Gas Tanker Throwing Sparks

Not much..... Was probably a cap or dust cover both are usually chained to trailer. So they don't disappear ...

Tanks are supposed to be vapor tight..... But who knows for sure..?

 

Or it was chains intentionally dragging on the ground for the sake of allowing static electricity buildup to discharge into the roadway. When you're hauling something as volatile as gasoline, that's sort of an issue to take into account.

 

that statement is so far off base not even funny everything on a fuel tank is aluminum so if something made of iron was dragging and sparking it was a BIG mistake

 

I thought chains may have been a misnomer on the OPs part. Our AC and diesel tankers had a contact to the ground (although it wasn't an iron chain... looked more like the flat strips used for grounding out electrical systems in vehicles), plus we used these when unloading them. Somehow, I let the throwing sparks bit slip by me. But that's what I thought he might've been talking about. My mistake.

 

Lots of tankers drag metal behind. Not a chain. Mission Petroleum has them on all their fuel tankers in DFW area. Flat , somewhat flexible piece that contacts ground. Witching Hour was right on and very observant.

 

Yep, it keeps static electricity from building up on the trailer.

 

I agree with you, I think he left a cap off or the chain to a cap had come loose and dragging.

 

A proper grounding strap, which hazmat tankers hauling flammable materials frequently use should be made of a woven conductor like copper that shouldn't spark. If it was a dragging fuel cap, it would be made of aluminum, no spark. There was something dragging and sparking that should not have been. There shouldn't be sparks coming from any vehicle much less a gasoline tanker.