your business, and everyone on the road.

To help you get started, access this month’s Fleet Safety Focus: Safe Loading resources from Driving for Better Business. You'll find practical tools, checklists, and materials to support training and compliance across your organisation.

Your drivers. Your responsibility.