Tanker explosion....

338375

338375

Joined
Nov 4, 2006
Messages
19,374
Its probably obvious to those that have seen my avatar pic, I drive a gas tanker.
It seems at least once every year there is a tanker truck crash / fire. Considering the number of them that are on the road, the crash numbers are low, however when it does happen the results are obvious...

Last week we had one just east of Bend, Or where I live. My best friend called me at about 8:00 p.m to let me know what happened, and to make sure I wasn't involved. I didn't get his call because I was in an area that has no cell service, so when I got the message, I called the wife to have her find out what happened. I already knew that none of our drivers had gone that direction on that day.

Come to find out, the driver was driving to fast and had passed a car, and when he went back into the lane, he lost control and went off the road. The truck rolled several times and burst into flames. He had already been called in earlier for erratic driving, but unfortunately LEO's hadn't gotten him stopped before it happened..

Fortunately he didn't kill anyone else in the crash. In this case it was driver caused, but I can't tell you how many times I've avoided accidents because of stupid things people do in cars. I'm not sure if people don't understand what is being hauled, or just don't think about the consequences of causing, or being involved in an accident with a gas tanker.

http://www.ktvz.com/video/23536507/index.html
 
Wow. That's a bad one, indeed.

I always give tankers a very wide berth on the road. I don't like to be near them (that and propane trucks... have you ever seen what hapens when one of those goes up? The thought of it is frightening).

It has also been my observation that most tanker drivers are very conservative in their driving.

Oregon has no refineries in-state. All of our gas arrives in tanker trucks.
 
Thats very true about most tanker drivers being very conservative. The hiring process weeds out a lot of drivers. Unfortunately there will always be a few that aren't safe.

I've been driving truck for 30 years and have well over 2 million accident free miles. I've always tried to be a safe and courteous driver, and I became even more so when I started driving tanker.

My avatar picture doesn't show the entire truck and trailer, but its 75 feet long and when loaded weighs 105,000 pounds.

There are only two places to load fuel in Oregon, Eugene and Portland. As you mentioned, its all piped in to tank farms from out of state. So every truck hauling gas and diesel in Oregon goes to the same places. When I first started, I had to go through safety training at each facility to get clearance. All of the companies, BP, Shell, Conoco, Chevron and the others, all have videos of refinery and truck explosions.
It really puts things into perspective when you see the videos.
 
I am glad someone like you is driving those. I give all trucks plenty of room. I let them in, even though it is inconvenient at times. I used to ride around in my Semi driver's truck for Colorspot Nurseries. Sometimes he told me that I sold too much, and that he was not gonna hit all his drops, unless I helped him chuck the flower 6 packs on to the garden center tables. So, I climbed up and rode with him. I got a newfound respect for Semi drivers from that experience. I get mad for them when I see people cut them off, or make them slam on their brakes due to stupid driving. May God continue to give you traveling mercies....
 
Aside from inattentiveness and stupidity, today's driver's have no idea how things work. They get no real science in school, i.e. physics, so they don't know that large trucks with heavy loads don't react the same way as a passenger car. Back in high school in the old days, 1959, the metal shop teacher, who was also the driver's ed guy, asked me and another motor-head to cut the body off an old ford he had obtained so he could show the kids how the car worked and where the important parts were located. (BTW, we did the job with a cutting torch after school, unsupervised. Imagine that happening today.) In addition to other teaching points, all four wheels were in various stages if dis-assembly right down to the the brake shoes, so students could see what actually happened when you stepped on the brake pedal. If you have a basic understanding of the forces at work on a large vehicle on the road you automatically adjust your driving accordingly.
 
The other real bad truck for accidents is one loaded with magnesium. If it catches fire it will melt everything, road bridges etc !!
 
A few years back,shortly after I moved to NY,a tanker was traveling east on Rt104 only a mile or so from the city limit,there used to be a tricky curve there.It was in the early morning hours,he lost control on that curve and laid the truck over,I don't know if they ever found out what ignited it for sure but it made a mess out of most of a block of houses,thankfully everyone got out of the houses but it sure made a mess.
 
338375 said:
It seems at least once every year there is a tanker truck crash / fire. Considering the number of them that are on the road, the crash numbers are low...
Click to expand...

Well, it happens at least several times every year in the D/FW area alone. In recent years two or three bridges have had to be demolished because of damage from Tanker truck fires. I'd like to know how you got the idea that these crashes are rare?
 
joe-bob said:
Well, it happens at least several times every year in the D/FW area alone. In recent years two or three bridges have had to be demolished because of damage from Tanker truck fires. I'd like to know how you got the idea that these crashes are rare?
Click to expand...

Considering the amount of tank trucks that are on the road, the actually number of accidents they are involved in, is dramatically less than other trucks.

I guess it could depend on the area a person lives to some extent.. We did have one crash and catch on fire on I-5 a couple years ago. That bridge needed substantial repairs because of the fire. Last summer there was a driver for a local company that was climbing hwy 58, and when he got to the top, something under the hood of the truck caught fire. By the time he got out with his fire extinguisher, it was to late. So he just ran away from it
 
mete said:
The other real bad truck for accidents is one loaded with magnesium. If it catches fire it will melt everything, road bridges etc !!
Click to expand...

That stuff does burn very hot. Another one is grain dust. I saw a demonstration at a grain mill where I use to live. They were just using a small amount of dust, but it made quite an explosion.

There are a lot of things being hauled on the highways, that have the potential to be very dangerous if the are exposed to certain situations.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top