The ratchet strap: 24 tonnes of show on a 50 mm band.

Everything you saw rolling in the flight case post also has to stay put.

The previous post was about case tetris: loading the truck perfectly. But a perfectly loaded truck is not yet a safe truck. Between the tail lift and the first bend, one thing determines whether those 24 tonnes of show stay in place: the ratchet strap. A band 50 millimetres wide. That is all.

And because I am not only a crew boss but also a prevention advisor, we are going deeper than usual this time. History, technology and the things you really need to know before you close that ratchet. This is part eight in the series, after the nadar, the ty-rap, the gaffer tape, the stagehand, the mojo, the word crew and the flight case.

Before the ratchet strap: rope, chains and one ingenious knot

For centuries, cargo was secured in the same way sailors secured sails: with rope and skill. The king of those knots is what English calls the trucker's hitch: a loop in the rope that works like a pulley, allowing the same arm strength to put several times as much tension on the rope. Carters with horses and carts used it long before trucks existed.

A clever system, but with three problems. First: you have to know how to tie the knot. Second: rope stretches, wears and rots. Third: nobody knows how much tension is really on it. "That should do" was the only measuring method for centuries. Heavy work called for chains with load binders: strong, but incredibly heavy and slow.

The ratchet strap solved all those problems at once. Although "the ratchet strap" is not really one invention, but three.

Three inventions in one strap

1. The webbing. The major leap came during the Second World War, when synthetic fibres such as nylon were used on a massive scale for parachute webbing and rigging. Stronger than natural fibre and immune to rot. Polyester followed after the war, and it became the material for ratchet straps: almost as strong as steel by weight, minimal stretch, and resistant to moisture and UV.

2. The ratchet. The gear-and-pawl mechanism is centuries old: you can find it in ancient winches, capstans and crossbows. It turns in one direction and blocks in the other. Attach that mechanism to a handle and you have a lever that builds and holds tension, with no knowledge of knots, in ten seconds.

3. The standard. And that is the least sexy but most important of the three. Because a strap whose capacity nobody knows is simply a more expensive rope. More on that in a moment.

A fun relative in between: the seat belt in your car is a cousin of the ratchet strap. The same kind of woven polyester webbing, the same job: keeping something valuable in place during an impact. Volvo engineer Nils Bohlin designed the three-point seat belt in 1959, and Volvo made the patent freely available to the entire industry. That too is safety culture.

2001: Europe sets the bar

Until around the turn of the century, every country had its own rules and habits for securing loads. That led to a European standard: EN 12195-2, drawn up in 2000 and in force since 1 January 2001. It defines how strong a ratchet strap must be, how it is tested and what must appear on the label.

And that label is the heart of the entire system.

Reading the blue label: the cheat sheet

Every proper ratchet strap has a label. Blue means polyester (PES), which is the standard. Here is what it says in plain language:

• LC (Lashing Capacity). The capacity of the strap in daN, often shown as two values: one for straight use and one, twice as high, for looped use. Remember: 1 daN is about 1 kilogram. So you can read LC 2500 daN as roughly 2.5 tonnes.
• STF (Standard Tension Force). The pre-tensioning force the ratchet applies to the strap, usually 10 to 20 per cent of the LC. This is the number that matters when you tension straps over the load.
• SHF (Standard Hand Force). The hand force of 50 daN used to measure the STF. Normal human force, in other words, not a pipe over the handle.
• Elongation: maximum 7 per cent. In practice, polyester stretches about 5 per cent. That is why you tighten a strap again during the journey, especially after the first few kilometres.
• "Not for lifting." A ratchet strap is not a lifting sling. Never. Lifting slings have their own standards, colours and inspections.
• Date of manufacture, material, manufacturer and the EN 12195-2 standard.

And the most important rule of all: no readable label, no use. Without a label, nobody can prove what the strap can handle, and then it is just a ribbon. A fun fact for enthusiasts: it should not carry a CE mark. Ratchet straps do not fall under that directive, so a CE logo on a ratchet strap is more likely a sign of a dubious manufacturer than of quality.

Two ways to secure a load, one goal

How you use the strap makes all the difference. There are two main methods.

Tensioning over the load, known as tie-down securing in training, is what you see most often: straps over the load, tensioned firmly. The strap does not stop the load itself; it presses it against the loading floor, and friction does the real work. That is why the STF value counts here, why you use at least two, why you keep the angle between the strap and the floor as large as possible, between 35 and 90 degrees, and why anti-slip mats are not a luxury but a lever: more grip means fewer straps are needed.

Direct securing, diagonally, is the heavier method: the load is literally fixed to the anchor points with four straps or chains, each in its own direction. Here, the LC value counts. This is what you see with machinery, set pieces and anything too heavy or too slippery to trust to friction.

In the event industry, there is a third form you already know from the flight case post: positive fit. Cases built to the dimensions of the truck and positioned against one another and the headboard cannot go anywhere. Case tetris is not only efficient, it is load securing. But the last row, the half layer and everything standing loose? That remains a job for the ratchet strap and the shoring beam.

