An Introduction to Bomb-Proof Trailering

This past winter, I spent quite a bit of time thinking about the problem of managing a shell trailer safely, and conceived of a concept that I call bomb-proof trailering. Essentially, this is nothing more than the notion that the chance of having a serious accident is significantly minimized when well-understood, safety-oriented, "best practice" techniques are consistently applied to both trailer loading and on-the-road trailer management. While this might seem like overstating the obvious, it's usually the case that most individuals with any degree of involvement in transporting boats are knowledgeable in a number of different ways of accomplishing the same task. Some methods are more effective than others, and there are many people who carry around bags of various, useful tools, while other folks need to overcome a few bad habits. Still others possess no skills at all, but are determined to learn and should be provided an opportunity to learn it right the first time. What's most important is to get to the point where participants in trailering have a common understanding of what techniques promote the safest level of operation, and then consistently apply those techniques all the time.

Now that NHRC is back on the water again and the regatta season is fast approaching, it seems like this is a good time to get these ideas published to the membership. So I am going to post a series of articles in The Catch that collectively attempt to establish safety-oriented transporation techniques. This will enable everyone involved in racing to be on the same page when it comes to loading trailers and getting them safely to their destination. It will also provide a chance to participate in, and contribute to, the formulation of these practices. So please feel free to post comments to this thread or send me email if you disagree with something or wish to contribute additional knowledge. This initial article attempts to set the stage by describing what I consider to be the fundamental or essential principles of bomb-proof trailing, while subsequent posts will elaborate on the specifics of safe transport techniques and demonstrate many examples of their application. So here are the basic tenets...

The Essential Principles
Bomb-proof trailering is predicated on three fundamental principles. The first is the notion that your equipment should never fail. Never. Now, at first blush, this might seem impossible to guarantee. Unexpected, catastrophic failures occassionally do happen, even with brand new gear right out the box. But what I actually mean by this is simply that we must never set ourselves up for failure by using anything other than optimally safe equipment. For example, intentionally using a frayed tie-down strap (or perhaps one with a buckle that tends to stick in the open position) because it's the end of the day and you're tired and in a hurry to get out of town, amounts to deliberately setting yourself up for a failure. It doesn't mean you will have a failure, but rather that you're that much closer to the wrong end of the safety dial. The bottom line is that gear selection should never be the prima causa of an accident, because it's the easiest thing to control.

Assuming that equipment has been eliminated as a source of trouble, then only human error remains. The risk of human error can never to be eliminated, but it can certainly be mitigated and controlled. And the best way of doing this is by selecting techniques that have been proven to work over time, and then applying them deliberately and consistently in future endeavors. Within the relatively modern (and rather narrow) discipline of transporting rowing shells, much of what is known to work well is still very much buried in the experiences of a small number of people who have been doing this for a while. However, the need to disseminate this knowledge to a broader community is certainly recognized, and efforts are getting underway to do so. Examples of this include a number of rowing club and crew program safety manuals that have been in existence for some time, but are finally beginning to surface online. And as recently as just last year, U.S. Rowing recognized and promoted (for the first time that I am aware of) a formal safety course on shell trailering.

So, the second fundamental principle of bomb-proof trailering, then, is the identification of time-proven techniques that promote safe operation, and their deliberate application in all trailering activities going forward. This does not mean, of course, that we follow them to the point of rigidity (we need to flexibly adapt to unanticipated problems), but that we generally apply a collection of well-understood, proven techniques in a systematic, reasonable manner. This has the effect of making much of the safety aspect of shell trailering largely -- though not completely -- a big no brainer.

Finally, the third principle of bomb-proof trailering is that of socialization. What I mean by this is that everyone involved in a particular trailering effort must be on the same page regarding the standard repetoire of best practices, and the only way to achieve this is through some process of broad socialization. For example, there are many different ways of strapping a shell to a atrailer. But, for any particular trailer and its crew, there should be one and only one way of doing it (I once heard a coach refer to this as everyone "acquiring the same degree in strap-ology"). How you arrive at this state is by reaching consensus with all involved on the strapping technique to be used. This includes adequately describing candidate techniques to others, comparing their merits, selecting one, possibly modifying it based on useful inputs, and then finally getting buy-in that "this is how we're all going to secure boats, from this point on, because we now believe in the superior value of this technique...".

One interesting aspect of the notion of consistently-followed best practices, by the way, is the realization that safety, efficiency, and relative comfort, all ultimately go hand-in-hand. As a final example, consider a well-organized (uncluttered) trailer bed, in which all equipment (oars, riggers, slings, tool carriers, etc.) is carefully layed out in such a manner as to conservse space, and is then securely fastened down. What you then have is a situation which is inherently safe: Nothing is going to fly out and land on the road, nor is your equipment going to shift around in the bed as the trailer alternately speeds up and decelerates, which would otherwise add to your gear's wear and expose it to the possibility of significant damage, as well. Equipment is also easy to find, and easy to remove by those who need, when they need it, after the trailer has been parked at its destination.

So, there you have it...the three fundamental concepts of bomb-proof trailing. A gentle introduction to a topic that is not quite so gentle. In the next posting, I'll outline a candidate set of shell trailering best practices, and then begin presenting the details of how to achieve them. All blog entries in this thread will be labeled "Trailering" for look-up convenience. 'Til then...

- John Poole