6 Tennessee Unsecured Load Rules That Can Get You Fined

Your noncommercial pickup can skip the tarp in Tennessee, but only if the load meets a different rule.

Anything that blows out of the bed can cost you, and Tennesseans who haul a lot don’t always know the details.

Here are the Tennessee unsecured load rules that can get you fined.

Note: This is general information, not legal advice. Traffic and litter laws are subject to change.

1. Four-Inch Rule

Any truck with an open bed on a public road has to meet Tennessee’s four-inch load standard.

Loose material in your bed has to stay at least four inches below the walls, measured at the front, back and sides.

You can pile it higher in the center.

The rule is about how high you load, so a heaped bed breaks it before anything spills.

Loose material includes anything that could spill, drop off or blow away while you drive.

A violation is a Class C misdemeanor, and the fine can reach $50.

2. Tarps and Enclosed Space

Any motor vehicle hauling litter or other material likely to fall or blow onto the highway must follow Tennessee’s tarp rule.

The statute says motor vehicle, not truck, so your car or minivan counts too.

You have to keep that load in an enclosed space or fully covered by a tarp.

Skip both and you’ve committed a Class B misdemeanor.

That carries a fine of up to $500.

A judge can also add the cleanup penalties from the littering-penalty statute, including up to 40 hours of litter cleanup along highways, parks or playgrounds.

That’s a full workweek.

3. Pickup Truck Load Standard

Your noncommercial, not-for-hire pickup can skip the tarp under Tennessee’s pickup truck load standard.

Instead, you have to secure your load in a way that reasonably ensures it won’t fall or blow off.

Commercial and for-hire pickups still need an enclosed space or a tarp.

If your load falls short of that standard, the tarp statute applies, and a violation is a Class B misdemeanor with a fine of up to $500.

4. Debris That Hits Another Car

Hard debris that hits another vehicle counts as a separate load violation under Tennessee law.

Your noncommercial pickup is out of compliance when hard debris falls or blows off and touches another vehicle while you’re driving.

That holds even if you secured the load, since the statute applies this rule despite the pickup standard.

Because it’s a Class C misdemeanor, the fine for that violation is capped at $50, the same ceiling as the four-inch rule.

5. Chains on Log Loads

Log loads face a separate rule on trucks and tractor-trailers rated for more than three-fourths of a ton.

If you haul timber, pulpwood or logs on a truck or tractor-trailer that heavy, every length needs two chains rated at least three-eighths of an inch.

Cable or nylon strap equivalents are allowed.

If the logs themselves are longer than 35 feet, every length needs three chains or equivalents instead.

Owners, drivers and anyone else who controls the loading commit a Class C misdemeanor if the logs ride without those fasteners.

If you own the truck or run the loader, you can face that charge yourself.

A fine there tops out at $50.

6. When a Tarp Exemption Ends

Many bulk loads, including crushed stone, fill dirt, soil, bulk sand, asphalt and concrete, are exempt from the tarp rule.

The list goes further, naming coal, other building materials, forest products and unfinished lumber.

Your load only qualifies if you’ve loaded it at least four inches below the bed walls.

That exemption ends for any load when a law enforcement officer sees any part of the material blowing off your vehicle.

Then you’re back under the tarp rule, and the Class B penalty means a fine of up to $500.

A single sighting is enough.

Farm produce headed to market is exempt from both the tarp rule and the four-inch rule.

The tarp rule also exempts produce moving from field to field or from field to storage.

Owner and Driver Liability

Under Tennessee’s four-inch load rule, the charge goes to the hauler, a term the law stretches to cover both the owner and the driver.

The two are jointly liable, so if you lend your truck to a friend, you could both be on the hook.

Only one fine is imposed on a hauler, whether the owner, the driver or both paid it.

The paying party can then recoup the fine from whoever produced or loaded the material, either in whole or in line with that party’s share.

Littering Charges

A load that sheds litter can bring you a littering charge on top of the other Tennessee load rules.

Tennessee’s littering law lets a judge or jury infer that the driver littered whenever litter is placed, dropped or thrown from a motor vehicle.

Littering starts with knowingly dropping litter on property without permission and not removing it right away.

The penalty grows with the amount you drop.

Up to five pounds of litter is a Class B misdemeanor with a $500 fine.

Between five and 10 pounds is criminal littering, also a Class B misdemeanor.

More than 10 pounds, or any amount littered for a commercial purpose, is aggravated littering, a Class A misdemeanor.

Past 100 pounds, a court can fine you $2,500 to $4,000, a range that tops the usual Class A cap.

Recycling and Energy Recovery Trips

Tennessee’s tarp rule changes with your destination when you haul recovered materials or litter.

A vehicle hauling recovered materials to a convenience center or scrap dealer for recycling is exempt from the tarp rule.

Haul litter to an energy recovery facility instead, and a tarp isn’t enough for a vehicle under 16,000 pounds.

That vehicle needs an enclosed space, unless it has a factory-installed hydraulic lift that raises the entire bed.

Skipping the enclosed space brings the same Class B penalty, with a fine of up to $500.

Reporting an Uncovered Load

If you spot littering from a vehicle, including an uncovered load, you can report it through the Tennessee Department of Transportation’s (TDOT) litter hotline.

The hotline asks for the license plate number.

For a Tennessee-plated vehicle, TDOT sends the registered owner a reminder letter that explains how to contain litter.

Uncovered loads matter to that program because 53 percent of roadside litter comes from negligent or unsecured loads rather than deliberate dumping, by TDOT’s count as NewsChannel 9 reported it.

The Nobody Trashes Tennessee campaign says the state’s roadways have more than 88 million pieces of litter at any moment.