Introduction

Quite apart from the fundamental questions about the simplified models used for calculation, changing circumstances also need to be taken into account in a revision of this kind.

Modern commercial vehicles are equipped with more powerful brakes and steering assistance systems. This means that higher acceleration forces may be expected. The roads themselves are better and engines are more powerful, and these factors result in higher speeds. Loading technology has been mechanized and thoroughly rationalized, which does not necessarily improve the conditions for securing units of cargo. This is compounded by time pressure and a lack of staff, with the result that both expenditure on and the quality of cargo securing measures could be under threat.

On the other hand, better securing equipment is available, and the availability of calculation software boosts the attractiveness of more complex calculation models for planning and checking securing strategies. Internationalization of traffic flows necessitates uniform regulations to allow effective monitoring. In other words, it is both possible and necessary to develop calculation procedures that both provide legal security and make sense in terms of the underlying physics.

All these aspects need to be taken into account. Ultimately, it is important that any simplified rules and approaches to calculation are only published in conjunction with the underlying philosophy and stating the way in which they were derived, so that nobody runs the risk of taking the simplifications as true reflections of reality and exploiting them in the name of the laws of physics.