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EN 12640, lashing points on commercial vehicles
The EN 12640 standard, lashing points on commercial vehicles for goods ransportation, constitutes a complementary standard to the EN 12195-2 standard, web lashings of man-made fibres, and ultimately to the EN 12195-1 standard, calculation of securing forces. The latter in fact makes it possible to calculate the minimum number of web lashings and the tension required for securing the load.
However, if the lashing points are not strong enough to resist the action of the web lashings, the securing of the load is ineffective and safety during transport is not guaranteed.
To avoid this possibility, the EN 12640 standard specifies the minimum requirements for the lashing points, and prescribes a label indicating the minimum performance of the vehicle lashing points, in terms of resistance in daN and angle of action allowed for the web lashings connected. This information is essential for the proper arrangement of the lashing equipment.
There are different types of lashing points, below are two examples taken from sites specialized in the production of fixing systems:
Ring on Kögel semi-trailer, see manufacturer page
Eyelet bar proposed by Kässbohrer, see manufacturer page
Minimum number and strength of lashing points
The European best practices guidelines on cargo securing for road transport, in accordance with the provisions of the EN 12640 standard, report the minimum resistance values for the lashing points according to the maximum allowed mass of the vehicle, as shown in the following table.
| Maximum allowed mass of the vehicle (t) | Strength of lashing point in daN |
|---|---|
| From 3,5 to 7,5 | 800 |
| Above 7,5 to 12,0 | 1000 |
| Above 12,0 | 2000 (recommended 4000) |
The EN 12640 standard specifies the minimum design and testing requirements for the lashing points, to ensure safety in all the transport conditions.
The lashing points on the vehicles can have a much higher resistance than the values indicated in the table above. The following photo shows a lashing point with a strength of 7000 daN, suitable for the use with chains approved according with the EN 12195-3 standard.
Vehicles marking
To facilitate the loader, vehicles equipped with lashing points approved according to the EN 12640 standard have a special marking. This indicates the strength and angle of action allowed for the lashing points. The marking shall have a blue background and white lettering and border. Below is a facsimile.
