DES MOINES, Iowa – As Iowa slowly inches closer to summer, it’s becoming a common site on roadways across the state – vehicles hauling yard and garden waste or large, bulky items to area landfills – and drivers are being urged to secure their loads.
Leslie Irlbeck, program and outreach manager with the Metro Waste Authority in Des Moines, says making sure that loads are secure helps keep roadways clean and more importantly, helps keep drivers safe from the dangers of debris.

“According to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, there are about 25,000 crashes that are caused each year and there are 80 to 90 deaths (in North America),” she points out. “And these are preventable if we all just take that extra step and make sure that things are safe.”

Irlbeck notes that many landfills in Iowa have strict policies for arriving with a secure load and those drivers who don’t can be charged a service fee of between $10 and $100, depending on the size of the vehicle.  Irlbeck says it really doesn’t take much for a loose item being hauled to fall or go flying, so if the load cannot be fully enclosed within a vehicle or trailer, it should be secured – either by tying it down or covering it with a tarp.

“And that’s especially important for smaller items – like maybe some recyclables, or some yard waste material as well,” she explains. “But even larger things need to be secured down, and that can be done with bungee cords or tie-downs, or twine. Things like sofas or large chairs are even at risk at flying out of the back of a truck.

(Iowa News Service)