The man that lost his friend was my daddy.  After hearing this had happen my heart hit the ground.  Cause that could have been my daddy. All through his life does not have more meaning than the two that lost their life on the road that day a part of my was thanking god that I had my daddy still.  My heart goes out to his family as I know for sure they are hurting right now.  My father after that day is now thinking about coming off the road but I tryied to resure him that it could of happen to anyone.  He has been driving a truck as long as I can remember and I am 27 now.  So that is his life.  My prayers go out to the families that lost a loved one that day.  And remember that those truckers that everyone always says they hate that is someone’s father , brother, husband, friend, wife, daughter, Grandparent. and they are people to. And all they are trying to do is make a living like everyone esle for their family.  And Daddy if you read this Stay safe if not for me than your beauitful grandson.  We love you.  And trucker make the world go around remember that the next time you cuss them or cutt them off.
A Trucker’s daughter

Yeah that is a scary thought. When I was around 6 or 7 we were driving home from Birmingham and one of our tires blew out and we lost control of the car and flew across into on coming traffic with a huge 18 wheeler coming right at us. That was the scariest thing I have ever experienced in my life.

Ya know, that is pretty scary to think about.  I can understand it completely, but it sure puts a lot of people at risk.

I travel the interstate back and forth every day, but I can honestly say I have never given much thought to a big rig going out of control due to a blown tire.

yes bama bob, it’s not a bad guess.  of coarse it’s just a theory and believe it or not i have seen brand new steer tire failures in the past.  defects or flaws in the curing process.
in truth, i have put off some maintenance things i normally wouldn’t because of the economy, but i do have new tires.  as for the occurances of a notable increase in steer tire failures, it has just appeared to me recently that the number is on the rise.  not a far stretch to make the assumption that it is indeed a problem brought on by the economic mess we are all enduring.

The reason a small amount of Gas if worse than a full tank is that the Fumes are explosive vs. the Gasoline itself. In all theory you should be able to put a cig. in a bucket of Gas without a problem if you were able to eliminate all fumes. However I wouldn’t adivse testing this but in theory it should be able to happen.

Joe – Would you blame this declining economy for the failure to update steering tires?  Or, has this been a long-term problem?

yes bama bob u are correct in noticing how a truck can continue when it blows a rear dual tire as in a retread.  you are also correct in your assumption that a loss of a steering tire would result in loss of control.  believe me i’ve had it happen in the past and you’ll “sweat” all over yourself hanging on for the ride with 80000 lbs pushing you wherever it wants to.  i always wonder why folks insist on tailgateing or riding beside us mile after mile???  these tires will kill you!!  as i stated in my posting, i have noticed far more steer tire failures this year and i am only assuming that the reason lies with the prolonged “not necessairly illegal” use of steer tires because of lack of freight and loss of revenue as of late with the failing economy pushes us to get all we can out of a tire.  the tires cost installed usually start about $450 each
in closing yes the cars being hauled have just enough gas in them to get them on and off the truck only and a tank like that explodes much more violently than a full one…it’s an air to fuel ratio thing…bigger explosion but smaller fire..hope i cleared up a thing or two for you…glad you posted…joe

This brings to mind the story of the young man that lost his life on 1-10 this last year…he was driving one of the city trucks and had a blow-out,was unable to control it and hit the median concrete guard rail, and died. His truck also caught fire. Great guy, great family.

My thoughts and prayers to all the families…

I didn’t realize the cars in transport on those trucks had gas in their tanks.  Is that a smart way to haul them?

Also, what kind of blowout would cause such complete loss of control of the tractor?  One of the front two?  Tires separate and come off of those rigs all the time and the truck can still be driven.  But, this story makes it sound like a tire went out and the rig went shooting across the medium.  How often does something like that happen?

as an otr driver i have noticed many more tire failures this year on all types of vehicles than in the past.  just today i have seen 3 semi trucks on the roadside with blown steer tires.(on a 300 mile radius trip)  sadly i can only assume that such is the result of the very bad economic times truckers are facing just making ends meet.  not just independents but large and small fleets, are keeping the tires on longer than they’d normally do.  not to say that the tires are run longer than legal just longer than normal.  it is so tragic to see a tire failure cause a fatal accident.  such a loss is in no way acceptable weather you’re driving a semi with a $400 ea tire or a car or suv with a $100 tire.  your tires are your life on the highway, please treat them as such, whomever you are or whatever you drive.  i feel a great loss today.  loosing a couple of fellow hard working truckers, whom are likely family men as myself over a tire failure is senseless.  if nothing else is learned by this tragic loss, please everyone give us some room and respect in our travels.  what we do is dangerous by the sheer size and weight of our vehicles.  there could have been dozens more fatalities or injuries had there been several cars stacked up among these two trucks.  safest bet…in my opinion…just stay well clear in front, behind, and around trucks…just my $.02..thanks for the soapbox..of coarse my condolences to the famalies…the trucking comunity feels your loss also.