Just passing on some experience, use it as you wish.
Last summer I had to haul my tractor, FEL and 6 ft. mower about 20 miles to mow some other property. The tractor, implements and trailer total about 11,000 lbs. I tied down the load using my normal methods, 2 5/16" grade 70 chains forward and 2 back, extra chains/straps on the implements. The load is balanced out well and the conditions are good so running the 65 mph speed limit is no problem.
About 10 miles into the trip I come around a corner in the road. There is a small suv on the shoulder of the left lane, a car coming towards me in the left lane and no one in front of me. At the last minute the small suv does a u turn in front of the car in the left lane and ends up right in front of me. My trailer has brakes on both axles and I already have the engine brake activated so I am in full shut down mode. I easily got within a couple feet of hitting the suv, all I could see of it was the very top of the suv over my hood. The suv finally figures out I am there and I can see the car torque back as they step into the throttle. As they add some distance between me and them I let off the brakes some but still keep them applied so more distance is added between me and the suv.
All is good until they slam on the brakes again which causes me to go into full shut down mode a second time. This time I only got to within about 10 feet of hitting them. Once a car went by in the left lane, the suv turned left down a side road so a disaster was avoided again, within seconds of each other.
Had I hit the suv I would have been fine from a liability standpoint due to being able to maintain control of my vehicle and load and having the witnesses in the other vehicle saying how the suv did an improper u turn in front of them and me. But...?..if my load had broken loose during the heavy braking I would have lost at least some control of my vehicle and load which could have been presented as a contributing factor in the crash and possibly the major contributing factor. Especially if the witnesses testified that I seemed to have lost some control of my vehicle and load.
On top of that I suspect my insurance may have at least tried to not cover my loss due to me not taking the necessary precautions to mitigate the chance of loss or damage, ie. secure the load. After all, someone pulling out in front of you is a foreseeable event.
Then to add insult to injury, had the tractor come over the front of the trailer and into the cab making me nothing more than a puddle of goop, my life insurance may have denied coverage due to not properly securing the load. They do the same thing when people are killed in a traffic accident but are not wearing a seat belt. They try to indicate the person was trying to commit suicide.
At the end of the day I will still secure my load properly so I minimize the what ifs and wherefores I may have to deal with down the road.
