Over the weekend there was an accident on interstate 35 near Medford, MN, south of the Twin Cities. A flatbed semi, carrying coils of aluminium lost it’s load, when the driver over corrected while trying to get back onto the pavement. One of the 20,000 pound coils ended up in a traffic lane where it was struck by a pickup truck. Both occupants of the pickup were killed.
So, how does this involve the railroad? At first I couldn’t believe it, but the semi was being operated by the Minnesota Commercial. After a little head scratching, and hearing the story on the TV news twice, it occured to me that there is a transfer facility in Northeast Minneapolis. This facility off loads heavy things like coils, onto semi trailers for delivery around the region.
According to the State Patrol, the railroad has had numerous safety violations associated with it’s trucking operations. In theory the load should never have come loose from the trailer under any circumstances, pointing to improper securing. This doesn’t sound good.[B)][:(]
In theory anything on a flat bed can come off. No such thing as in theory it will never come off. Coiled steel is a nasty load to haul and one that you had *** well load and secrue right or it could be your life.
I would agree, that at some point, given enough force, any amount of securing will fail. There is always a weak link. It is unclear what caused the truck to swerve in the first place, but it sounds as if the coils hung on for a short distance before they broke free.
The coil that caused the fatalities, landed flat side down in the road, like a 10 ton boulder coming out of the sky. The pickup’s driver had no warning and no chance. A second coil landed in the median ditch, and started unrolling like toilet paper.
No, it is the TRUCKERS job to make sure that it is properly attached, He is responsible for the saftey of his load which makes it his responsibility to make sure that it wil never come loose.
I had a really close call with a logging truck one time. I had just passed him in the fast lane and I looked back in my mirror and saw the whole thing come flying apart and about 12-14 3ft+ diameter logs were scattered across all the lanes at 60 mph. Luckily there were no cars next to him at the time. If I had been going a bit slower I surely would have been killed. I later heard on the news that the driver had failed to properly secure his load.
Some of you may remember that the Minnesota Transfer was featured in the original “Tracks Ahead” series back in the early 90s. The new management repaired the decaying track, some which had 5 mph speed limits, and turned the company around.
In the end, the liability for this will most likely rest with the company, though some may rest with the driver. I hope their insurance can handle it. The new management has done a good job with the railroad part. They may want to consider getting independent truckers for these deliveries in the future.
I’m not sure if the shoulder along that section of freeway has rumble strips, it very well may. A moment’s inattention and the truck drifts, the driver is startled, and yanks the wheel. This sort of thing happens all too often out here in the flatlands, tired drivers on long boring roads.[|)][:(][V]
This may be my fault for not making it clear at the beginning. The truck was owned and operated by the Minnesota Commercial Railroad. This accident happened on the final delivery leg to the consignee.
Both should have an equal share in this, instead of assigning blame to one side or the other. It is also each our own personal responsibilities to exercise safety day in day out. Danger doesn’t sleep or take vacations. Safe driving is paramount! We shouldn’t drink and drive; we should slow down and always look both ways before crossing over an intersection, even when the traffic light is green; we need to heed caution and give big rigs plenty of space with their large heavy loads. Lack of better judgment has potentially deadly consequences.
regardless of who owns the truck…THE FINAL RESPONSIBILTY FALLS ON THE DRIVER OF THE TRUCK…if it wasnt loaded or tied down correctly…the driver should have known and had it reloaded or additianl tiedowns added… once the track leaves the loading lot…it all falls to the drivers responsiblity…at DOT checkpoints…a inproperly secured load or an overload for that fact…the fine is leveyed to the driver…not the carrier… ask ANY TRUCKER… the railroad is NOT TO BLAME
csx engineer
I’m not 100% sure, but the actual name on the side ot the truck in question is CTM(Trucklines). On the MNNR website, Commercial Transload of Minnesota(CTM) is listed as a transload facility with CTM Trucklines as the carrier. I still havn’t found any link other than the CTM listing on the MNNR website as to how this involves MNNR. Were the citations and violations issued to MNNR or to CTM Trucklines? This would be interesting to find out!
IN my mind the liability would follow the corporate ownership of the truck first [ and to the driver, if he/she is the owner and/or the driver, liability will lie here] and the insurance carrier at this point…Due to the fatality involved, the liability will probably also include the entity doing the loading, the securing of the load will go to the entity fastening the load on the trailer, as the attorney will seek to add to the suit anybody with the perception of deep pockets to collect from. The actual fastening of the load to the trailer is another involved story.
Good question, they could be seperate corporations with the same offices. The local news is very bad about making such distinctions, as they just flashed the shot of the building. They mentioned that the trucking operation had double the normal safety violations, compared with the national average.
I doubt the state patrol has any real enforcement powers with the rail operations, except as it pertains to grade crossing safety. The trucking operation is a different story, and all the more reason to keep the businesses seperate.
This whole story speaks volumes about how sloppily television news is reported. In sensational sound bites.
Being the Safety Director of a trucking company I can tell you one thing, the driver is at fault. UNLESS there was some sort of equipment failure beyond the drivers control. And not knowing all the details it’s really hard to say at this point. Trust me, considering the fact their were fatalities involved the DOT is disecting ever part of that rig as you read this. The “Securing of the Load” IS the drivers responsibility, if the equipment or load wasn’t safe the driver should have made the corrections before leaving the yard.
We have to keep in mind as of now all we have is a possibly “slanted” veiw from the media. Lets hope the best for everyone right now. As long as the trucking outfit is found to be in the clear the Insurance Co. "should "end up with the biggest payout. The driver, it’s hard to say.
well the new rules regarding cargo securment will come into play. If this guy is a local steel hauler ( sounds like it) he used two chains that crisscrossed in the eye of the coil. That is a no no under new regs. If it was a coil on my truck ( old days) I would have had 6 chains and a 4 inch strap across it. I HATED coils! Plus you cant drive like a maniac with one of these onboard. In my view when you have a coil on driving like granny mae on her way to church on sunday is driving like a maniac.
Now under the new load securement you have to have load locks in a van no matter what! Plus state patrol can regulate trains ( if it is a trained DOT officer) even city cops can stop trains however regulating is another matter. Mostly just FRA types can ruin our day but a nitpicky cop can be just as bad.
Safety is everyone’s responsibility. Safety was also the responsibility of the driver who was killed. He ignored one of the basic fundamentals in driver safety: “Keep a safe distance away from other vehicles.”, and “Always be alert for changing road conditions.”
That may be true, but lawyers tend to head for the “deep pockets”. And the trucking company probably has a good deal more assets and insurance then the driver. In addition, aren’t employers responsible for the actions or inactions of their employees?
I’ve driven that stretch of I-35 hundreds of times. I don’t think there are rumble strips along the edge through there. And the stretch around the Medford area is actually somewhat hilly and not straight. He was probably distracted checking out the Medford Outlet Mall, or the Cabela’s Store…