Question for Fuel Haulers and Railroad Crossings.

Well with any hazmat load if you fail to stop at any RR crossing you can kiss your license goodbye for a couple months...

 

It's a federal reg and isn't going away. Now if we could just do something about the people behind them that don't understand safe following distance and the meaning of brake lights.

 

I agree but that's the way it is. It would be nice if more of these heavier roads had traffic devices at busier crossings especially where they are low speed industrial tracks. No one wants to pay for them

 

I haul hazmat tanker, and I will usually hit the flashers well in advance of my stopping at a crossing to alert drivers behind me that something is about to change.
I always hate bringing traffic to a stop. I wish all the RR crossings had the turn-outs.

 

who ever driving that tank did not do it in a great advance. If it in that high speed of traffic. I would do it well well in advance and start to slow down gradually.

 

Personally, I hate that law of stopping in traffic. It seems pretty dangerous to me. Not only the traffic behind you, but once stopped, now your craaaaawling across the tracks. Depends on the situation, but I've seen some pretty short line of sight distances out there...without lights, just the crossbars.

On the flipside of that. The law was probably made for a reason...too many collisions from people trying to beat the train.

I do appreciate and feel there is a need for a separate "stop/acceleration" lane at each crossing.

 

I watched a school bus, loaded with elementary school students come to a stop at a railroad crossing on SR 56 west of Cedar City, UT. a few years ago. The big problem? The DAM FOOL DRIVER WAS IN THE HAMMER LANE!

 

I hate to throw a wrench in here but if asked the law states that NOT all R/R crossings need the truck to be stopped. If the crossing is controlled by a street light is one reason why. That means a red, yellow, and green light. These exceptions are all listed in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations Subpart B Driving of Vehicles 392.10. However regulation 392.11 requires all trucks to slow down no matter where it is.

When I took my road test for the gasoline company my big boss gave the test to me. He gets in and says lets go. I come up to a signal light controlled R/R crossing and I slow way down. Now I'm loaded up with a full load of gasoline and I look over at him and his eyes are big as baseballs. I just told him the law and he checked it and everything was cool.

However, later on he road with me again because he had to go right where I was going. He gets in and I say "Buckle up because I saw this maneuver on a cartoon and I think I can do it" He did think that was funny.

 

I'm a hazmat driver for Airgas and it is company policy to come to a full, complete stop at all rr crossings. No exceptions