Question about semi-trucks. Not an Alpo-ism.

[Dorado]

So today a Semi-truck carrying beer to the local liquor store hung a powerline and killed the power for a few miles including my own house. He didn't hang the line on the way in, but instead on the way out. Which got me thinking, how much booze did he have to unload to raise a trailer high enough to hang a power line?!

 

Kinda curious about this one.

[Presidio]

Vast majority of power lines have a minimum clearance of 18 ft. over main roads. Alleys are 15 ft., Point of Attachment to the riser of a meter box, breaker box of a pole or building is 12 ft., I believe.

 

The max height of a trailer EMPTY is 13.5 ft. That's 4.5 ft. difference on roadways. 1.5 ft, for alleys. And really hugging a building or pole to snag the Riser.

 

No matter what he had loaded, it couldn't raise it 1.5 to 4.5 ft. So unless the line was really, really sagging, he might have caught it with their exhaust stacks before a trailer got it. But, stacks are only marginally higher a few inches than a trailer.

 

A lot more has to be known to know what happened here.

[Dorado]

The lines spanned the driveway. Open country. Shop is a stand alone business nearest neighboring building is probably 100yards away or better.

Whoever does the maintenance on the lines out here is really lax. This isn't the first time this has happened in this area. Usually they get reported but I guess this one didn't. Not a windy day either so it wasn't bouncing around. I don't know. The line caught the leading edge of the trailer as he was pulling out.

[Clay Mosby]

When I was driving our 14' dry vans measured 13' 9" while our 13' 6" reefers were 13' 3" empty. I never measured how much it dropped with 43,000 pounds in the box but it sure wasn't very much.

[Sgt. C.J. Sabre, SASS #46770]

When making a turn, a truck and trailer make a wide turn, with the trailer tracking a very different path than the truck. Even if he pulled out the same way he backed in, when leaving, the trailer would take a different track. Maybe just enough to catch the wire.

[Presidio]

The lines spanned the driveway. Open country. Shop is a stand alone business nearest neighboring building is probably 100yards away or better.

Whoever does the maintenance on the lines out here is really lax. This isn't the first time this has happened in this area. Usually they get reported but I guess this one didn't. Not a windy day either so it wasn't bouncing around. I don't know. The line caught the leading edge of the trailer as he was pulling out.

Kinda figured it was a sagging line that was the cause of your grief. I suppose filing a complaint with the power company would do you folks any good, would it?

 

But, just a question I got is this....The line damaged and caught by the trailer....was it the one leading off of the pole transformer to the building, or one traveling from pole to pole?

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

When making a turn, a truck and trailer make a wide turn, with the trailer tracking a very different path than the truck. Even if he pulled out the same way he backed in, when leaving, the trailer would take a different track. Maybe just enough to catch the wire.

Bingo! The answer is "just enough."

[Seldom Seen #16162]

Maybe the trailer was loaded with Lite Beer.

[The Original Lumpy Gritz]

So today a Semi-truck carrying beer to the local liquor store hung a powerline and killed the power for a few miles including my own house. He didn't hang the line on the way in, but instead on the way out. Which got me thinking, how much booze did he have to unload to raise a trailer high enough to hang a power line?!

 

Kinda curious about this one.

Not one thing to blame the trucker for. The line was sagging.

Many times when we see a line that's low-It's to late, and you pray.

OLG

[Dorado]

The line was pole to pole. I know it wasn't the trucker's fault. He'd been in there many times. I'm more surprised it didn't happen sooner. I'd complain to the power company but all they'd do is give me a blank stare and say "but your power's back on", Jeez. Oh well, No harm done and I got a chance to read some more. Power outages don't bother me none.

[Krazy Kajun]

I work for a power company and have to deal with this at times so I come at this topic from a different angle than most.

 

First off, are you SURE that the line hit was a power company wire? In most cases where there is overhead electrical service there is also overhead telephone service as well. Where the facilities are constructed overhead on poles the telephone wires run below the power wires. Our company routinely has broken poles and outages from trucks hitting wires but the wires being struck by the trucks are most always telephone company cables and CATV cables, not our electrical cables. Most power companies take safety seriously and make sure that their facilities are constructed to meet the National Electric Safety Code (NESC).

