if i only had a camera

[George2615]

I just saw another example this past wednesday of an improperly loaded trailer accident. I was about a 1/4 mile behind him. His single axle trailer was loaded with most of the weight in the rear resulting in a negative tongue weight. He was headed North on the interstate going about 55-60 MPH when the trailer started waggin like a dogs tail. Trailer had no brakes, it wagged so much he lost control of the truck which had finally spun around putting him facing south in the northbound lane. Fortunately the truck ended up on the shoulder and the trailer ended up on its side down the embankment. The trailer was still attached to the truck and was holding one rear truck tire off the ground. I stopped to make sure he was OK and called 911. The trailer frame was twisted like a pretzel.

 

[JRobyn]

Followed (at a considerable and safe distance) a guy down one of the local narrow two lane TN roads last weekend with a regular 1/2 ton PU and a tandem-axle bumper-pull trailer, about 20'. The trailer held THIRTEEN round bales, about 5' dia, 5 down one side of the trailer, 5 down the other, and three perched on top. The bales were fresh-cut, green, and evidently quite heavy. I could detect NO means of tiedown on the load except for the 1' high front and side rails and the trailer ramps. To top it all off, the right rear trailer tire had blown and was flapping all over and spewing hot, smoking chunks of rubber. This made the trailer list a few degrees to the right and he dug deep furrows in the asphalt every few hundred yards, sparks flying. Fortunately, he was only running about 10-15 MPH with his emergency flashers on. Which must have annoyed the jerk in the shiny new Titan that blew past us both at well above the 45 MPH limit. Some people just have no sense at all.

- Jay

 

[Bird]

I don't know why I'm feeling controversial this morning, but I am, and your former law enforcement status unfortunately puts you in my sights, since you have tried to paint me as callous.

If law enforcement types really cared about road safety, when a rolling wreck of a trailer with a load of junk that isn't tied down goes by, they would stop it. They don't. I've seen it. They also wouldn't allow 18 wheelers to travel 85 miles an hour. They would rather nail 3 or 4 cars for going a few miles over the speed limit than one commercial driver.

Nope, never tried to paint you as callous; don't know what made you think that. But it certainly did appear that you were criticizing someone for posting a message about something he saw as a safety matter, and I certainly saw nothing wrong with what he posted.

As for your second paragraph . . . well, in addition to my own department, I was fortunate enough to be a graduate of the 9 month Northwestern University Traffic Institute (86 cops from 26 of the 50 state police agencies, 32 USA cities, and 5 foreign countries) and a graduate of the FBI National Academy (10 weeks with 200 officers from city, state, and county police agencies in this country, plus several foreign countries), I traveled to many other cities, and I entertained visitors to my department from just about every country outside the iron curtain, and so far I've never met the officers you're talking about, but then I haven't personally visited your local police department, so yes, I know there are some bad officers, just as there are some bad in every profession. Therefore, as silly as that paragraph appears, I cannot state for a fact that it isn't true in your neighborhood.

 

[jeffinsgf]

Guys, I was having a bad morning, and I apologize.

It does seem to me that safety gets an inordinate amount of bandwidth here, but then you read some of the things like were posted in this thread, and you just shake your head.

However, saying that there are a lot of good cops out there doesn't change my perception that there is uneven enforcement of the traffic laws between commercial operators and Joe Average. That observation is rather tangential to the discussion, other than my belief that the trailers pulled by the Joe Average's here on TBN are probably a lot more road-worthy than a majority of the bumper pull and gooseneck rigs run by commercial operators.

 

[Bird]

Jeff, there can be many reasons for your perception (and that of others) that there is an uneven enforcement of traffic laws (or other laws, for that matter). As far as I know, any officer, within his jurisdiction, can stop a commercial rig for speeding, running red lights or stop signs, and other violations that are obvious to most people. But, in Texas at least, only certain individual officers have the additional training required, and are therefore able, to stop commercial rigs for inspection. And quite frankly, there are so many laws that no lawyer, including Supreme Court Justices, knows the law. Lawyers are taught how to look up both statutory and case law for the cases they handle, and even then they frequently disagree. So no police officer knows all the traffic and criminal laws. They are taught the laws that their department, and their civilian bosses (city councils, state legislatures, etc.) want them to enforce. So your perception may or may not be right, and you may or may not be right about who is responsible.

 

[Harvey7]

[QUOTE
As for your second paragraph . . . well, in addition to my own department, I was fortunate enough to be a graduate of the 9 month Northwestern University Traffic Institute (86 cops from 26 of the 50 state police agencies, 32 USA cities, and 5 foreign countries) and a graduate of the FBI National Academy (10 weeks with 200 officers from city, state, and county police agencies in this country, plus several foreign countries), I traveled to many other cities, and I entertained visitors to my department from just about every country outside the iron curtain, and so far I've never met the officers you're talking about, but then I haven't personally visited your local police department, so yes, I know there are some bad officers, just as there are some bad in every profession. Therefore, as silly as that paragraph appears, I cannot state for a fact that it isn't true in your neighborhood.[/QUOTE]

Bird

Very well put.

