Flatbedder Killed by Shifting Load in Kansas City

I always felt that trucks were built for the load, and with little regard to driver safety when it came to the cab/sleeper area. With the technology we have out there today, there must be some savvy people who could come up with some sort better crush protection in case of situations like this.

My prayers go out to this man and his family.

 

It would have to be in the form of a "headache rack" design which is already being done if they choose to pay the price. To do what would be necessary to help in certain forward load shift situations, too much weight would be added to the truck that would be too much for all the others who are not concerned with flatbed freight and it's issues. Headache racks are not perfect and not 100% effective in every possible situation but they do help and they are available.

Occupant safety and weight/cost consideration is always a series of compromises, whether we're talking about passenger cars, commercial aircraft, or big trucks

 

Yeah...... I fully understand what you are saying. Was just throwing it out there for thought. Sad.

 

Hi Retired, safety always takes a back seat and is usually addressed to "after the fact". Two other examples are auto racing and farming. I worked on a farm for a while and was horrified by the dangers that existed there. The guy I worked for was almost killed when a loaded hay wagon with no brakes began to roll. The way to stop it, get this, was to jam the tongue into the dirt. When he did that, the tongue snapped, hitting him in the chest, and then the wagon rolled over him.

 

[QUOTE="semi" retired;4471843]Hi Retired, safety always takes a back seat and is usually addressed to "after the fact". Two other examples are auto racing and farming. I worked on a farm for a while and was horrified by the dangers that existed there. The guy I worked for was almost killed when a loaded hay wagon with no brakes began to roll. The way to stop it, get this, was to jam the tongue into the dirt. When he did that, the tongue snapped, hitting him in the chest, and then the wagon rolled over him.[/QUOTE]

Oh yeah........some of my crazy farmer friends did foolish things with equipment. I had my own share of 'frights" while logging. Some of the angles the skidder was on (hills) while twitching logs scared the beejesus out of me..........(just had to do it sometimes. The cable was only soo long) The Navy seemed like a good place to go after a while.

 

When you get smushed like that there's a few seconds you are still alive until your organs bleed out from mass hemorrhaging. Terrible way to go considering your last thoughts. RIP driver.

That red volvo pic was of a sliding tarp system. NOT A TRUE BULKHEAD. (Oops off with capslock) A cabshield is just for hanging chains and equipment. For it to stop any freight it would need some heavy bracing on a 45 degree angle to the frame and would take up more frame space. Not practical.

 

If the trailers had a bulkhead on the front with a reinforcing cable on each side going from the top of the bulkhead to the rear and down to the trailer side rail at a 45 degree angle and had a quick detach pin so you could move the cable out of the way to load cargo I think it could prevent a lot of these deaths.

 

That's actually a conestoga bulk head. You can see the rubber around the edges and the rub rail has a track bolted to it. Notice no DOT tape on the trailer. I agree a 45K coil with enough go will go through anything. I see it everyday in the mills, people get relaxed and it only takes one time and it's over. The minute you loose respect for your equipment or load it will loose respect for you. Good lesson to the motoring public about safety around commercial vehicles as well, that's what the news should be also talking about. You know if the truck caused an accident they would be throwing around all kinds of dooms day stats about trucking. RIP

 

Wow... Ouch.