TECHNICAL RELEASE 11-R-20
Trucks/Trucking: Safety
INTRODUCTION:
Fig. 1: A fenced platform provides safety.Every year many workers die or are permanently injured in fall-related accidents. “It takes one second for you to fall 16 feet.” So says the Safe Working Procedures manual used by DCT Chambers Trucking and its Glen Transport division.
Chambers Trucking has pioneered and developed some of the best mill-site solutions for drivers required to work on top of loaded wood fiber trailers. Loads tarped from the ground are the safest. However, to put on a proper load and maximize the weight, the driver must groom the load from the top of the trailer. Fuel savings, load securement, and contaminant-free hauling are added benefits. To put the best loads on, drivers must groom the loads, knocking off the crowns to avoid over-heights and distributing the load evenly. This task can only be accomplished by working with fall-restraint solutions.
Recently, Glen Transport built an “in-woods” solution for fall restraint, so that when away from mill site infrastructure, efficient load grooming could be completed safely.
GENERAL FEATURES:
Fig. 2: A driver grooming his load safely and efficiently.
Chambers’ mill-site solutions were developed by designing guardrails cantilevered off chip and hog bins. These provide much safer and more efficient protection than other industry solutions that require workers to be tethered with specific travel restrictions and work positioning requirements. The Chambers cantilevered fence guardrail system is proven and has exceeded government and work safe regulations.
Glen Transport has taken the mill site designs to its in-woods hauling operations, using a portable system that offers drivers similar protection and efficiencies. Drivers are able to groom their loads and manage tarps from the safety of an adjacent fenced platform, constructed by modifying an older set of trailers with a fenced work area and by providing access via stairs, rather than ladders.
Fig. 3: Accessibility to platform by stairs, rather than ladder.OPERATION:
The portable tarping and grooming station is transported to an inwoods site and positioned for access, so that loaded trailers may be prepped for highway hauling adjacent to the station. Drivers enter the station from a rear staircase and complete the loading process of grooming the load for optimum weight distribution and rolling or closing the tarps. The portable station is equipped with lighting for 24/7 operations and includes battery-charging solar panels, conspicuity markings, ergonomics to minimize back injuries, and reinforced skid plating for all-weather use.
APPLICATION:
Although suitable for any site, the Glen Transport unit was designed for in-woods chipping and grinding sites that have no safety infrastructure, for optimizing load standards and rolling tarps. The direct benefit is increased load standards and better fuel economy from tarped trailers, all completed at a high safety standard compliant with government fall-restraint safety regulations. The system provides significant improvements over more restrictive and time-consuming tethered systems.
SPECIFICATION AND COSTS:
Fig. 3: Accessibility to platform by stairs, rather than ladder.
The specification consists of using an older fleet legal trailer set with stair and access modifications that create a working fenced platform for drivers.
Nothing takes precedence over safety. Glen Transport has developed a way around expensive fixed platforms and less efficient tethered-style systems in order to maintain its focus on driver safety and customer efficiencies.
Terry Prince
Glen Transport
250-421-3857
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Reviewed by:
Vickie Hoffart
Lake States and Western Regions Manager