 

[dmccarty]

Bird is absolutely correct about why an officer might not pull over a commercial vehicle. And the squad sargent or LT might tell them to leave commercial to the traffic enforcement unit, DMV, or HP.

And if you see an officer go by an obvious infraction you don't know if the officer has a higher priority call. Just because the car is not running lights and siren does not mean they aren't off to a call that is more important than a traffic citation.

Why, they might be off to an alarm at a residence....

That was triggered by the AC turning of and moving something hanging from the ceiling.

Later,
Dan

 

[workinallthetime]

since we are kind of out on a limb here i thought i would share a couple things. these two guys are both people i know very well.
1st
ed, ed went to get his son a truck, the truck had a blown engine but was a good deal. So ed took his f250 that he had just bought annd borrowed his neighbors new car hauler to go bick it up. Well ed got there and loaded the truck on BACKWARDS so the truck was headed in the oposite direction as the the one pulling it. Like someone said above about tongue weight, well im guessin there wasnt much. Ed rolled his truck, twisted the trailer to pieces and rolled the one off the trailer. So now ed is w/o a truck, his neighbor is without a trailer, and his son didnt get a truck either. Three units wasted by one mistake. Oh ed had liability only since he paid cash for his truck. Ed was bounced around a bit but walked away and no one else was hurt.
2nd
larry moves mobil homes for a company here in oklahoma, this couple decides why pack up, they load the mobil home up. The company has some policy about not inspecting the inside of the trailer due to some leagal thing. long story short, mobil home breaks an axel on the turnpike and tears up a mile of road before it gets stoped. The couple had to pay for everything including emergency crews on the road, crews to unpack the trailer, the repairs to the road and damage to the tow unit. Again no one hurt but i bet there was alot of messed up paint jobs.

Hope for the best, prepare for the worst, then check it and recheck it.
certain tbn guys have argued the safety point to death i agree, and have even got into it with me. I do everything i can to tow my stuff as safe as possible but some people either dont know or dont care. After they crawled up me i admit i did some checking and even went out and bought a grade 70 chain and a ratchet binder. the ratchet binder sits in the box most of the time but i do use the chain and my breakover binders almost everyday. I would rather take the doubt out of the cops mind then add to it.
I am fortunate to know alot of cops and people who look out for me and i do the same for them.

 

[Bird]

I don't know whether the link will work without being a registered member, but the Denton Record-Chronicle has a story this morning about a local woman who was injured and her sister killed when an unsecured headboard blew out of a pickup truck in Wyoming. Nothing to do with trailers, but an unsecured load that killed someone.

 

[RayH]

I don't know why I'm feeling controversial this morning, but I am, and your former law enforcement status unfortunately puts you in my sights, since you have tried to paint me as callous.

If law enforcement types really cared about road safety, when a rolling wreck of a trailer with a load of junk that isn't tied down goes by, they would stop it. They don't. I've seen it. They also wouldn't allow 18 wheelers to travel 85 miles an hour. They would rather nail 3 or 4 cars for going a few miles over the speed limit than one commercial driver. I assume this is because the new federal laws make the penalties so severe that no cop wants to be responsible for putting someone out of work.

In the Kansas City suburb that I used to live in, we had a new intersection go in that made it very convenient for a local quarry and ready-mix plant to get to the other side of the freeway. It is a big wide beautiful boulevard that leads into several growing subdivisions. The gravel and concrete trucks blow by the stop light, several mph over the speed limit with alarming frequency. So alarming, it made the local paper. But travelling that intersection several times a day, I only ever saw cars pulled over. Never a commercial driver.

I guarantee you that when my trailer is loaded, it could pass any Highway Patrol inspection in any state. I have good chains and good binders. I don't know what grade they are or where they were made. But, when I tie my tractor down, it is one with the trailer. I am not the problem. And scaring newbie tractor owners to death with quotations of chapter and verse from the penal code isn't the solution.

Of course, if we really wanted to make our roads safe and conserve energy, we would put America back to work rebuilding the railways and get 80% of the freight off the highways completely. But, that's another rant for another day.

Jeff,
I'll add another perspective. I drive a tractor/trailer for a living. I agree that there are too many big trucks going too fast, but, I also see too many four wheels going too fast.
A couple things to consider when comparing how many four wheelers get pulled over and how many 18 wheelers get stopped.
First off, there are many more four wheelers on the roads. It may not seem that way because trucks get more attention because they are big, but there are definately more four wheelers. It only makes sense that you would see more of them stopped. Secondly, most truckdrivers know where the "bear" is miles before they get to them. They also know where the "bear" isnt. Four wheelers dont usually have that information so they get caught comparitively more often. Im not a big fan of law enforcement officials these days but I must say that in this case, you havent thought it through well enough to make the judgement that you have.