Runaway Truck

Ive only driven in the plains so I have no idea what steep grades are like in a truck. For curiosities sake, I am wondering what he did wrong other than taking the grade too quick. Was it his braking techniques that caused the fade or just speed alone?

 

I wonder if he had this classic song playing in the ol' 8 track???

 

He was in too high of gear, he should have hit the brakes and downshifted early and let the jakes hold him back.

 

could he have come to a stop on this hill if he had not heated his brakes?

 

A pro could stop,
I'll head east over Mount Eagle tomorrow. 45 mph speed limit for trucks, I'm 78,000 pounds so I'll go down it at 30 ish mph.
If I need to stop anytime going down I should be able to.
(But then I could let it roll and run down it at 65 to 85 and probably be ok as long as nothing happened)

 

He might have weak or no jakes.
Warped drums.
Brakes out of adjustment.
Trailer does more smoking then the truck.
Obviously speed was a factor. But the beginning of the video looks like he's going somewhat slow.

 

They don't make Dodges like they use to

 

Scaring thing to witness for sure. I know it's in Mexico but it looked like Oregon for a second until the lines over the highway and the red checkers before the escape ramp.

 

The cause was going too fast, and the engine (with or without engine brake) did not prevent the truck from INCREASING SPEED.

The mistake the driver made was to continue going down at too high a speed. That meant he kept braking until the brakes faded and he was runaway. He should have braked down the moment he realized the engine didn't have enough holding power, downshifted about three gears, and continued down with the engine holding the truck back. Or even stopped and started over from first.

Truck brakes (properly adjusted) work fine, even on a steep hill, and will stop even a heavy truck very nicely. Once or twice.

 

Yea they quit smoking when they caught fire. You can see them burning in the video. Fires smoke the most just before ignition.