[Heel n Toe]

It's baffling to me why painters or painters' helpers wouldn't want to take the time to secure buckets of paint in the back of a truck... if it turns over and spills, that's a loss. Paint isn't cheap. Plus, then you have to take the time to go back to buy paint to replace it.

Another thing that would help is to make it against the law to drive a pickup with the tailgate down. Maybe if you have a huge load of 10 ft. long lumber in there and it's well-secured somehow, but otherwise, the gate should be up.

Lots of yahoo's think that with the tailgate down, there's less wind resistance and they get better gas mileage. Somebody like Car & Driver or Road & Track did a wind tunnel study and it found that's not the case; having the gate up actually cuts down wind resistance by acting like a wicker bill... above 35 mph, it greatly reduces turbulence by trapping a bubble of air in the back of the bed, letting air flow smoothly over the tailgate.

I guess we should all try to get our state legislature to pass a law saying the gate should be up unless a certain type of load is being hauled.

One more consideration; even if the tailgate is up, a spilled 5-gallon bucket can leak out the lower corner of the bed.

Maybe a large enough fine for paint spilled on a roadway will get people's attention.