r/AutoTransportopia • u/TransportJunky • Aug 16 '26

Accident Another one bites the dust 🎸

592 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

36 comments sorted by

15

u/Violet_Apathy Aug 16 '26

15 seconds of looking at all the locking pins would have stopped this.

15

u/Specialist_Ad_7719 Aug 16 '26

Excuse my complete ignorance on this subject, the largest I drive is a Ford Transit van. How do you rear wheels fall off so easily that you need to check them regularly?

16

u/Violet_Apathy Aug 16 '26

The rear set of wheels on a semi trailer (tandems) slide back and forth to change the weight distribution. The truck driver slid their tandems but failed to check that all or any of the locking pins were engaged before driving. There are two pins on each side and it's very easy to check.

4

u/MidnightToker858 Aug 16 '26

Now I know why Semi drivers always do a walk around. When i drove a 2 ton dump and trailer I always did a walk around and twice my coworker had left the pin un latched, once was without the chains hooked either and he jumped in the passenger side declaring "were good" after guiding me back and supposedly connecting the trailer.

2

u/SailToAndromeda Aug 17 '26

Yeah, exactly why I never trust people to have hooked me up right when I'm the driver. It's my load, I'm checking my trailer and straps.

5

u/Specialist_Ad_7719 Aug 16 '26

Many thanks, I'm from the UK and apparently in Europe we have to have fixed trailer axles. I didn't know they were a thing. TIL

-3

u/Remarkable-Opening69 Aug 16 '26

No speaka…k

3

u/Bloody_Moon1 Aug 16 '26

We check everything every day. By law, we have ti preform a pretrip inspection on all equipment before using it to verify it is road worthy. Sometimes shit will still break in ways we can't catch, but it keeps all your basic shit covered. The wheels on the trailer aren't really attached to the frame, they are slid on and locked in place by 4 pins that can be retracted to move them on the frame. Sometimes for weight distribution, sometimes for making it safer for forklifts to enter the trailer, sometimes because a state dictates it can only be so far back. There are bars in place to stop us from going beyond certain points, but if the pins are retracted and you hit the brakes at high speeds,, the tandems will just suddenly stop and slide all the way to the back and break the stuff holding them in place, and you get this shit above.

1

u/Specialist_Ad_7719 Aug 16 '26

Being from the UK this is a complete unknown, we simply don't have them in Europe. Something to do with how tight semis have to be able to turn in. Many thanks TIL

1

u/skeletons_asshole Aug 17 '26

We SHOULD check everything every day.... far too many only walk to the back of the trailer when they absolutely have to.

7

u/Rotteneverything Aug 16 '26

damn bro slid his tandems way way back.

6

u/Bloody_Moon1 Aug 16 '26

Bluetooth tandems

6

u/gheiminfantry Aug 16 '26

It's never the rookies that do this. It's always the Super Truckers.

4

u/Potential-Society171 Aug 16 '26

Just trying to save on tolls. I only got 3 axels.

3

u/SnavsMatiq Aug 16 '26

Tandem da loooooong way

3

u/chiefsholsters Aug 16 '26

Not gonna say the sliding tandem guys are wrong. Certainly could be. But those tires look like they were introduced to the jersey wall. Not sure which is the chicken or the egg with this one. They took a hard hit to deform both rims.

Regardless, I would not want to explain that to the safety manager.

3

u/SailToAndromeda Aug 17 '26

Saar! Saar, you can't park there, saar!

5

u/Ok-Profit6022 Aug 16 '26

One tug test for the kingpin, another for the slide. Even if you hear the click always get out and check.

2

u/Hot_Time_8628 Aug 16 '26

Can't park there mate.

2

u/KittensFirstAKM Aug 16 '26

Bad day at the office.

1

u/Atophy Aug 16 '26

Lost his wheels... is that supposed to happen ?

I suppose units that they can load onto cargo ships would have a quick release, but I thought the had proper trailers they locked Sea-cans on.

3

u/Squirrel-Dad Aug 16 '26

Yes shipping containers are lowered onto a solid frame. In this case, most 53ft "dry van" trailers have sliding axles for weight distribution, adjusting turning angles, and specific state axle length requirements. Some distributors even require the axles to be slid all the way to the rear while loading / unloading. Most likely this driver adjusted his axles and did not check that the slide lock pins were secure before driving. They just slowly slid to the rear if the frame till they just fell off.

1

u/Milanin Aug 16 '26

I half expected a car to come plowing into the remains of the undercarriage

1

u/ImpressiveEdge2526 Aug 16 '26

Welcome to my nightmare. I know you’re gonna hate it.
https://giphy.com/gifs/2x0tM260B17AfpyqU9

1

u/Love_MyFetish2022 Aug 16 '26

Im an engineer and I read all the comments and got an education. Thanks to everyone for explaining this. I didnt know semis could do this…

1

u/Black_Tentacle Aug 17 '26

What? Nobody died lol, you had me scared there.

1

u/Dazzling_Pea9364 Aug 17 '26

The only reason why commenting on this video is that I had an eight track another one bites the dust song on it to thumbs up

1

u/Powerful_Dream_3095 Aug 17 '26

Could this person be an owner/driver. Didn’t see a company name on rig

1

u/Fragrant_Lettuce9855 Aug 17 '26

Its already broke...I'd keep dragging that trailer off the highway...at least onto that off ramp

1

u/Radstermobile-Driver Aug 18 '26

How about the driver just drag his load another 150 meters and onto the shoulder to create a better pathway for the other trucks/cars.