A strap at 30 degrees is doing half the job you think it is.
Free training videos on restraining a load and keeping it restrained, gathered from drivers, trainers and operators worldwide. Loading freight is the same job in every country. The physics doesn't change at a border — only the language and the paperwork do.
New to driving in a different country? The load hasn't changed. The rulebook might. Every topic below shows you both.
of the strap's tension is actually pressing the load onto the deck. The rest is pulling it sideways, where it does almost nothing.
What travels across borders, and what doesn't
A coil of steel behaves the same in Poland as it does in Port Hedland. Friction, mass and momentum are not regional. That is the whole reason this library works: a well-made video from anywhere is useful everywhere, once you know which parts are technique and which parts are local rulebook.
The forces a restraint system has to survive are close to identical in most places that regulate it — roughly 80% of the load's weight pushing forward under brakes, and half its weight pushing sideways and rearward. Where countries part ways is in how you prove you've met it.
| Travels anywhere | Check locally |
|---|---|
| Lashing angles and tension | Minimum number of tiedowns |
| Blocking, chocking and dunnage | Rating marks and equipment standards |
| Friction and deck condition | Paperwork and load records |
| Reading a load that has shifted | Penalties and roadside enforcement |
| Edge protection | Chain of responsibility duties |
How to restrain a load
Every video in the library is one example of the same six steps. Learn the sequence and you can approach a load you've never seen filmed.
Check the truck before you look at the load
Deck condition and cleanliness, headboard or loading rack, anchor points sound and attached to the chassis. Straps and chains rated, marked and undamaged. A worn strap or a greasy deck undoes everything that follows.
Know what it weighs and where the weight sits
Not an estimate. The mass, and whether it's evenly spread or concentrated in one place. A high centre of gravity changes what the load will do in a corner.
Decide how you're restraining it
Block or contain it so it can't move, hold it down with tie-downs so friction does the work, or both. Stopping movement beats resisting it once it's started.
Work out what that takes
How many lashings, at what rating, at what angle. This is where the guide for your country earns its keep — it has the tables and the worked examples. Guessing here is where loads are lost.
Apply it properly
Edge protection on every corner a strap crosses. Even tension. Angles as close to vertical as the vehicle allows. Nothing loose, nothing rubbing, nothing relying on the curtain.
Check it, then check it again
Walk both sides before you leave. Stop early in the trip and re-tension. Then at every break. Loads settle everywhere on earth — see the in-transit section below.
This is the process, not the numbers. The required forces and the lashing calculations come from your own regulator's guide — linked in the library below.
The library
Everything here is grouped by what you're carrying. The technique in each video works anywhere. Pick where you're driving and the right-hand column changes — that's the only part that does.
What "Checked" means on a video
Nothing goes up unreviewed, and the badge on every card tells you where it stands. Here's the standard we hold it to.
- We teach the Australian method. Not because Australia is strictest, but because the NHVR guide explains the engineering better than anything else published — plain language, worked examples, diagrams a driver can follow.
- Where another country asks for more, we say so. New Zealand requires 1.0g forward against Australia's 0.8g. A video that satisfies one doesn't automatically satisfy the other, and we won't let that pass silently.
- Checked means reviewed, not certified. We've watched it against the published standards and judged the technique sound. It is not an engineer's certificate and it is not legal clearance.
- We reject videos showing poor technique, however well made, and we tell the contributor what we saw.
If you think something here is wrong, tell us. A correction is worth more to us than being right.
Nothing in that topic yet. Send one in and it'll be the first.
Gear worth having
Most webbing and hardware on the market comes out of a small number of plants and gets badged a dozen different ways. The name on the label tells you very little. These are the things that actually tell you what you've got.
What to look for
- A rating marked on the item itself, still legible. No marking means no rating, whatever the seller says.
- A named standard on the tag, not just a number. Then ask the supplier for the test certificate — a real one will have it.
- A working load limit that looks plausible for the width and construction. A figure that seems generous usually is.
- Components that match. A chain is only as good as the dog and the anchor at each end of it.
- Edge protection sized for your actual loads, bought at the same time as the straps rather than after the first cut one.
- Capacity above the minimum. Buying exactly to the calculation leaves nothing for a strap you have to take out of service mid-trip.
We don't rank brands. We'll tell you what to check and leave the choice to you.
Where to get it
Suppliers who stock certified, traceable gear and will produce the paperwork when you ask.
These listings are paid. Suppliers pay to appear here. They don't influence anything in the left-hand column, and they have no say in which videos go up or what the reviews conclude.
Load quality in transit
Most restraint training stops at the loading dock. Loads settle, timber shrinks, straps relax over the first bumps, and a load that left compliant can be loose within the hour. This is the part of the job with the least footage available anywhere, and the part this library most wants to fill.
First stop, early
Pull over within the first stretch of road and re-tension everything. This is where most of the slack appears.
Every rest break
Walk the full length of both sides. Look at the strap, the edge protection and the load, not just the ratchet.
After rough road or hard braking
Any event that shifts you in the seat has moved the load too.
Before the last leg
Loads that have travelled all day are the ones that come apart on the final corner into the yard.
Supported by
The library stays free to watch. It's paid for by the people who make and sell the gear in these videos — strap and chain manufacturers, training providers, and operators who want their name attached to loads arriving intact.
Supporters don't choose what goes in the library and don't review the videos. If a product appears in a video, it's because it was the right gear for the load.
Send us a video
If you've filmed a load being restrained properly, we want it — in any language, from any country. Subtitles are not required. Clear hands and clear angles matter more than production quality.
Here's exactly what happens to your footage, in plain terms, before you send anything.
- You keep ownership. It stays your video. You're giving us permission to use it, not handing it over.
- We edit and add to it. We'll add narration explaining which loading standard the technique meets, and notes on what changes between countries. We may cut short clips from it for social media.
- We publish it on our channels and earn from it. The edited version goes on our YouTube, Facebook and TikTok, where it may carry advertising. That revenue funds the library.
- You're credited by name, and linked. On the video, on this page, and in the description. Tell us how you want to be named.
- You can still post it yourself. Nothing here is exclusive. Put it on your own channel too.
- We may say no. If the technique doesn't meet the standards, we won't publish it. We'll tell you what we saw.
What makes a video usable
- Start wide enough to show the whole vehicle and the whole load, then move in close on the detail.
- Film the anchor points, where each strap sits, and the angle it runs at. That's the part people need to see and the part most videos miss.
- Say what the load is and roughly what it weighs. Without that, nobody can judge whether the restraint was right.
- Hold the phone sideways, in daylight, with the wind at your back if you're talking. Steady beats sharp.
- Finish with a walk down both sides of the finished load.
- Don't stage something you wouldn't actually drive away with. It shows, and we'd have to reject it.
Send a link rather than a file — YouTube, Drive, Dropbox, WeTransfer, anything. Tell us the country it was filmed in and what the load is. By sending it you're agreeing to the six points above.