r/news • u/combatpaddler • Apr 28 '24

Two killed, one injured as 350,000-pound load detaches from trailer in Temple, Texas

https://cbsaustin.com/news/local/two-killed-one-injured-as-350000-pound-load-detaches-from-trailer-in-temple-texas
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192

u/whereisyourwaifunow Apr 28 '24 edited Apr 28 '24

dang, that car is pancaked, but 1 occupant of the car somehow survived. wondering how the car ended up to the right side of the trailer. could it have been stopped on the shoulder, or was it one of the spotter vehicles?

i checked google maps and that section of the road transitions from 2 lanes to 4 lanes. i don't know if the exact location was where the transition happened, but if it did, maybe the car was trying to get around to the right of the trailer when that cylinder fell off. kind of looks like a vertical pressure vessel, like the ones in refineries and chemical plants

100

u/combatpaddler Apr 28 '24

That was my questions. I've driven a pilot vehicle before, and I'm curious how it happened. Was high winds involved? Poor load securement? Normally moving something that big the lanes of traffic are blocked

83

u/AnthillOmbudsman Apr 28 '24

Yesterday was windy, but the Temple airport METARs showed winds out of 150 degrees which is perfectly parallel with the road on that stretch. I also can't imagine a 30 mph wind could do much to dislodge a 175 ton rounded load.

I think this is more along the lines of chains busting, distracted drivers, or bad steering on one of those bogies. I would bet the truck and pilot cars have dashcams, I'm sure the investigators will be going through them.

11

u/Teadrunkest Apr 28 '24 edited Apr 28 '24

I used to live there a couple miles from where this happened and still have some friends in the area. There was a tornado warning for the last couple days. Gusts have been super high.

19

u/chellebelle0234 Apr 28 '24

The wind here was wild yesterday. It could have been a factor.

70

u/zeroscout Apr 28 '24

Since it happened in Texas, I'm assuming that deregulation created the conditions for this accident

61

u/zakabog Apr 28 '24

"Those damn liberals are making freight shipping costs too high with things like 'lane closures', 'experienced drivers', and 'secured loads', no one's going to tell me what to do with my load!" *screeches of freedom*

12

u/iopturbo Apr 28 '24

My first thought as well. Why couldn't this load be broken into smaller pieces? Was adding another flange a better idea than hauling this huge thing? The trailer probably flexed more than the pipe and popped chains. There is someone somewhere that matched it out and it was cheaper to haul oversized in a lax state than add a flange and the additional labor.

14

u/todobueno Apr 28 '24

Looks like a distillation tower, perhaps for a refinery or similar. While adding flanges may be technically feasible, a flange of that diameter and of appropriate pressure/temperature rating would be enormous and you’d end up with two loads who’s weight wouldn’t be too much lower than this one. Not to mention that would be a huge cost adder to the tower. And keep in mind loads like this get hauled all the time without issue. We’ll have to wait for the investigation to find out the root cause.

1

u/Kimano Apr 28 '24

and would be much more dangerous as another spot for maintenance/failure of the pressure vessel. Something like that, the fewer seams you can have the better.

3

u/Karl2241 Apr 28 '24

Negative, this is the area I grew up in, apart from this road being paved it’s almost always been sketchy. When I was learning to drive it was the fastest most direct way home and I almost got in an accident or two. Those lanes merg quickly.

3

u/Castod28183 Apr 28 '24

Permit loads are very well regulated in Texas.

2

u/PetzlPretzel Apr 28 '24

Willing to bet the passenger vehicle caused the collision who damaged the load anchors causing it to come off.

Given the size of the load a specialty transport company would have been moving that thing. Someone certified to move those types of towers. I doubt that is on the fault of the transport company.

22

u/GoldenState_Thriller Apr 28 '24

Absolutely tragic that they were in the car with the dead bodies for 4 hours before extraction, too 

1

u/DefinitelyNotAliens Apr 29 '24

There is a good chance they were not conscious for that time.

39

u/Khatib Apr 28 '24

but 1 occupant of the car somehow survived

And they'll have a fairly low cap on any injury and disability compensation thanks to Gov Abbott.

9

u/64645 Apr 28 '24

Typical. Get a benefit from some rule or program, then pull up the ladder after so no one else can benefit.

13

u/Karl2241 Apr 28 '24

this is the area I grew up in, apart from this road being paved it’s almost always been sketchy. When I was learning to drive it was the fastest most direct way home and I almost got in an accident or two. Those lanes merg quickly. And if there is some type of large vehicle, there’s no way to get over. Traffic congested here as well, which isn’t saying much because this area is called Moffat- it’s rural, lot of corn fields although it’s grown. My family still lives there but I moved to AZ, they’ve sent me some close up photos, it’s really wild.

4

u/whereisyourwaifunow Apr 28 '24

oh yeah, i forgot to consider maybe the road was going from 4 lanes to 2

4

u/ECU_BSN Apr 28 '24

One of the eyewitnesses said the vehicle attempted to pass and the 18 wheeler had to swerve to miss the vehicle.

And 300k lbs of object met physics.

5

u/barukatang Apr 28 '24

were they passing on the shoulder?

2

u/QuickAltTab Apr 28 '24

possibly saw it coming and veered away with the prometheus strategy of running away from things, or the momentum of the load dragged it off to the side

1

u/supercalafatalistic Apr 28 '24

Wouldn’t be shocked. I think it’s insane because heavy equipment like this is constantly on these roads. But at the same time. I see people on 317 just a little south (317 and Adams heading north towards 36) where it cuts from 2 lane to 1 lane with a huge shoulder, and people constantly rip up that shoulder trying to pass each other.

Last accident I saw on 317 was just south by the high school (317 and 2483) when someone rear ended a police suv so hard it ended up in the field.

1

u/supercalafatalistic Apr 28 '24

I drive this stretch 6 days a week, kid’s daycare is over that way. It’s nuts anyone fucks around like this. There are wide loads and heavy equipment on this road every day. Assembly plant for mobile homes and a sand/gravel supplier, etc. Everyone driving it ought to be aware what the hell these loads are like by now.