In this incident on October 21, 2019, Pro-Enviro was called to a load shift involving 50,000 lbs of rebar on a semi-truck and trailer on Southbound I-5 in Tacoma, WA. The semi-truck driver was forced to make an emergency stop after a passenger car in front of them slammed on their brakes.
Fortunately, nobody was injured by the heavy rebar. The semi-truck, however, did require special equipment, managed by specially trained professionals, to handle this difficult reload. We completed a scene assessment before we went to work to safely handle this incident.
Our Pro-Tow team first disconnected the semi-trailer from the semi-tractor. This then allowed them to safely use a heavy-duty wrecker to transport it to a nearby safe location. Once there, we were able to use an overhead crane style wrecker to load shift the cargo back into a secure position. They then safely re-secured the load.
After this successful load shift service, the damaged semi-tractor was repaired by an OnSite roadside mechanic. With the load shift successful and the tractor repaired, it was able to continue on Southbound to Oregon without further delay.
Civilian Car Safety With Larger Vehicles
As with any driving-related situations, safety is the most important thing to keep in mind, especially so, when driving around larger vehicles and ones carrying heavy loads. On highways, larger vehicles will tend to stay in the right lanes to allow faster-moving traffic to safely pass by in the left lanes. Also keep in mind that larger trucks must take wider turns to turn safely, so leave plenty of room between your car and the truck.
Braking Distance And Following Distance
Since larger vehicles cannot stop as quickly, it’s important to give them plenty of distance. This is both when following a larger vehicle or when driving in front of one. On inclined roads, larger vehicles can roll back a few meters when they start moving again. Larger vehicles will also need much longer distances and time to safely brake. To avoid either getting hit or causing a sudden stop, leave double the space between you and a larger vehicle for extra elbow room.
Keep Out Of Blind Spots
The larger the vehicle, the bigger their blind spots will be. A good rule to keep in mind is if you can’t see the driver in their side mirror, the driver can’t see you either. If you have to pass, do so quickly but safely.
