Beginning August 1, the Washington State Patrol will start enforcing new Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration rules for securing loads.

The rules provide performance criteria for cargo securement to prevent articles of cargo from shifting upon or falling from commercial vehicles during acceleration and deceleration.

The regulations provide procedures for determining the appropriate number and type of tie-downs for securing cargo. Some commodity specific requirements were provided, however there were no commodity specific requirements for fruit bins. The state patrol delayed enforcement of the rules while they sought clarification from federal authorities on how this would affect the securement of fruit bins and what method of securement would meet the requirements outlined in the new rule.