Under height for a utility is under height. Whether it is a street, parking lot, or private property. Almost every jurisdiction has building codes for utilities, as well as for structures.
Glad your company used common sense here.
Phone lines...
Discussion in 'LTL and Local Delivery Trucking Forum' started by MACK E-6, Jul 28, 2016.
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Taken out a phone or cable line pulling into a jobsite with a backhoe. Called dispatch and they said it was low so not my fault. Took down another phone/cable line on a residential road. Called my dispatch at the time who was bringing an oversized load down the same road. Told me to be careful on residential roads from now on.
However at my last company, I was doing an out of town run. Fueled up, then got a room for the night. Next morning, I get 10 minutes down the road and my truck dies, ran out of diesel. Had it in the shop the week before for a broken fuel gauge. Silly me assumed it was broken still since I just fueled up.
Company charged me like $1000 for a service call and the fuel. Left the company and they deducted $1000 from my final pay. Well Texas law is set up for the State to get back your final paycheck if an employer doesn't give you your final check. Won the judgement, the company appealed to be pricks, didn't show up to the appeal, got my money about 9 months later. -
Here is some useful information for anyone who may strike an overhead utility line, per the National Electric Code the minimum clearance over land permitted is 15.5 foot. I would argue with anyone who tried to hit me with a preventable for damaging these lines, unless you should have been able to see the lines were way below spec from a prior failure, but normal circumstances should not be the fault of the driver.
http://nyfb.org/img/topic_pdfs/file_j4dzhegksw.pdfBig Don Thanks this. -
Actually this could be argued either way . Was the utility line too low ....yes. BUT a driver should be alert enough to keep his vehicle from making accidental contact with ANYTHING.
And watching your overhead is pretty basic. That's why I said I was happy with my company's decision, but didn't necessarily agree with it.texasbbqbest Thanks this. -
Big Don, texasbbqbest and brian991219 Thank this.
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It can be quite nerve wracking and although I would like to say it is our job not to hit anything, sometimes it happens even when you are being diligent. I would hope any decent company would understand this and cut us some slack for things like power lines. It is actually very difficult to accurately judge vertical clearance from inside your cab, so it is easy to misjudge something that is supposed to be tall enough anyway. The difference between 15 foot and 13 foot when judged for a few hundred foot away will be almost impossible to distinguish, but the 13 foot could get you snagged.texasbbqbest Thanks this. -
Other than the big bees nest a couple months ago nothing .
Years ago in my county days while running a track hoe I went a little deep and took out a fibre optic cable going to offutt AFB ...that made me the center of attention real quik lolBig Don Thanks this. -
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Building codes probably vary state to state. Someone else stated 15 & ½ feet. In my state the minimum height is 14 feet for power and telephone lines that cross over public roadways.
Alleys and private parking lots is anyone's guess. Usually they hang substantially lower there since those areas usually are not frequented by tractor trailer traffic.
I get that some lines are prone to sagging over the years, and others were installed in areas there were never meant for big rig traffic.... But seriously... Would it really sink any utilitie/phone company if they strung their freakin lines up an extra two feet?
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