Tanker accident Mona Vale

....i guess all that makes my post pretty much crap

....i also guess the pallet board would always be handy....but remember the old saying about not taking a knife to a gunfight!!!

detective I see no reason why your post would be regarded as crap???? I took it as light hearted and amusing!!!as for guns n knives ive survived so far in a pretty tough environment but were of topic here bloke???

Speaking as someone who pulled the pin a long time ago after several very close shaves, I can say in every situation the last thing I was thinking about was some bloody emergency valve.
I was way too busy steering as it would appear this bloke was.
My first trucks had a cable operated valve worked from a lever mounted conveniently on the dash and then in later installations the valve got incorporated into the end of the foot and hand control.
I remember yanking that trailer brake down all the way and from then on it was just steering.
When all the tyre smoke had cleared, I guess I might have thought about an emergency valve (or not) but certainly not while steering for my life.

all good binder and sorry all for being off topic as usual : :....the post i was referring to was my original one at the top of the page about brake adjustment....cheers

Speaking as someone who pulled the pin a long time ago after several very close shaves, I can say in every situation the last thing I was thinking about was some bloody emergency valve.
I was way too busy steering as it would appear this bloke was.
My first trucks had a cable operated valve worked from a lever mounted conveniently on the dash and then in later installations the valve got incorporated into the end of the foot and hand control.
I remember yanking that trailer brake down all the way and from then on it was just steering.
When all the tyre smoke had cleared, I guess I might have thought about an emergency valve (or not) but certainly not while steering for my life.

jeff your post has been the most valid one ive read on this topic!!!! regardless of how careful we are conditions can change in a heartbeat and being judgemental of a drivers reactions in that situation is something I would never comment on !there is simply no time for the 'should have - could have' theorys thanks for the post mate!!!!!!!

well unlike everyone else I was always taught theres a time and a place for everything and given the event that has taken place I would have thought this isnt the time or the place for a lot of the comments so far I would have thought that the our thoughts should be for people involved not for finger pointing or bringing up personal opinions about what may or may not have happened just my thoughts dont all give me to harder caning seeya and my thoughts to all those involved
Paul

Chain of responsibility, These trucks work on 2 shifts a day and if the brakes , tyres , lights or what ever the driver reports the fault. As far as the media, RTA, ViC Roads, or any other Government depart involved with a truck accident , the truck driver is first to blame and the Company is always run by cowboys. When it come to tanker driving they don't have cowboys driving around with bombs towing behind them. it will be interesting if the truth about this gets printed in the next couple of weeks. podge ex Gas & Fuel tanker Mechanic.

I have the greatest sympathy for those who have lost loved ones and suffered injury as a result of this accident. It is only by looking at what has gone wrong that we can prevent something similar happening again.
As Podge has suggested, the investigations need to look at all links in the chain which should include Cootes corporate customers and the RMS who is supposed to be regulating the industry. In my days on the road ( in Victoria ) it seemed to be small fleets and owner drivers who got the third degree whereas major fleets were sent on their way.

Pete and podge are right, any fatality is a criminal investigation and the cause will come out. And yes, its devastating for all involved. But the discussions on here are no different than what's in the papers, if anything far tamer.

Like I said earlier podgey I know a few guys who drive for them and I've always understood tanker drivers to be the pick of the bunch, paid well for a job well done. Any ex tanker driver I've employed has been brilliant and over the years, some of the best drivers I've had have left to drive them so I have the utmost respect for the guy steering that truck. But there will be a lot of people in the firing line due to COR. It'll be ugly

Nobody has answered this bit: would this truck have had drum brakes or disc brakes? Perhaps disc brakes are universal now? Even my boat trailer has disc.

There was a lengthy discussion about braking in the thread on the Canadian train runaway, with the general tone that truck braking had moved into systems which were failsafe: twin air line, and the air is what keeps the brakes off, not what is needed to make them go on.
While waiting for the coroner and safety agencies, refresh with the whole thread, particularly reply 3.
< www.hcvc.com.au/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1373237219/0#0> ;

One aspect mentioned in this Mona Vale thead was that overheating of train wheels would result in increased braking, not decreased. That can lead to wheel fractures and derailments, but cast-iron brakeblocks have funny friction characteristics, and can lose all friction when overheated. Composition brakeblocks were devised which had more-predictable characteristics. Cast iron left dust pollution, but a lot of the composition ones used ingredients which fell out of favour for health reasons. Passenger equipment is moving to disc braking, but it isn't universal.

Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor