Wheel chocks

Scope

This applies to all general industry employers that use dockboards while loading and unloading transport vehicles.

Regulatory citations

• 29 CFR 1910.26 — Dockboards
• 49 CFR 393.41(b) — Air-braked power units manufactured on or after March 1, 1975, and air-braked trailers manufactured on or after January 1, 1975
• 29 USC 653 — Geographic applicability; judicial enforcement; applicability to existing standards; report to Congress on duplication and coordination of Federal laws; workmen’s compensation law or common law or statutory rights, duties, or liabilities of employers and employees unaffected

Key definitions

• Agricultural commodity trailer: A trailer designed to transport bulk agricultural commodities in off-road harvesting sites and to a processing plant or storage location, as evidenced by skeletal construction that accommodates harvest containers, a maximum length of 28 feet, and an arrangement of air control lines and reservoirs that minimizes damage in field operations.
• Commercial motor vehicle (CMV): A self-propelled or towed vehicle used on a highway to transport property when the vehicle:
  • Has a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) or gross combination weight rating (GCWR), or gross vehicle weight (GVW) or gross combination weight (GCW), of 10,001 pounds or more, whichever is greater; or
  • Is transporting hazardous materials of a type or quantity that requires placarding.
• Dockboard: A portable or fixed device that spans a gap or compensates for a difference in elevation between a loading platform and a transport vehicle. Dockboards include, but are not limited to, bridge plates, dock plates, and dock levelers.
• Heavy hauler trailer: A trailer which has one or more of the following characteristics, but which is not a container chassis trailer:
  • (1) Its brake lines are designed to adapt to separation or extension of the vehicle frame; or
  • (2) Its body consists only of a platform whose primary cargo-carrying surface is not more than 1,016 mm (40 inches) above the ground in an unloaded condition, except that it may include sides that are designed to be easily removable and a permanent front-end structure as described in 393.114.
• Loading platforms: Loading docks, interior floors, driveways, or other walking or working surfaces.
• Pulpwood trailer: A trailer or semitrailer that is designed exclusively for harvesting logs or pulpwood and constructed with a skeletal frame with no means for attachment of a solid bed, body, or container.
• Transport vehicles: A cargo-carrying vehicle that workers may enter or walk onto to load or unload cargo and materials. Transport vehicles include, but are not limited to, trucks, trailers, semi-trailers and rail cars.
• Wheel chocks/sand shoes: Wedges of sturdy material placed against a transport vehicle’s wheels to prevent movement, especially while people are working around or in the vehicle.

Summary of requirements

Wheel chocks are typically placed against the wheels of commercial trailers at loading docks. At times, they are required by either the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) or the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Chocks are also recommended when drivers or other personnel are working around or on a commercial motor vehicle (CMV), such as to perform an inspection or perform maintenance, when vehicle movement could cause injuries or death.

FMCSA requires employers to:

• Equip CMVs with a parking-brake system. The FMCSA’s parking-brake standard requires that every CMV be equipped with a parking-brake system that is able to hold the vehicle or combination in place under any condition of loading. For this reason, wheels chocks are not required on most CMVs.
• Equip agricultural-commodity, heavy-hauler, and pulpwood trailers with wheel chocks. These types of vehicles must be equipped with enough wheel chocks to prevent movement, but the regulations do not specify how or when to use them or how many to use.

OSHA has stated that relying only on the FMCSA’s brake regulations may not prevent transport vehicles from moving while dockboards are being used. For transport vehicles that do not meet the CMV definitions (such as those not operating on a “highway”) and CMVs not operated in interstate commerce, OSHA requires employers to:

• Have a means in place to prevent transport vehicles from moving while dockboards are being used. This could be methods such as wheel chocks or sand shoes. Movement of a transport vehicle while it is being loaded or unloaded can lead to crushing or fall injuries.

Finally, note that motor carriers and shippers or receivers can mandate the use of wheel chocks even when not specifically required by regulation.