Friday, March 9, 2018

"The semi-trailer, however, burned almost completely"



The hauling of dross from our facilities to process facilities happens everyday with no incidents. On occasion this transportation will occur during inclement weather and incidents can occur. Luckily this recent story from Europe had no injuries because of the quick thinking of the truck driver.

Drivers had to come clear on the A20 between Schönberg and Lüdersdorf. There, on Wednesday, March 7, 2018 in the morning at 1.30 am, a semi-trailer with aluminum bars caught fire. The A20 first had to be fully closed on both sides until around 4 o'clock because there was also a threat to oncoming traffic. Later in the day, the A20 was in the direction Lübeck for motorists for hours. Truck convoys then rolled over country roads and through places like Raddingsdorf to get back on the A20.





The semi-trailer was loaded with 23.5 tons of metal. The driver from Belarus succeeded in decoupling the semi-trailer in time to prevent further damage. "The semi-trailer, however, burned almost completely," said a spokesman of the motorway and traffic police station Metelsdorf. According to his information, the charge was destroyed by the fire. There was a loss of about 70,000 euros. Why the semitrailer caught fire is so far unclear. –

We are glad that no one was injured in this incident. Though the new media article stated that aluminium bars were being transported. Upon inspection of the photos, it appears that dross pressings were being transported. We have reported numerous incidents where dross in transportation catches fire when it comes into contact with moisture of some sort. Regardless, it is best to ship dross pressings when they are cooled and to minimize any moisture contact.

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