On the topic of safety... When I was a young man, I thought I was the 2nd coming of Mario Andretti. I drove at or above the speed limit whenever weather conditions allowed, and prided myself on how well I could handle my car. I kept it well maintained, and absolutely thought I was a safe driver.
I went on to become a helicopter pilot in the US Army. I graduated at the top of my flight-school class, and simply by observing others flying, I realized that I was a much better pilot than others in my circle of contacts. While still a fairly junior officer, I was selected by my commanding officer to become a flight instructor, and was sent to the instructor pilot course, where I again graduated at the top of my class.
Can you say "Big Head?" Of course, I "knew" I was a better pilot than the other guys in my unit. Just as I "knew" I was a better driver than 95% of the other drivers on the road. Which in my mind, justified the fact that I broke the speed limit, and thoroughly enjoyed driving in the mountains going around curves "much" faster than the "posted" safe speeds. It was "safe" because I had the superior reflexes, skills, and equipment to make it safe.
One day, returning from a trip to the Tennessee mountains, I stopped for gas, and I overheard a conversation between two "old geezers"... They were complaining about how every darn driver on the road thought he was the best driver on the road... I was thinking to myself - "You know, that's right. Most of those drivers out there are really lousy drivers. If I wasn't such a good driver, I'd have probably had lots of accidents by now."
It suddenly struck me: "Hey, wait a minute! I'M ONE OF THOSE DRIVERS WHO THINKS HE'S THE BEST DRIVER ON THE ROAD! What if I'm not? How would I know? What if I'm really right in the middle of the "average" range?" This was a life-changing epiphany for me. I left that gas station a changed man - literally.
I began to seriously assess not only my own skills, but the skills of those around me, and (follow me closely on this one) the impact of my driving on those who might not be as skilled. In other words, I started to think about how my actions and behaviors might impact other drivers, as well as how their actions and behaviors might impact me. I realized that my car might be well maintained and have the cornering capacity to make the curve at 10-15 mph above the posted speed, but the guy following me (who might be subconsciously matching my speed while zoning out listening to the radio) might have low tire pressure, or a bad shock absorber, and not be able to make the curve. Or, worse yet, he might be the guy coming the other way around the curve, drifting over a bit into my lane, forcing me to suddenly tighten the radius of my turn, and causing me to lose control... All sorts of possibilities opened themselves up to me as I began to consider the possibility that I might not be as good as I thought I was...
When I got back to my aviation unit, I assembled the 10 pilots I was responsible for training. I handed each of them a piece of paper with a numbered list from 1-10 down the left side. I asked each of them to "rank" all of the pilots in the group, from "best=1" to "worst=10". I promised them that no one besides themselves would see the list, and encouraged them to be as honest as they possibly could be.
When they were done, I announced that I had psychic abilities, and that I was 100% certain that each and every one of them had listed themselves in one of the top 2 positions. Every guy in the room turned a bit red in the face. I then asked them to consider something with me: If every one of them thought they were one of the top 2 pilots in the unit, could they all be right? Didn't it stand to reason that someone in the room was the worst pilot in the room? And someone was the 2nd worst, and so on? And that at least 80% of the people in the room had overrated their own abilities?
The room was dead silent, but I could see that I had gotten them to think about it, maybe for the first time ever... I then suggested that if they would keep this in mind when they were flying, they might be less likely to take an unnecessary risk, or to push the envelope to that last inch, or to accept a high-risk mission when they were aready overly tired, or ???
I shared with them that my greatest fear as an instructor pilot was being over-confident, and allowing the student pilot to get "us" into a situation where I could no longer take over the controls and recover without exceeding the limits of the aircraft or the pilot (me) in the process. And I explained that I tried to reduce that risk as much as possible by approaching those limits very slowly, and forcing the student pilot to do the same. There were things I could do in the helicoper when I was flying for myself that I could not allow the student pilot to do, because there was insufficient margin for error (his or mine) and subsequent recovery. I asked them to keep this thought in the back of their mind as they were flying. If they wouldn't want a pilot who was in the "bottom half" of the group to do it, maybe they should seriously reconsider doing it themselves? Because the odds were at least 50/50 that they themselves were, in fact, in the "bottom half" of the group in terms of piloting skills. Absolutely stunned silence from the group. I didn't say another word to them, just dismissed them for the day.
I was fortunate enough to stay in that unit for another 18 months. At some point during that time, each and every one of those guys thanked me for that discussion, and for helping them to realize that it was one thing to be confident, but quite another to be cocky. I told them "I owe it all to 2 wise gentlemen from Tennessee who educated me one summer..." (Notice how they got promoted from "geezer" to "wise gentlemen" over the course of my "education" period?)
What does any of this have to do with the original posting? Well, in my younger days, I would have probably helped load that truck, or even driven that truck - even on the highway. And I would have said "It's technically within the max load limits of the truck, and my superior reflexes and driving skills will ensure that I'll be safe doing so." And I might have been right about both things.
Nowadays, though, I would consider all the variables that go into making something "safe" to do, and I probably would neither drive the truck with that load, nor would I knowingly allow someone else to leave my place of business loaded like that. I would realize that it wasn't necessarily "unsafe" just to drive it, but that it would leave the driver with no "cushion" or "margin for error" if anything the least bit out of the ordinary happenned on his way home.
Today, I would do whatever it took to prevent someone from pushing the envelope that hard. I would encourage them to rent a trailer. If they refused, I would instead load it on my trailer, and pull it behind my truck to their place.
A human life (even that of a complete stranger) is worth more than my time and inconvenience. If that person were my customer, so much more so.
You might want to take off the 2000 pound box blade, for better balance or if you have to go on the interstate.