When Regulations are in Question

Well that's not true. I've worked for ARCO for many years now and my father started there in 1954 when it was Richfield. In all that time there are only 2 drivers for the company that I know of that lost their lives. I would know since my father worked himself up from driver to safety engineer and he would tell me of all the accidents. Sure there's been plenty of rollovers and other accidents with some major injuries but only two fatalities and both of them were not the drivers fault.

One major reason is the design of the trucks. Next time you see a gasoline tanker take a look and see how the're oval and not round. The main reason for this is when the tank rolls on it's side they have a harder time of rupturing. Just like when you drop an egg on it's end. Also the driver wants to always keep the tanks as safe as possible. You either have the tanks vapor rich or product rich. That means you don't let any air into the tank to make an explosive atmosphere. There are compartments on the tank that are sealed from each other so there's hardly any surge on the truck. Unloading is where the most hazards are, because of the public and I could go on with many stories about stupid moves people make, and there again you have to take extra precautions.

You have to always remember what's behind you and drive a little different. My company has had good driver trainers for years and since 1993 or so they brought in the Smith System. We use this system everyday and talk about it once a month at our safety meetings. One thing that has helped is the company pays us very well for safe driving and it could be as much $4000 extra a year. Another is we are paid by the hour so there's no sense in getting into a hurry.

I'm no expert on gasoline hauling but I have been trained by whom I consider pros. Some of the drivers have 30 years of safe driving and their reputations are on the line just like mine was. Like someone else here has said, the name of the company is all over the truck and it's like a moving advertisement. People like to call the company and complain that one of our trucks was on the surface streets and going way too fast. I've had three calls myself and my clockchart proved every time I was driving below the speed limit. It's just when the public sees 85' of truck and trailer and it's bouncing making noise (because it's empty) they think it's going too fast.

I hoped this helped. However, there are bad companies and bad drivers no matter where you go. The key is to pull togther and correct the problems so YOUR job is easier. If we saw a driver that was unsafe we would confront him togther and if it was a driver from another company pulling our product we would get him locked out from out loading racks.

I'm retired now and this has been the best driving job I could ever wish for. But that was due to a company that trusted their drivers and treated us as assests. When it came to safety the driver had the last word if the truck was safe to drive. I never saw a driver get into trouble if he took a truck to the shop and had to give a load or two away.

 

I'm sorry but you're going to have to show me where one gasoline tanker has gone "Boom". I can show you where many have caught fire but a MASSIVE BOOM is something the news people report.

 

They don't go Boom but they do burn violently. The trick is to keep air away from the product. I just hoped by my explanation you'd have a better understanding of what happens in a fire. But that doesn't mean you should stand around and watch, in fact that blur you see is me running away!