Truck Driver Killed by his load 4-22-16

I will say my .02 since I have hauled this type of fabricated painted/coated steel many times. The shipper sometimes leave gaps per tier cause of the coating. I will right away that I can NOT haul it with the gap. Either to fix it(make sure there is no gaps and protection if they don't want the coating scratch), or I'm not hauling it. Dont forget that sometimes the loader might be new loading and is just doing what management (Pencil pushers) tell them. So I always explain to the loader why it has to be loaded a certain way with no gaps.
And I push for chains 99% of the time with softeners. If they strictly want straps only, I will sometimes even have to use several softners in the middle besides the corners, making sure there no steel edges touching the straps. Also, I twist all my straps to keep them from vibrating/humming during transport. On loose pieces in the middle, that won't secure properly, I have use some kind of dunnage/wood chuncks and strap over the top to keep it secure. Forget to mention, also belly wrap each tier which has been said here already. Hope all this makes sense cause I even lost myself trying to explain it. Bottom line, it's all common sense stuff, you just don't throw your chains or straps over your load and leave, you have to get on top of each layer and make sure there are nothing loose. Maybe that is why we get the big bucks instead of the door slammers.........

 

Loaded a set of trains with 90,000 pounds of bar steel in 10 bundles on Thursday. A trainee was driving it back to the yard (he has 18 years driving experience, so that I wasn't worried about, and I was just giving him the company crash course on policy expectations for securement) but I had to throw a couple more straps on this one after remembering these pictures. Was a little unsettling not being in control of that.

 

When I did flatbed, I used to HATE these kinds of loads.

The shippers, because they did not want scratches in the paint on the beams, would make you use nothing but straps. I'd pad the heck out of the straps and put about twice as many on as specified for load securement by the DOT, but they would still worry me half to death the whole time I was driving.

There is no way you can secure beams like this from sliding forward, because you're not allowed to use chains on them. I'd build myself a little headache barrier on the trailer, using 4x4s and chains, but that would only help to stop the lower portion of the load from sliding forward. Not the top of the load, which is the more dangerous part of it.

In addition, those kinds of beams are heavy enough (the steel ones), that if you had one of those aluminum bulkheads on the front of the trailer, it wouldn't make any difference. So maybe, after this man has been tragically killed, some new policies for required securement for painted beams, may be coming down the pipe.

Until then, all you can do is put as many straps as will fit, and act like there is ice on the road, adjusting your following distances accordingly.

 

I have had similar loads not allowed to chain so I put x straps on the front pulling back with felt pads or something to keep it from getting cut don't like doing it that way but it's better than nothing

 

There is a very simple solution...just drive in reverse. That way, if you have to stop quickly the load shifts AWAY from you.

 

I agree with everything you've said 100%, Diesel Dave. There is one problem with it, however - where these painted steel beams are concerned, at least.

I picked up a lot at this fabrication company down in Houston - over on the east side on US 90. If you've been there, then you probably know where I am talking about.

When I'd show up, the trailer I was picking up was already loaded. I didn't have the option of directing how I wanted it loaded (short of going inside and demanding that the trailer be unloaded and loaded again - which would have gone over like a lead balloon!). In addition to that, the beams often had these odd flanges on them all over the place, weird angular pieces with bolt holes through them, for apparently where they were supposed to be bolted onto an existing structure. Moreover, many of the beams came in a large variety of sizes. Often times because of this, I could not even see daylight through the side of the beams, much less have any hope of getting a strap through them for belly-wrapping.

What I did was put as many straps as I could over the load. The load was sixteen-feet long, front to back, and about seven feet high off the deck of the trailer. It was situated on the rear of the trailer (there was the other part of the load on the trailer's front). When I got done, I had eleven straps over it. It was all I was able to fit, due to tire position under the trailer, and spools and stake pocket positions under the rub rail. It was the best I was able to manage with it. I was still worried as heck about it.

I finally finished and then got the front part strapped (which was smaller and not quite so dangerous) and headed out with the load. As I was leaving Houston, a pile-up happened right in front of me. A speeding 4-wheeler raced down my left, lost control and careened off of the K-Barrier in the middle and struck two other cars. I was forced to slam on my brakes as hard as I could. When I did, I just knew the back part of my load was done for. I knew it was all going to come forward, explode in all directions off of the trailer, and that likely somebody was going to get killed by it.

Lo and behold though, the load did not come off of the trailer. It slid forward, its top especially - which slid forward by about a good three feet. But every strap I had on it held. They angled forward, but they held the load. I simply couldn't believe it.

So the moral of the story is, if you got one of these loads, get every strap you can over it. This prefab steel is murder. Often times you can't get straps through to belly-wrap it because you can't even see through it!

All told, I had used eighteen straps over this load (I was able to fit seven on the part on the front of the trailer). They saved my caboose. It took well over two hours to get all those straps on. But my motto always was when I was doing flatbed, was that 'Lazy is a Killer'.

 

Looks like a bluescope load. Never seen a driver use chains on those. They're usually loaded poorly. I always had to climb on top, and check every nook and cranny for loose boards. The frames(beams) have tabs on them. Straps are plenty good on these loads, as long as you place them correctly. These loads are usually pretty light as well. Usually they're too tall to use chains.

 

What about a Soft headboard made out of heavy straps that could be raised in front and wrapped over the top edge and than strapped or chained towards the back to absorb the load.

Could put some Kevalar on the part that is exposed to the steel to prevent being torn by the sharp steel.

 

A lot of things could be done, one reckons. Crossing straps in front of a load is always a good idea, but only on the kinds of loads that make it practical. Loads of bags or shingles, for instance. You just couldn't do it with these kinds of steel loads.

Steel girders, even the unpainted ones, have always been very dangerous. You can belly wrap them or pipe-chain them to try to prevent forward movement. But in the end, there is absolutely nothing that you can do. All you can do is put lots of chains or straps over them (and hopefully through them - on one of those loads you can belly-wrap) and then do everything you can to maintain good following distance, and of course, control your braking speed.

There is not a bulkhead made that can stop 44,000-plus-pound loads of steel from coming forward if you have to brake too hard.

I think what you're talking about though, if I'm reading you right, is a kind of catch-net in front of the load made of a very strong material. Something like that could work, one supposes - but get shippers/receivers/trucking companies to pay for it. Something like that would be incredibly expensive - you're talking about ultra tough weaves, and even KEVLAR. Just a KEVLAR vest costs anywhere from $100 to $500. Imagine then making something big enough to wrap around the front of an eight-foot wide by eight-foot high load of steel beams. You'd be looking at a minimum of ten grand probably, for such a thing. Now multiply that by every load/every truck in your fleet.

Nope, not unless a law comes along that mandates it, it is something these people are just not going to want to spring for.