Pickup Brochure
www
404-679-4940
Atlanta, GA
60
Of
Georgia Department of Community Af
fice of Envir
Executive Park
.dca.state.ga.us
Tarp It, or Get Ticketed!
Georgia Department of
printed on recycled paper
30329-2231
onmental Management
Community Affairs
Careless drivers could wind up picking up their own
South, NE
litter… wearing an orange jump suit. It’s a misdemeanor
under Georgia law to haul an improperly secured load.
Penalties may reach one year in prison, a $1,000 fine,
or both.
fairs
Keep it in Your
OCGA 40-6-254: No person shall operate any motor
Bed… Secure
vehicle with a load on or in such vehicle unless the
load… is adequately secured to prevent the dropping or
shifting of the load onto the roadway. Any person who
Your Load
operates a vehicle in violation of this Code section shall be
guilty of a misdemeanor.
Georgia taxpayers spend millions of dollars
every year to remove trash that blows from
truck beds. Transporting unsecured loads isn’t
A survey conducted by the Georgia Department of
just scandalous, it’s illegal!
Transportation, Department of Community Affairs, and
Keep Georgia Beautiful found 16% of the littering tickets
authorities wrote in 2000 were under the unsecured
loads law. When surveyed by Georgia DOT, 77% of
Georgia motorists said they have seen something blow
out of a vehicle onto the road.
Do Your Part… Secure Your Load
Put a Lid on It!
Lock That Load!
If You Throw It
T
Here,
rucks carrying unsecured loads send litter onto the
All of us share a responsibility
Peach State’s roads every day. The Georgia Department
to Keep Georgia Beautiful. You
of Transportation has spent $11 million in a single year
picking up roadside litter and those costs continue
may not intentionally litter, but
to rise. We’ve all seen trash blowing from the back of
if you’re not securing the items
garbage trucks, but private pickup truck owners are
also partly to blame. Truck owners often use their
in your pickup truck, they could
truck beds as mobile garbage cans. Sure it’s handy,
easily become litter.
but the trash doesn’t always stay put. At highway
speeds, with vehicles passing and bumpy roads, empty
Take the time to secure your load.
containers and other bits of trash easily become airborne
and turn into litter. Weekend warriors hauling unsecured
Don’t rely on the weight of items to keep
You’re Throwing It
loads of construction debris also contribute to our
them in your truck. Bumps, turns and sudden
litter problem.
stops can dislodge even heavy items like
Out
furniture, tools, and equipment.
There!
Consider buying a cover if you don’t often
haul large bulky items in your truck. Not only
do covers improve fuel economy and keep
your goods dry, they keep material in the bed,
keep thieves out, and look good doing it.
All trash or recyclables should be in sturdy
bags and covered by a strong tarp or cargo
netting. If you often throw trash into your
truck bed, secure a 5-gallon bucket with a
lid in a corner of the bed, as a trash can.
Or, throw trash into the tool box.
Commercial garbage and recycling haulers aren’t to
blame for all of the trash that turns into litter. In fact,
most in the industry say the small haulers, especially
Driving with an unsecured load can destroy more than
It doesn’t take much
weekend warriors cleaning out the garage or hauling
scenery. The Governor’s Office of Highway Safety
home remodeling debris share the responsibility. It
reports that in 2000, roadway debris was a contributing
time, effort, or money
doesn’t take long to secure a tarp or cargo netting
factor in five motorist deaths. Perhaps this is why officers
to make sure your load
over a pickup truck bed and tarps can be bought for
reported that three out of four tickets they issue for
under $20, including tie-downs, at most home
unsecured loads are issued with motorist safety in mind.
is properly secured.
improvement or automotive stores.
