Oversized load scrapes Asphalt (1 Viewer)

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Jul 31, 2014
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I watched this video this morning... Weird...

Anyway, I don't see the big problem people are making about it. So what, the road got a bit scratched up, who cares. The roads where I live look even worse and big trucks like the one in the video don't even come here.

Anyway, the only real argument the people in the toxic YouTube comment section make is that they used the wrong trailer for this job and I agree with them. This trailer's way too low.
 

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Being an oversized hauler myself I can see several key mistakes.

1, while the trailer may seem to be the easy thing to blame, it is not. The trailer is the right equipment for the job, I have hauled similar tubes with similar trailers because the standard pole trailers cannot support the weight of the load as easily. Now I am not saying you can't use pole trailers or other types it is more cost efficient and accepted to use the lowboys.

2, his first major mistake was allowing his trailer to drift into the dirt and thus off the road which meant his lowboy is now lower than the roadbed. A simple way to avoid this was to place a pilot car ahead of you in the turn to stop any incoming cars and place a second on the road you are turning onto to do the same thus allowing you to use the entire road the turn on.

3, his second major mistake was hiring a pilot company who didn't do their homework, also the truck driver should always verify routes himself to ensure all laws are followed and proper authority is notified. In this case it appears the pilot cars were inadequately prepared for this intersection and probably worse, didn't warn the driver of the truck that his tandems were off tracking into the dirt and thus off the road, which they should have done.

4, just because other trucks ahead of you made it doesn't always mean you will. I think this driver got a bit cocky and tried to one up the other drivers by turning shorter or flying blind, i.e without proper setup ahead of time with pilot cars strategically located to stop traffic.

Whatever happened here, it is mostly human error not equipment failure or inadequate equipment that played into this situation here.
 
Jul 31, 2014
215
25
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4, just because other trucks ahead of you made it doesn't always mean you will. I think this driver got a bit cocky and tried to one up the other drivers by turning shorter or flying blind, i.e without proper setup ahead of time with pilot cars strategically located to stop traffic.

Worst part of it is that another truck tried to make this turn too just after they'd all seen that it isn't possible to make the turn. Oh well, they couldn't make a U-turn and go back either with these machines, so I guess they did the right thing.

 
In that case, assuming that route was the only option they had, i.e no other safer or more feasible route existed to their destination then they did in fact use the wrong equipment for the job. Those pilot cars should have picked up on the fact that it was a tight corner that would be better tackled using steerable tandems.

But that said, drivers still have a responsibility to identify dangers and overrule pilot cars as necessary. Had someone notified the proper DOT authority they would have received either a better route or trailer recommendations for that route.

I once took a tall load exceeding 17 feet tall and was 13 feet wide and was informed by the DOT authority that the route provided by my pilot cars was unauthorized, they gave me a route right through a big city of 160k people where they had set up a time (9am to 12pm) to get through, got 4 local cops plus a state trooper and 4 utility trucks to help me get through town. The utility trucks took down the power lines and moved the traffic lights while the local cops blocked traffic at the intersections. All because the rural road that the pilot cars chose had a narrow bridge and my load far exceeded the weight limits of that bridge. I no longer used that pilot car company and always verify my route with the operating DOT authority of every state and province I go through.
 
Being an oversized hauler myself I can see several key mistakes.

1, while the trailer may seem to be the easy thing to blame, it is not. The trailer is the right equipment for the job, I have hauled similar tubes with similar trailers because the standard pole trailers cannot support the weight of the load as easily. Now I am not saying you can't use pole trailers or other types it is more cost efficient and accepted to use the lowboys.

2, his first major mistake was allowing his trailer to drift into the dirt and thus off the road which meant his lowboy is now lower than the roadbed. A simple way to avoid this was to place a pilot car ahead of you in the turn to stop any incoming cars and place a second on the road you are turning onto to do the same thus allowing you to use the entire road the turn on.

3, his second major mistake was hiring a pilot company who didn't do their homework, also the truck driver should always verify routes himself to ensure all laws are followed and proper authority is notified. In this case it appears the pilot cars were inadequately prepared for this intersection and probably worse, didn't warn the driver of the truck that his tandems were off tracking into the dirt and thus off the road, which they should have done.

4, just because other trucks ahead of you made it doesn't always mean you will. I think this driver got a bit cocky and tried to one up the other drivers by turning shorter or flying blind, i.e without proper setup ahead of time with pilot cars strategically located to stop traffic.

Whatever happened here, it is mostly human error not equipment failure or inadequate equipment that played into this situation here.
As My Father Said after he had experience being an Awarded Retired Safety Inspector (he has many Certificates on his off-shore duties ) of Global Marine Drilling Company (GlobalStaFe Corporation), Noble Corporation and also in ENSIGN Energy Services; that every tool/equipment has a special purpose/use for every needs and always have the right inspector's guide/assistance or instructions before a worker do the actions.
 
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