Yes indeed I like your thinking!
I suppose another way to rationalise it is- the area between the 2 spreaders does not support any mass from above. As mentioned though the boards/pallets have to be of sufficient strength for their dimensions to displace the load imparted evenly over their surface without flexing otherwise you're creating a point load under the part of the board that has the cargo directly above it.
Maybe to be really picky you should add the mass of the spreaders into the mix if on the limit? Not sure about that one though! Thinking about this also if you rachet strap down to vickers rings onto the edge of the maindeck you're effectively adding pressure to the load which is imparted on the floor. Unless strapped directly to a pallet? Don't know again. One again for the loadies. They seem like magicians to me, glad we have them.
Last edited by Wireless; 7th Mar 2014 at 21:48.