Bulldozer comes off of trailer, kills 2

[Midniteoyl]

Two people dead, 3 injured after bulldozer falls off tow truck flatbed, hits SUV in Ogden Canyon | Gephardt Daily

Two people are dead after an eastbound tow truck in Ogden lost the bulldozer it was hauling on its flatbed platform, and the bulldozer crashed into a westbound SUV.

gephardtdaily.com

Does not say if it was even secured to trailer

Story I read said it "broke free and slid.." so assumed it was tied down, just incorrectly? Who knows how accurate that is at the moment.

Authorities said the fatal accident happened at 12:49 p.m. Saturday after a tow truck carrying a mini bulldozer encountered a steep right-hand curve while driving on a highway. The steep turn reportedly caused the bulldozer to break free and slide off the tow truck toward Hendrickson's GMC pickup.

Utah father, daughter killed after bulldozer falls onto their truck: 'We are heartbroken'

A father, Richard David Hendrickson, and his 16-year-old daughter, Sally, were killed in a crash after a bulldozer fell on top of their vehicle in Utah.

www.foxnews.com

 

[5030]

I see a ton of insecured and unsecured loads going down the road every day. I missed my calling I guess. Should have been a DOT officer with extra ticket books.

Prior to retirement, the last 2 years I was 'promoted' to the company enforcement officer and I did a seminar on securement and I did large posters depicting the proper way to secure steel coils, sheets and bar stock and while I've been retired since I was 56 and I'm now 74, those posters are still prominently displayed in all the loading bays in all their plants. They have 5 plants covering Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Ohio. It was always an interesting job and it paid very well. Had a company car, expense account, company credit card and if I was on the road (which I was quite a bit), my meals were paid as well as my lodging and I never ate cheap or stayed in flea bags either.

Only person I answered to was the owner of the company and he always told me 'to make it right, which I always did.

Under the rear floormat in my Focus RS I still have the 2 magnetic signs stating 'Safety Officer' Most times I ran incognito but at an accident scene, they came out so LE knew who I was and who I represented. Had a few grisly accidents and one wrongful death and none of them were pleasant either and the one thing I really disliked was terminating someone and I did that more than one time. I always felt bad taking someone's lively hood from them. Got to do the random drug screens as well or at least I drew the name from the hat. The company I worked for had a zero tolerance for drugs and booze as well. It was a heavy industry company (steel processing).

The owner of the company sold out to someone else soon after I retired but, to this day, we remain good friends and go out to eat frequently and reminisce about old times.

Drivers today scare me. Overweight pigs driving in shorts and tee shirts. One thing for certain with me, when I pass any truck on the e-way, I get around them quick and I never linger.

If you ever get a chance to watch the You Tube 'Lucky Banana' do it. That guy knows what he's doing 100%. All business all the time. Great channel.

 

[KCTractors]

Yeah, during hay season it is not uncommon to see MANY bales on the sides of the roads. I don't see why just because they are farmers they get a free pass on public safety. Another one that scares the crap out of me are the log trucks, stacked/balanced above the stands, leaning to one side or the other and using what looks like 5/16 chain. Knowing how many of them don't care about anything I have little doubt whatever chain they are using is the cheapest they could lay their hands on. I have yet to ever see any of them checked or inspected.

Those 5/16" chains have to be Grade 7 and have a marking every foot on the chain. If you can not see the marking, that is a illegal chain. Dot will check the chains. I have hauled pulpwood, logs and lumber for 33 years. Dot watches stick-haulers like a hawk.

 

[Lineman North Florida]

Yeah, during hay season it is not uncommon to see MANY bales on the sides of the roads. I don't see why just because they are farmers they get a free pass on public safety. Another one that scares the crap out of me are the log trucks, stacked/balanced above the stands, leaning to one side or the other and using what looks like 5/16 chain. Knowing how many of them don't care about anything I have little doubt whatever chain they are using is the cheapest they could lay their hands on. I have yet to ever see any of them checked or inspected.

Come to Florida the State and DOT lawmen wear them old boys driving log trucks out, mostly for being overweight.

 

[WinterDeere]

Loads should be strapped or chained down well enough, that if gravity were to suddenly reverse, the load would still stick to the trailer.

Like this guy. This dude knows how to strap down a load.



I'm interested to see the follow-up reports, but fully expect the restraints were either undersized or non-existent. I've seen a few heavy equipment haulers towing totally unsecured excavators and dozers on local roads, thinking gravity will do the job.

 

[RjCorazza]

I've never hauled a dozer, but I suspect the metal tracks on a metal deck was a factor in addition to not being adequately chained down.
I am assuming the rollback was a metal deck, but I don't think that its been established what the transport vehicle was.

 

[5030]

You NEVER use straps on steel unless absolutely necessary and only then with rubber edge protectors because steel can and will abrade straps and cause them to sever. When I was hauling steel, the ONLY time it was strapped was when hauling tubing because tubing has no sharp edges. However, when hauling tubing. the load must have a 'bulkhead' at each end to prevent the tubing from sliding forward or backwards. We used to haul brass alloy rounds to Weatherhead in Indiana. That stuff is inherently slippery and must be bulkheaded at both ends.

 

[John0829]

Those 5/16" chains have to be Grade 7 and have a marking every foot on the chain. If you can not see the marking, that is a illegal chain. Dot will check the chains. I have hauled pulpwood, logs and lumber for 33 years. Dot watches stick-haulers like a hawk.

I have yet to see a log hauler checked. There are times the chains are so small you can barely see them and I wonder if they are not smaller than 5/16. I ain't stoppin to check. I stay as far away as possible from them and pucker up when meeting one, going out of my way to avoid roads they are on as much as possible.

Come to Florida the State and DOT lawmen wear them old boys driving log trucks out, mostly for being overweight.

NOT in Kentucky, you never see a log truck being checked by DOT. In fact you never see DOT anywhere except the 4 lane highways.

Also in Ky. they are not DOT, they are Kentucky Vehicle Enforcement. I learned this after I was almost killed on the 4 lane by a semi driver paying more attention to the dog in the cab with her than where she was going. The officer made it CLEAR to the driver they were not DOT after she called them that twice. Funny story behind that but to long to go into here.

 

[plowhog]

I have taken pictures of transport coming in with their loads not even secured,

I followed a big rig / car hauler full of junked wrecked vehicles on Interstate 80 a few years ago. Various parts were falling off the wrecked vehicles and then skidding down the freeway in trail. I had to dodge several parts.

After one large chunk of sheet metal flew off the truck I called the Highway Patrol and reported it. At that time the truck was nearing the inspection station entering Nevada.

 

[Paystar]

Here is the sad reality folks. The large mega fleets cry in the media and to the gov about the "driver shortage"
In reality it is because many of the violation free professionals have quit the industry due to things like gov over regulation, poor rates , lack of respect and wages, and all around terrible conditions.

So now the gov brings in more immigrants, and unfortunately they are being used as the new world slaves.
They work cheap, will work 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
So now these mega fleets use all the loop holes, like them running on their home licenses for 6 months, etc and they send them out with little to no training.

And now we see the results.