"Well...nobody died."

[Guns N Rotors]

On Wednesday morning when I got work, I had nine semi-trucks filled with road salt waiting
for me to get them unloaded. I got the first truck backed into the salt barn and told the
other drivers to dump outside the barn.

At the same time, eight salt spreader trucks show up to get loaded so they can go treat the roads.
Things are really getting busy now! I'm jumping in and out of the wheel loader like a kangaroo trying
to get trucks loaded and unloaded all at once.

I filled the last spreader truck and pointed for the last semi driver to dump at the end of the pile.
Whew! I poured myself a cup of coffee and climbed down off the loader when I hear and feel an
Earth shattering Ka-BOOOM!

The last semi flipped his load!!! I sprinted to check on the driver. He jumps out of the tractor with his
glasses and hat a skewed, shaking like Joe Cocker. He's unhurt, thank God.

What a morning!

[Guns N Rotors]

pic two

[tan top]

looks like the whole frame has twisted on the trailer .  thats good no body was hurt

[Charger_Fan]

I'm glad nobody was hurt.
That trailer looks like an end-dump, isn't it? How did it flip sideways? Maybe the load was pushed more to that side?

[Skued]

I'm glad to hear no one was hurt.  I bet that kept you on your toes the rest of your shift!
I've seen that happen with chicken litter trucks.  Part of the load sticks at the top of trailer and over it goes.

Steve 

[Guns N Rotors]

We think he was loaded heavy on one side. Don't know. He had the
tractor at a 30 degree angle for whatever reason. He also shot the
trailer up at a rapid pace. Way too fast.

Yes Charger Fan, that's an end-dump trailer.

[4cruzin]

WOW sure glad all is safe!  Scary stuff!   

[dkn1997]

well, you did tell him to unload it......looks like he did what you asked

[TruckDriver]

Well, the speed the box was raised up at would of had nothing to do with the trailer going over as long as the trailer wheels were firmly planted on level ground. And it looks like he might of had the trailer wheels up on some of the salt already there, I am willing to bet that the load was to much on one side, and that he was at to much of a "jack knifed" position, and the wheels were not on level ground, and the trailer tipped a bit, and it went over. Once you go past the 20 degree angle, there is no stopping it. If he was straight when he dumped it, the load being on one side still would of not been enough to make the trailer tip. I know from experience, Dumping a trailer dump at to much of a jack knifed angle can be risky business. When you do that, it makes the trailer tipsy. Also being jack knifed the way he was, he most likely didn't get out to make sure he was on level ground on the blind side. Making sure your trailer is totally level, is the main importance to dumping a load. Ex-specially with a dump trailer. 

[ChargerSG]

Things like that can really turn ugly

[derailed]

Its also possible with the tractor cocked like that and the dump body up in the air that he may have tried to move the truck a little bit.

[newportrider]

We would be fired if we dumped with the tractor on any angle.  I watched a guy get crushed in his cab when the trailer fell over, he didn't die instantly.

[TruckDriver]

Its also possible with the tractor cocked like that and the dump body up in the air that he may have tried to move the truck a little bit.

That's more/less what I was getting at. They are real unstable when your turned like that. The 5th wheel acts like a pivot point. I loved driving a semi dump. I did it for 3 years, then moved into the straight truck dumps which I do now.

[derailed]

A friend of mine did that a long time ago with a tank trailer. it was one of the tall insulated ones and he was on uneven ground trying to spot his trailer to unload. He had the tractor cocked at a 90 and was backing up. He stopped a little to hard and flopped the trailer on its side. Ripped the 5th wheel out of the frame.

[Guns N Rotors]

Well, this is what I think happened. All nine trucks arrived at 7:00 AM together.
That tells me that they where loaded late Tuesday afternoon and they probably
parked their trucks overnight in their lot. The temperature dropped to single digits
during the night. The salt was frozen to the bed.

I believe that he was loaded heavy on the left side. I also feel that he was in a
hurry to off-load and get back to the salt mine. He was last in line, time is money.

I think that parking the tractor at that angle was a big factor in the flip. The fifth
wheel pivoted forward pushing the load to the tipping point.

Normally, I would have backed the driver into the salt barn. Had he flipped in the
barn, I'd probably be dead. Got lucky on that one!

[TruckDriver]

Yup, I had to deal with the 'ol frozen salt load once too because I didn't tarp the load overnight, and it snowed a bit (wasn't supposed to, but it did), then got super cold. And it freezes bad in a aluminum box. And all it takes is a little moisture too. When I got the where I was supposed to dump the load, I put the box all the way up (40 foot trailer) and nothing slid out, nothing! I ended up taking my load back to the shop (130 miles from the dump site) and we had to let the truck sit inside the heated shop over night to let it thaw out. My boss wasn't real impressed either That was in 1990.

[bigblock4speedman]

Man, that's good no one was hurt!  That salt is pretty rough to car frames, but it probably prevents a lot of accidents.

[Chargen69]

I bet he was awake the rest of the day!