"Truck falls over three vehicles..."

The transportation of scrap to and from our facilities is done on a daily basis with no incidents. Here is a recent incident emphasizing the need of proper loading and securing of scrap loads.

Around 12:15 pm one afternoon during the week of January 5, 2020, a truck fell over two cars on a road, in the Scharlau neighborhood, in Southern Brazil. A black Honda HRV car with Camaquã plates and a black Celta with Dois Irmãos plates were completely destroyed. A third vehicle, a silver Fox, with plates from São Leopoldo, which was parked beside it, had its rear dented. The three cars were empty at the time of the accident. The truck driver was taken by the Mobile Emergency Service (Samu) to the Centenary Hospital with head injuries. The truck, belonging to the company RD Metais, was loaded with compacted disposable aluminum cans. According to the owner, the vehicle was traveling from Novo Hamburgo towards Cachoeirinha. The driver's mother resides in the vicinity of the accident, where he would take a break for lunch. According to witnesses, a car passed the avenue at the time of the accident and the truck driver tried to swerve around it, causing it to topple over. According to GCM, the site remains blocked pending removal of the truck. According to the Celta driver, the accident occurred moments after he parked the vehicle.

"In a matter of two minutes that I went down to lunch, a friend called me to see what happened," he recalls. According to the Municipal Civil Guard (GCM), the site was isolated to unblock the road and maintain traffic safety and the Military Brigade recorded the accident. GCM informed that the owner of the truck is responsible for the removal of the debris. Meanwhile, the street remains blocked.

We are grateful that no one was injured in the vehicles that were crushed. We hope that the truck driver was not injured or recovers fully from his injuries.

This incident made us question the height of the load and why a simple maneuver would cause the trailer to tip. We wonder if speed was also a factor in the accident. Looking at the above photo you will see that the load was not properly secured. We do not know if proper securement would have prevented this incident, but it may have.

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