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A massive five-vehicle pileup occurred on a stretch of westbound Interstate 64 near the southwestern Illinois city of New Baden Friday, critically injuring one man. Reports say that the fiery, chain-reaction crash involved a pickup pulling a trailer, a U-Haul box truck pulling a trailer, a tractor-trailer, an SUV, and a flatbed semi truck.
Last week we reported that the American Trucking Association’s Technology and Maintenance Council (TMC) established a task force to investigate the causes of commercial truck fires and prescribe possible solutions. The issue has taken on a special urgency because truck fires today tend to be much more intense than they were when cabs sported utilitarian interiors that were less conducive to heat and flame. Modern cab and sleeper trim, new composites and flammable glues invite the small spark of an electrical short or the heat of two crossed wires to ignite a fire and engulf all parts of the truck in the blink of an eye. The TMC task hasn’t formally published its findings yet, but it has recommended a few things that drivers, carrier companies and service technicians should observe extra carefully in order to mitigate the chances of a fire breaking out.
The American Trucking Associations’ Technology and Maintenance Council (TMC) has established a Task Force to investigate the causes of commercial motor vehicle fires and to identify measures to prevent them. According to one electrical expert and Council contributor, Bruce Purkey of Purkey’s Fleet Electric, truck fires are especially dangerous in today’s trucks for reasons that aren’t entirely clear.