What does the law say in Belgium?

In Belgium, where we operate, load securing has been explicitly covered by the Highway Code since 27 April 2007, in the notorious article 45bis. The core requirement is that the securing system must withstand forces of 0.8 g deceleration forwards and 0.5 g backwards and sideways. In plain language: during an emergency stop, your load pushes towards the cab with eighty per cent of its own weight. Four tonnes of equipment then becomes more than three tonnes of pushing force. That is what you tension for.

In 2018, the article was thoroughly rewritten and responsibilities were divided: not only the driver, but also the loader and packer share responsibility. Anyone who loads also helps secure. For us as crew, that is not a detail: the stagehand helping fill the truck is part of that story. And the figures do not lie: an estimated quarter of truck accidents are linked to poorly secured loads.

Tips and tricks from the shop floor

The standard tells you what is allowed. The shop floor teaches you how to do it smoothly. A few tricks that make the difference between fumbling and craftsmanship:

• One and a half to three wraps on the spindle. Pull the strap tight by hand first and only then start ratcheting. That puts 1.5 to 3 full turns of webbing on the ratchet spindle: enough to grip, but not so much that the drum jams and you cannot release it later. An overfilled ratchet is the classic beginner's mistake.
• Feed the strap from the correct side, and never pull it back. Open the ratchet fully and feed the strap through the slot from bottom to top. Pull it back through the slot and it rolls up double, leaving you swearing when it is time to unload.
• No twist in the strap on the clamping surface. A twisted strap wears faster and tensions less effectively. Lay it flat from hook to ratchet.
• Except for that one deliberate half twist. The old driver's trick: if a long free section of strap is exposed to the wind, on an open trailer or low-loader, give that section one half twist. It stops flapping and humming at speed, and prevents the strap from beating itself to pieces. One half twist in the free section, no more, and never where the strap clamps over the load.
• Tidy away the tail. Never leave the loose end of the strap flapping: wrap it around the tensioned strap and tuck it away. A flapping tail goes looking for wheels, axles and faces.
• Corner protectors are not an accessory. A steel case or concrete edge saws through a strap like a knife through gaffer tape. No corner protector to hand? Put a piece of carpet or an old glove between them if necessary. Something is always better than nothing.
• Release the ratchet with respect. Opening it releases all the tension at once. Keep your face out of the handle's path, keep your fingers away from the space between ratchet and strap, and first check that nothing will shift when the strap comes loose. Especially with a load that has settled during the journey.
• Retighten after the first few kilometres. Polyester stretches and the load settles. Stop briefly, walk around the truck and retighten everything. Two minutes that can save a load.
• Is the end fraying? Cut the frayed section off at an angle, into a point, and melt the end closed. The strap will slide smoothly through the ratchet slot again. Be honest, though: this only buys time. A strap that keeps fraying needs to be replaced.
• Save your back? Use an ergonomic ratchet. You tension a standard ratchet with a pushing motion, while an ergonomic ratchet uses a pulling motion that puts your body weight to work. With heavy straps, that makes a serious difference to shoulders and lower backs. Anyone who fills trucks every week knows why.
• Roll it up, always. Roll the strap tightly with the hook and ratchet on the outside, then store it dry in a case or bag. There are even useful magnetic winders that attach to the bodywork. Throwing a knotted ratchet strap into the back of the truck is the fastest way to have to reject it next weekend. And never throw the ratchet itself: a bent ratchet is a broken ratchet.
• Got wet? Let it dry. Storing a wet strap rolled up means mould in summer and a rigid frozen plank in winter. Hang it to dry, then roll it up.

When does a ratchet strap go in the bin?

A ratchet strap has no expiry date. Its condition is the only criterion. Reject it if you find:

• Cuts, tears or fraying in the webbing, especially along the edges.
• Knots. A knot in a ratchet strap can roughly halve its strength. Strap too short? Get another strap, do not tie a knot.
• Damaged ratchet or hooks: bent, cracked or eaten away by rust.
• Unreadable or missing label. As above: no label, no strap.
• Contact with chemicals or visible burns and melting.

A few interesting facts

• The ratchet is older than the wheel on your truck. The gear-and-pawl principle was already used in Roman winches and medieval crossbows. So the ratchet strap is ancient high technology with a twentieth-century band.
• daN only exists to make life easier for you. The decanewton was chosen because 1 daN is almost exactly 1 kilogram. The standard speaks engineering language, while the label speaks plain language.
• A pipe over the ratchet handle is not a clever trick. The entire standard is built around 50 daN of hand force. Use an extension pipe and you go beyond what the strap and ratchet can handle. Need more tension? Use more or heavier straps, or direct securing.
• The trucker's hitch lives on. Campers and DIY enthusiasts still swear by the trucker's hitch. Good for them. But in a truck carrying 24 tonnes of show, skill is wonderful and measurability is better.

The ratchet strap may be the least romantic subject in this entire series. No hot-air balloon, no Oscar, no croissant. Just a strap with a label. But it is the strap on which every show, every truck and every safe journey home depends. Tighten it as if it matters. Because it does.