Truck Driver Killed by his load 4-22-16

The only thing I can think of that might have stopped this from happening is to put eyelets on the side of the steel to run chains through. I agree he should have never used straps on steel but then even if he had used chains only, I doubt very seriously they would have stopped those beams from shifting. Metal to metal is as slick as water on glass. A headboard on the trailer might have slowed them down but probably not stopped them.

 

Figure a way to gut wrap it. Aint always easy.

 

A bra. Yeah, it's a cool idea. Probably something like this already exists in the military....for some reason.

 

It exists for trucks.

 

Loaded out of Steel Dynamics in Columbia City, In yesterday. And once again this thread entered my mind during securement . Left with X chains on front of the beams.

 

A movable head board on the trailer that was strong enough would be good. But it would have to be movable so the load was tight against it before you secured the load. The idea being, if the load never begins to move, it'll never move. Even an aluminum bulkhead would stop almost anything if the load was tight against it. Used to haul a lot of "greasy bars". Absolutely smooth and oiled to boot. You could tighten them up every way you want and still get bars in the middle of the bundle to telescope out by hand. Put a simple stacked bulkhead of oak 4x4's tight against them and they'd never move a speck.

 

By the time y'all are done, we'll need a 2nd truck to follow us around carrying all of the equiment we "MIGHT" occasionally find useful, and we'll have so many weight exemptions for every little thing that the coops will waste more time trying to figure out which exemptions you're qualified to claim and how that extra weight ought to be distributed that it'll be one huge fustercluck every time you run up on an open scale.

It isn't rocket science. Secure the load. Be aware of what's going on around you. Don't allow yourself to be put in a situation where you've got to apply more braking force than you think your load can withstand. If you insist upon driving down the road with your head up your butt, there's no amount of securement in the world that will keep you safe. 99% of safety happens between your ears.

 

I really don't think anyone is suggesting alternative or additional securement methods as an excuse to drive poorly, nor do I believe that every driver who has been killed from behind had his head up his butt.

The driver that this thread pertains to is dead, and I find it both compelling and respectful to discuss means by which his death might have been avoided.
It is impossible to say where "his head was" at the time, but either way, I don't see bouncing some ideas around on how one could improve things as ignorance.

The line as I see it is this:

If the load comes loose from an accident, or from simply braking the truck hard.
Simply, if you have been driving (anything) for any amount of time, then you know that no matter how sound your head is, and how good your technique is, that emergency stops happen.
Now you may be the best driver ever put on this earth, and you may jackknife, and recover, and skid sideways over the patch of ice, and avoid the cliff where no other driver could, but what good is it if a 30' sewer pipe takes your head off anyway?
Shouldn't there be some expectation that the securement of the load is stronger than the braking force of the truck?

That is where I see the line. Securement vs Brakes.

Not going over Niagra Falls, not going into opposing traffic, not jackknifing, or even rolling.
Simply... can you lock up your brakes and be sure the load doesn't end up on the hood? I think that's a reasonable expectation even for the most keen of drivers, just as much as not having anything else fall off the truck under 100% braking.

Is that realistic? Perhaps not, but I don't see discussing trying to get as close as possible as a topic for the delusional.

Cheers!