 

Also, poles located in close proximity to commercial establishments are sometimes bumped by commercial delivery trucks causing them to lean. If this happens the wires connected to that pole could be lowered in the direction of the lean which could result in lower than constructed wires being hit when they normally would not.

 

To the OP, the fact that electrical service to your house was interrupted when the truck hit the wires tells me that the electrical service in the area, not just to the store getting the delivery was affected. This would mean that the high voltage (primary) wires must have slapped together either phase to phase or phase to neutral when the truck hit the wires....this would have caused a fuse or a recloser (breaker) in the area to open to clear the fault. That means the poles to which the wires were connected had to have been shaken pretty hard for the high voltage wires to make contact with either other or some other grounded wire.

 

All of my discussion doesn't necessarily mean that the wires struck by the truck were not power wires but sometimes there is more to the story.

 

Kajun

[Presidio]

I work for a power company and have to deal with this at times so I come at this topic from a different angle than most.

 

First off, are you SURE that the line hit was a power company wire? In most cases where there is overhead electrical service there is also overhead telephone service as well. Where the facilities are constructed overhead on poles the telephone wires run below the power wires. Our company routinely has broken poles and outages from trucks hitting wires but the wires being struck by the trucks are most always telephone company cables and CATV cables, not our electrical cables. Most power companies take safety seriously and make sure that their facilities are constructed to meet the National Electric Safety Code (NESC).

 

Also, poles located in close proximity to commercial establishments are sometimes bumped by commercial delivery trucks causing them to lean. If this happens the wires connected to that pole could be lowered in the direction of the lean which could result in lower than constructed wires being hit when they normally would not.

 

To the OP, the fact that electrical service to your house was interrupted when the truck hit the wires tells me that the electrical service in the area, not just to the store getting the delivery was affected. This would mean that the high voltage (primary) wires must have slapped together either phase to phase or phase to neutral when the truck hit the wires....this would have caused a fuse or a recloser (breaker) in the area to open to clear the fault. That means the poles to which the wires were connected had to have been shaken pretty hard for the high voltage wires to make contact with either other or some other grounded wire.

 

All of my discussion doesn't necessarily mean that the wires struck by the truck were not power wires but sometimes there is more to the story.

 

Kajun

I agree. An inspection of the sight ought to be performed to determine what needs to be done. Especially if Primary lines are sagging or leaning too close to the ground or enough sag to cause a slapping effect.

 

I say this with 23 years as a former Electrician and now 10 year Truck Driver.

[Dorado]

The poles are a good distance away from the driveway. No possibility of them being bumped. As to whether or not they were power lines or communication lines, I couldn't tell you. But when he hung the line it broke the pole and the entire assembly was laying on the ground.

 

Being in the industry you'd probably be upset if you saw the condition of the lines around here.

[Presidio]

Well, it's a helluva way to get things straightened up and going, but at least it'll be new materials and equipment.....or it should be anyhow.

 

 

And NOT seeing them would be a good thing for my blood pressure.....and for those concerned, if you get my drift

[Smuteye John SASS#24774]

Not one thing to blame the trucker for. The line was sagging.

Many times when we see a line that's low-It's to late, and you pray.

OLG

Yup.

 

But you can bet that it's now on that driver's record as being his fault. Unless it is obviously someone else's fault (like a 4 wheeler t-boning a trailer), it get blamed on the truck driver.

[Presidio]

Unfortunately, that's true.

[The Original Lumpy Gritz]

Yup.

 

But you can bet that it's now on that driver's record as being his fault. Unless it is obviously someone else's fault (like a 4 wheeler t-boning a trailer), it get blamed on the truck driver.

That's a SWAG with no evidence to support your claim.

I held a Class 'A' CDL for over 25 years, and never had a 'preventable' accident on my record.

I was hit several times-Twice buy other semi's

OLG

 

 

OLG