Truck and Trailer Roll away
What happened?
Driver has collected loaded trailer and approached the gantry so as to secure the load. On entering the strapping gantry the driver caught the side board of the trailer and as he drove forward the gantry started to move. He then went backwards and the framework of the gantry moved again.
At this he decided to jump out of his vehicle to investigate, only for the vehicle to roll backwards about 20 feet.
Luckily, on this occasion, there was no one behind the vehicle.
Findings:
Investigation is under way, however so far:
- Driver forgot to apply handbrake
- Tractor unit is equipped with a working handbrake alarm
- Driver exited the cab without acting on the alarm
Recommendations:
- When purchasing new tractor units, it is recommended to specify a unique sounding and suitably loud handbrake alarm
- Remind all drivers that when any audible alarm is sounding they must check the cause before exiting the cab
- Brief drivers on the incident and importance of taking 2 minutes to review situation before reacting and breaking their routine
