Abstract: Upon his arrival at a construction site, a truck driver released the tie-down bindings on the top tier of a load of long steel girders. A second driver helped him reel in the bindings that were attached to winches mounted on the side of the first driver's flatbed trailer. The trailer was not equipped with siderails, and the top layer of cargo was insecure after the bindings were released. As the two drivers awaited the arrival of the material handler who would unload the trailer, they continued to retract the released bindings that had held the cargo in place. Two beams slid off the top tier, dropped over the side, and struck the drivers. Both beams struck one driver, who later died of his injuries in a hospital. The other driver suffered only a glancing blow to the head. He was treated at a hospital and released the same day.