It figures....

We recently had a "mystery" crash at our warehouse complex, nobody knew or
reported what had happened. We've got many many "guard" posts planted next
to doorways, corners of buildings, and power poles. They are simply there
to protect the object they are placed near, something like the little posts
that you see at some shopping centers in front of the doors.

But our guard poles are not small. Most are 8" diameter steel well casing
about 8 ft tall with another 6 ft buried in the ground and anchored by a
couple yards of concrete. The pipes themselves are also filled with
concrete. About 2 weeks ago we came to work finding one of these leaning at
a very interesting angle.

It was obvious what had happened although nobody reported it. A semi driver
drove his rig around the post, cutting the corner too close to the post and
the side of his trailer impacted the post midway down the length of the
trailer. But instead of simply backing up before causing extensive damage
he continued to drive forward!

The side of the trailer actually "rode up" onto the side of the post and
left rubber tire residue on the post 5 ft above the pavement.

It took about a week to find out what had happened. The trucking company's
insurance adjuster called. It happened to be a local company. They must
have been too embarrassed to call. Damage to semi trailer over $5000....
damage to post $0... we just had to stand it back up and pour more cement
around the base.

Jim

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
ups.com...
On the bright side, at least your aircraft wasn't in there. That could
have been a real problem.

Good point. Another good thing: The guy hit opposite our kitchen area,
which (in winter) is where our Mustang convertible gets parked. THAT
would have sucked, too.

And I'm glad it's not spring, or we'd be looking at a terrible bird
problem, thanks to the big hole. We spent a zillion hours filling ever
nook and cranny with expandable foam, and have kept our hangar entirely
bird-proof for four years now. I'd hate to start over.

But, still, it's ridiculous. I mean, how in hell do you back a semi
into a BUILDING? I mean, it's a BIG building, with 16 T-hangars.
It's not like it jumped out in front of the guy.

I drove trucks for five years in high school/college, (admittedly not
semi trucks), and was always amazed at the number of backing accidents.
All ya gotta do is LOOK, for criminies sake...

...mumble-grumble-stupid-idiots...

:-(
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Good point. Another good thing: The guy hit opposite our kitchen area,
which (in winter) is where our Mustang convertible gets parked. THAT
would have sucked, too.

Is the beer okay?!!!!

Thank God, yes...

;-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message

But, still, it's ridiculous. I mean, how in hell do you back a semi
into a BUILDING? I mean, it's a BIG building, with 16 T-hangars.
It's not like it jumped out in front of the guy.

I drove trucks for five years in high school/college, (admittedly not
semi trucks), and was always amazed at the number of backing accidents.
All ya gotta do is LOOK, for criminies sake...

Looking is one thing. Understanding and reacting to what you're seeing is
quite another. If you don't have the depth perception and judgement to know
what you're seeing, all the looking in the world won't prevent accidents of
this type.

You can see the same thing and it's opposite every day in shopping center
parking lots. A person will be making a sharp turn in the process of
leaving a parking space: head canted upward in the strange belief that
this somehow enhances the view, slowly ceeping through the turn while
carefully looking, hoping for no contact, while in fact there is a 5 or 6
foot gap between the subject and object vehicles. Most people have no idea
where their corners are, and I suspect that includes a large number of
locally hired truck drivers.

In article . com,
"Jay Honeck" wrote:

But, still, it's ridiculous. I mean, how in hell do you back a semi
into a BUILDING?

Well, he probably had to swerve several times...

--
Bob Noel
Looking for a sig the
lawyers will hate

Bob Noel wrote:
In article . com,
"Jay Honeck" wrote:

But, still, it's ridiculous. I mean, how in hell do you back a semi
into a BUILDING?

Well, he probably had to swerve several times...

Years ago an acquaintance was studying to become a mechanical engineer
and needed a thesis topic. He decided to look into why the standard
design for a loading dock was something like "do the design, compute all
the loads for the largest shipments, the weight of forklifts, etc AND
THEN MULTIPLY ALL THE SUPPORT SIZES BY 4." This was uniformly accepted
as safe practice.

It was true. Anything less would crumble within a short time. The
answer was that trucks would back into the docks.

You should see the spots in our asphalt where drivers, once backed up to the
dock, will continue to push the accelerator rather than floating the clutch
and applying the brakes... 3-4" deep gouges in the asphalt from the drive
tires spinning. Then there are those that actual back into the dock and
bounce off... unreal.

Years of experience around guys like these prove how inexpensive
overbuilding and using lots of steel and concrete is compared to repairing
buildings.

Jim

"Stubby" wrote in message
. ..
Bob Noel wrote:
In article . com,
"Jay Honeck" wrote:

But, still, it's ridiculous. I mean, how in hell do you back a semi
into a BUILDING?

Well, he probably had to swerve several times...

Years ago an acquaintance was studying to become a mechanical engineer and
needed a thesis topic. He decided to look into why the standard design
for a loading dock was something like "do the design, compute all the
loads for the largest shipments, the weight of forklifts, etc AND THEN
MULTIPLY ALL THE SUPPORT SIZES BY 4." This was uniformly accepted as safe
practice.

It was true. Anything less would crumble within a short time. The
answer was that trucks would back into the docks.

Was the driver from Mexico? Maybe he couldn't read the
instructions?

It's funny that you ask, but the paver's work crew appeared to be
all-Mexican. (Although this was apparently NOT the paver's truck
driver that hit the hangar.)

And, yes, their insurance will pay to have the hangar repaired.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Years of experience around guys like these prove how inexpensive
overbuilding and using lots of steel and concrete is compared to repairing
buildings.

Yeah, my loading dock at our distribution center in Kenosha, WI had to
withstand the impact of Teamster union drivers ramming the Chicago
Tribune semis into it, night after night. One time they actually moved
the back wall of the building off its foundation, having fully used up
the shock absorbers. Must've been going 20 mph to do that.

They were idiots, but they weren't "accidentally" hitting the building,
like this guy apparently was. The Teamsters did it for sport.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Jay Honeck wrote:
...
They were idiots, but they weren't "accidentally" hitting the building,
like this guy apparently was. The Teamsters did it for sport.

Do any teamsters have pilot licenses?

They were idiots, but they weren't "accidentally" hitting the building,
like this guy apparently was. The Teamsters did it for sport.

Do any teamsters have pilot licenses?

Well, given what they were being paid, it would certainly not have been
beyond their means. (Of course, my data points are a bit dated now. My
experience working with Teamsters ran from 1988 to 1994.)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"