Ice on trailer roof blows off and hits our car

As a professional chimney sweep, I am sure that the roofs you stood on were able to support your weight. In addition, I am sure you were able to secure yourself to the structure. Unless you weigh less than 80 lbs, you had better not walk on the trailer roof. Now, comes the comment you need to carry a ladder. WHERE?
Not to mention the equipment needed to push across the roof.

Now, next time you go down the road and a rock flies off your tires and damages a Walmart windshield, I am sure you would understand him flashing you and calling you to get you to pay for the damages. You probably do not even have mud flaps, so that increases your liability. If the rock shatters the windshield and the truck driver loses control, are you responsible?

As far as the empty trailer with the flashing light. The light is required because the law states it must be on the empty trailer due to the length.

Now, when I drive the ambulance, I do not worry about the strobe. Most 4 wheelers need the extra light to get their attention. You call it being considerate, when others think of safety.

 

So, if you cleaned off the top of your vehicle and missed a spot and then the ice flies off and hits my truck, you would have no problem with me chasing you down or calling you to fix the dent?

You would be surprised how much your tires throw up. I get more rock damage from a 4 wheeler than a truck. I had a wheel cover come off the 4 wheeler and it damaged the truck.
Call your insurance company and ask them if they would pay for it or not. Most will not and surely without proof and you telling them, they will deny it.

Where are you going to keep the ladder to use to climb up and clean the 5 foot area on each side per climb up. Can you imagine how much time you would have in cleaning this off. No, a garden rake will not break ice.

You have reached the big issue. A shipper will not have anything to do with the trailer. The company is held responsible and stuff runs downhill. So, they will then mark as preventable to the driver for not cleaning off the trailer, of which they will not pay for the driver to do, or provide the equipment needed.

As far as lights on the empty trailer. Ever heard of over length? Was it a normal flatbed?

I can see your concern, but welcome to the real world. There is very little a driver can do with it. Yet, you feel they must.

 

Some states have it into law that trailers must be free of ice and snow.But how do they suppose we clean the top of the trl.A yr ago cruising thru MN just before the twin cities a chunk of ice from the top of my trl boke loose and hit a Bronco,shattered the windshield.He just patiently followed me till I stopped..He wasn't mad.He knows things like this happen and unavoidable.

 

Pretty clever Bob.
If you didn't pull over, I assume you performed that task while driving.
Isn't that illegal?
Your attention would be distracted.
That would put the motorists around you at risk, --- a safety hazard.
A potential crash lookin' for a place to happen.

Yeah!
For starters, try bein' more considerate of your fellow motorists and Big truck truck drivers.
First you tell us that you were fiddlin' with your cell phone while drivin', now to compound that unsafe maneuver you admit that you were "driving home dead tired". Your ability to comprehend traffic situations and your ability to react to sudden changes in traffic were severely compromised.
A highway menace.

You're welcome.

Had you not been "dead tired" drivin' home you mighta figured that out and could have avoided the collision with the ice/snow that blew off the trailer top. Without proper rest the mind gets foggy and starts blaming others when it fails to recognize potentially dangerous situations in time to avoid what it should have anticipated before it occurs.

Hey!
You might be onto sumthin' there.
Have the gubmint form another agency consistin' of Big truck truck trailer top inspectors, --- and to back 'em up, a multi-task team of gubmint trained ice and snow removal technicians who would be tasked to perform the dangerous ice/snow removal process. Due to the extreme danger involved, it'd be necessary to compensate those brave individuals handsomely to attract 'em to the job, --- knowin' that many will forfeit their own life each year performing their assigned duties, all in the interest of public safety.
Of course, the cost of shippin' freight by Big trucks would rise appreciably, along with the prices consumers are charged for the products purchased retail. But what's a 50% hike in prices when safety is concerned? If just one life is saved every decade or so, it's well worth the cost, (includin' tax increases).

