Received ticket for ice falling off trailer in NJ

Discussion in 'Experienced Truckers' Advice' started by HardlyWorkingNeverHome, Jan 24, 2009.

  1. kwray

    kwray Medium Load Member

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    The equipment needs to change. Instead of having a flat roof, why not a crowned roof? The biggest problem isn't so much the snow, but when it melts and freezes later. So if the roof was crowned, melting snow would just run off. Also, electric heaters in the roof to melt accumulation would be a good idea too. It seems to me that more injuries and deaths will result from drivers removing ice from a trailer roof than would be caused by ice falling off. It has happened, and that is the reason for these new laws. I just think they're going in the wrong direction in addressing the problem, and may actually do more harm than good.
     
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  3. truckerdave1970

    truckerdave1970 On Probation

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    not trying to offend!

    Crowned roofs?
    will weight, complexity and expense to the trailer. who gets to pay for that? Given the way the indusrty has gone the last 30 years, I'm guessing it wont be the shippers!

    Heated roofs?
    again, complexity and expense! not to mention who gets nailed when the roof heater malfunctions and a trailer full of Haz-Mat catches fire and someone gets hurt???

    As faras drivers falling off the roof and getting hurt or killed, WHO CARES???
    Certainly not the #######es that have been passing laws the last 30 years!
    As is plain by the way we are classified by the govt (unskilled labor) and maligned by the media and public as outlaw killers and drug users and treated and paid by our employers as indentured servants, WE ARE THE MOST EXPENDABLE AND EASIEST TO REPLACE SEGMENT IN TRUCKING, YET WE ARE THE ONLY PEOPLE ACTUALLY DOING THE WORK AND SHOULDERING ALL THE LIABILITIES!!!
    Sorry short rant!
     
  4. Peanut Butter

    Peanut Butter Road Train Member

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    Actually a crowned roof isnt a far fetched idea in my book, the center of the top could be 1 inch higher and slope to the sides, that would be just enough for water to run off and not freeze. could be a big help for refers and dry vans.
     
    kwray Thanks this.
  5. kwray

    kwray Medium Load Member

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    That's all it takes is an inch or so. What's so complex about that? Most railcars have a crowned roof. Heating systems may not be all that practical as it would take a LOT of current to heat 450 odd square feet of surface, and maybe not such a good idea for hazardous materials.
     
  6. Hardlyevr

    Hardlyevr Road Train Member

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    if you crown the roof 1 inch are you going to raise all the bridges an inch too? Or it the top of the crown is 13'6", how will you make up for the cube that you have lost?
     
  7. kwray

    kwray Medium Load Member

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    Crowned trailer roofs is a standard that should have been introduced from the beginning. Since the way things are done now is the way it has been done for years, it is unlikely to happen any time soon. For the most part, the top three or four inches of inside height is wasted space anyway. So you really wouldn't lose any cube that you're not using anyway, except that losing inside door height would make unloading taller pallets difficult. In some cases, like temperature controlled warehouses, a low door may not compress the dock seal properly to prevent temperature loss. Bridge clearances are a potential problem. But with all the factory closings the last few years a lot of the plants in older downtown areas are closing. Whatever businesses that are moving into local areas are for the most part occupying newly developed industrial parks in suburban areas, therefore one does not have to venture downtown and circumnavigate low clearances and route restrictions to access a lot of the newer factories and warehouses. The powers that be seem to be a little more forward thinking when it comes to zoning and urban planning these days, insofar as not locating industrial parks in areas where large trucks have to traverse residential areas. There are problems that would get in the way, but none of them are entirely insurmountable.

    So the reality is, crowned roofs probably won't happen in the near future. And even if it became a requirement, it wouldn't be a bad thing, but it probably wouldn't make much difference as far as saving lives because the kind of accidents it is intended to prevent are not a regular occurence anyway.
     
  8. aktundratugger

    aktundratugger Light Load Member

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    parking one side of your trailer group on a 2x4 will make it a shed roof without all the trouble and cost. do you really think that will help?
     
  9. Sly Fox

    Sly Fox Road Train Member

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    aktundra, that's not a bad idea for when you're parking a trailer when you know it will get warm enough to melt (such as a drop yard). But, if iti snows 4" overnight and it's 25-deg when you wake up to drive, that won't really help.

    As for crowns on the roofs, you can still flare the end of the trailer so the doors match up with the traditional 13'6 height.
     
  10. blanco

    blanco Road Train Member

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    How about this. http://reviews.homedepot.com/1999/1...radiant-floor-warming-mat-reviews/reviews.htm

    Seems to be small and can be removed when summer season hits. I would try to find a 12volt warming mat. Or use the bows of the trailer to put a heater element there and use the trailer lights wiring to warm it up. Kinda like a rear window defroster.

    Drawbacks include trailer fires as been explained due to malfunctioning heaters.
     
  11. runawayload

    runawayload Light Load Member

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