Load Container Safety - What is the Standard?

The practices we see in the field would make us presume that we have no standards to meet. We've had clear standards since 1970. Let's take a look at what they are and what we could do to fix this as an industry. The way we are functioning is slow and risky. The only reason to do it as we do is because we don't want to plan ahead. It's expensive to build boxes. It's expensive to use boxes because they require slings. So why not go to rated lifters? Lift cycles speed up. You have items made of steel welded together versus wood which is at best a guess as to how well it's secured. You have an engineered rating with a known safety factor. The front isn't likely to fall off and into the environment. For those in the know, it's a joke, but only because of how silly it is to build structural elements from wood derivatives that aren't a static structure.

The practice of lifting plastic containers and wood containers over people should be recognized for being the danger it is. ASME B30.20 2025 released in May has adopted load containers under it's purview. Let's take that in and demand the same safety standards we use for concrete also apply to all items that could drop out of the sky.