Yeah, ---
I hear ya there Bob.
That sure would tend to make a person appear pretty stupid.
Don't'cha know that'd be a hoot tryin' to explain the motive to a low-brow, knuckle-draggin' Big truck truck driver
like me ----->
Ya reckon.

No kiddin' ?!
I think I've seen some of your footage on U-Tube.
Dead Tired Highway Vampire Voldumbteers .... right?

With your vast experience you'd be a prime candidate for trainin' those ice/snow removal technicians for the gubmint.

Besides bein a' "wet and cold task", it'd be mega dangerous too. On the plus side though, you'd be a hero, and bein' a hero is a major chick magnet. I'm thinkin' Hollyweird would create a TV series drama based on true stories and a peek behind the scenes for human interest. No doubt you'd be an on-set technical adviser to assure reality is strictly adhered to.

Let the props department deal with the difference. They'll make it all look real. Hire stunt professionals as stand-ins for the dangerous scenes. Sure couldn't afford to lose any highly trained ice/snow removal technicians.

I can read the headlines already, ---
Concerned Citizen Takes On Multi-Billion-Dollar Wally*World Corporation Over Vehicle Damage.
Your photo would be on the front page of every newspaper in the country.
Bubble-Headed, bleach blond talkin' heads on the six-0-clock news would be readin' your name off the tele-prompter, languishin' extensively in regards to the personal sacrifice you're undertakin', --- and now a word from our sponsors.

What if a bear in the air drops a stale doughnut outta the plain brown wrapped flyin' machine while hooverin' over Denver? What if lightnin' strikes a housewife's hair curlers and ruins her perm? What if space aliens beam selected motorists up to their mother of a spaceship? What if cows could fly? What if all motorists were required to know how to share the roads with Big trucks? What if almost 80% of the crashes involving 4-wheelers and Big trucks were the fault of the 4-wheeler weren't true?

Why let Mother Nature off the hook?
She makes it snow and freezes water into ice.
Shouldn't she have to answer for that?

To see what you see would be quite a stretch for the imagination. :smt040
Borderline fantasy in reality.

Does that save the patient ridin' in back any money? I'm thinkin' that if they're payin' for all the lights, (and siren), that'd be cheatin' ' em outta the thrill of what could be the last ride of their life.
Simply unthinkably selfish.

"Considerate of other's" what?
This comment from someone who deprives passengers of their last rite to strobe lights?
Who could see that comin'?

That's a good point RM.
Safety Is No Accident.

"Allows" somethin' to happen? :smt108
Hmmmmm -----
Followin' that logic, why would you "allow" somethin' to hit and/or damage your vehicle? :smt102

So receivers share no culpability?
That ain't fair.

No.
The ice is on the roof, --- not on the sides.
Stay focused.

So, you're suggestin' that those lights should be as dim as some drivers? :smt115

You'd bet someone else's life on that assumption?

If I see your "(wig-wag)" approchin' me from the rear I'll be sure to change lanes pronto.
I sure wouldn't wanna impede your progression.
Do me a favor though?
Hit me with a couple of bursts from your strobe, -- an' I'll reply with a blast on my locomotive air horns.
Blink-Blink, --- Flash-Flash.
Y'all can bring 'er back over, Bob.:smt045
10-4?

:smt112
​

 

This brings forward a very interesting point.

Driving down the road in freezing rain, the trailer is going to ice up. As you go down the road, it will build up and then fly off.

Should the driver have stopped every few minutes to avoid the ice build up and removed the hazard?

 

Good point.

He has admitted to violating the state phone law.

Maybe we should call the state.

http://aliveat25.us/content/view/35/

 

Are you serious?

What about the cars caked with ice or snow?

 

You're right,its our responsibility.I was with Gainey,their insurance paid for it and nothing was shown on my DAC for it.In the winter I always make sure trl is free of ice and snow but I won't risk my safety trying to cean the top of the trl.