Any Mythbuster fans? Another trucking myth.

[Manicmechnic]

The post below is not mine but I would like to know more if this is true or is it a myth? Also do any of you have any myths to share?
"I have always heard about loads of onions in a dry van that is not vented EXPLODING. Due to the onions rubbing together and emitting some sort of gasses. I have heard this for years and numerous people. WHAT IS YOUR TAKE?"http://community.discovery.com/eve/f...6/m/3481972378

[Rev.Vassago]

If it were true, then onions would be classified as a HM. (which is only true if I am eating them)


Never heard that one before.

[Manicmechnic]

Come to think about it I have only seen onions tarped on a flatbed.
I have a myth to add "stale green light" I never see it red I was told that if a you see a green light it will turn red by the time you get there. "Only kidding"
What trucking myth have you heard?

[ben45750]

If traveling at night, in dark areas if you flash your high beam's at the intersection the light will stay green or if the light is red it will turn green. Heard this from a drivers once, he said some lights have a detection system in the lights so if an emergency vehicle is approaching with the emergency flashers on it will give them the right away.

Never tried it so don't know if it works?

[mowman]

Consider the potential causes for an explosion:

1. A "Balloon" effect where (perhaps due to decomposition) the onions emit a gas which expands to the point where it can't be contained by the trailer. I don't think there is such a thing as a truly unvented trailer.

2. Perhaps decomposition creates a flammable gas (such as methane) that could be ignited by an ignition source. These types of gases are created in such minute amounts that there isn't enough volume in a 53 footer for the amount required to go BOOM!!!

I'd say .... BUSTED!!!!!

[DEVIL'S ADVOCATE]

Gee....I better get that big bag of onions out of the pantry........

Be good, Jim

[marylandkw]

If traveling at night, in dark areas if you flash your high beam's at the intersection the light will stay green or if the light is red it will turn green. Heard this from a drivers once, he said some lights have a detection system in the lights so if an emergency vehicle is approaching with the emergency flashers on it will give them the right away.

Never tried it so don't know if it works?

The system you are talking about is called Opticom and it is made by 3M. It is a flashing light but at an astonishingly fast rate. Please don't quote me on this but IIRC it is something like 300 flashes a minute. You would have to be pretty good at flashing your lights to get it to work not to mention that I doubt halogen lights can cycle that fast.

And to answer your next question, Back in the day when I had one legaly, I abused the heck outta it.

[Twilight Flyer]

The system you are talking about is called Opticom and it is made by 3M. It is a flashing light but at an astonishingly fast rate. Please don't quote me on this but IIRC it is something like 300 flashes a minute. You would have to be pretty good at flashing your lights to get it to work not to mention that I doubt halogen lights can cycle that fast.

You are correct and it is illegal for any vehicle other than an emergency vehicle to be equipped with one. The fines for possessing them illegally are quite extensive, too. The light that does it is that strobe usually mounted on the bumper or integrated into the light bar.

With some of the older light systems, it was possible to get it to work with regular lights. There was a particular downtown light in Greensboro, NC that I had to run through every night on my way home from work. It was a notoriously looooong light but in the middle of the night, a few flicks of the high-beams was enough to trigger it. But that was years ago, too. Doubt you could make it work today.

[Mr. Ford95]

There is still some in VA that work like that one you saw in Greensboro, Twi. Out in the sticks mainly but occasionally you can find one in the city area's.

[stevedb28]

Consider the potential causes for an explosion:

1. A "Balloon" effect where (perhaps due to decomposition) the onions emit a gas which expands to the point where it can't be contained by the trailer. I don't think there is such a thing as a truly unvented trailer.

2. Perhaps decomposition creates a flammable gas (such as methane) that could be ignited by an ignition source. These types of gases are created in such minute amounts that there isn't enough volume in a 53 footer for the amount required to go BOOM!!!

I'd say .... BUSTED!!!!!

its not the gas it emits. This is a true story, when I was 13, a 7 yr old boy was killed. He was playing on a haystack, what happened was the haystack was very old and it was decomposing deep inside of it causing a lot of heat. Also because of the decomp. The inside was rather hollow. Well he fell through the haystack and the opening he left provided the center of the haystack with oxygen and wooof it went up in flames with the kid unable to get out. I dont know if many people are into farming nowadays but if you ever have dealt with a pile of maneur, it does the same thing, the inside of the pile gets very hot and steams when you shovel it to spread it.

[golfhobo]

Consider the potential causes for an explosion:

1. A "Balloon" effect where (perhaps due to decomposition) the onions emit a gas which expands to the point where it can't be contained by the trailer. I don't think there is such a thing as a truly unvented trailer.

2. Perhaps decomposition creates a flammable gas (such as methane) that could be ignited by an ignition source. These types of gases are created in such minute amounts that there isn't enough volume in a 53 footer for the amount required to go BOOM!!!

I'd say .... BUSTED!!!!!

its not the gas it emits. This is a true story, when I was 13, a 7 yr old boy was killed. He was playing on a haystack, what happened was the haystack was very old and it was decomposing deep inside of it causing a lot of heat. Also because of the decomp. The inside was rather hollow. Well he fell through the haystack and the opening he left provided the center of the haystack with oxygen and wooof it went up in flames with the kid unable to get out. I dont know if many people are into farming nowadays but if you ever have dealt with a pile of maneur, it does the same thing, the inside of the pile gets very hot and steams when you shovel it to spread it.

Moral of the story:

Don't play around on top of a pile of sh$t!! :shock:

[continental]

My favorite is, and so many drivers believe it to be true, is "If you're in trouble with the shipper or the DOT man, the US Marshall will come to your rescue".
Yeap. Just call them and see.

[marcel27208]

Gee....I better get that big bag of onions out of the pantry........

Be good, Jim

LMAO!!!!

[Random_Facts]

I don't have the channel for Myth Busters but heres another good one. they were talking about semis =).

http://www.mentalfunk.com/movies/truckheadon.html

Neat show though you can learn a lot.

[Manicmechnic]

Did you see last nights show? The myth was a truck driver had a load of live birds. The driver came to a bridge he was to heavy for, so he stop the truck got out and bang on the side of the truck. And then the driver was safe enough to go across. Since the birds where in flight the truck was ok to go over bridge.

[Sheepdancer]

I did watch that one last night. I had a "debate" with my wife before the show started. She just couldnt understand that a trailer filled with birds flying would weigh the same as if the birds were sitting on the trailer floor.
Then again, she is blonde.

[Twilight Flyer]

I did watch that one last night. I had a "debate" with my wife before the show started. She just couldnt understand that a trailer filled with birds flying would weigh the same as if the birds were sitting on the trailer floor.

Technically, you are in incorrect and your wife is correct. Granted, the whole thing is a myth because of the randomness associated with getting a bunch of birds to fly and remain flying in the time it would take you to weigh your truck, but the physics surrounding it are pretty straight forward.

Let's say you have 10,000 birds, weighing in at 1 pound each. If each one of them are sitting on the floor of their crate, exerting pressure downward due to gravity, that's 10,000 pounds on your drive axles. If all 10,000 birds were to fly up into the air at the same time and remain airborne, and would exert no pressure on any hard surface, that would be zero weight on your drive axles.

If you don't believe me, take a box and put a brick in it. Put that box on a scale and weigh it. Now, with that box still on the scale, reach in and lift that brick up an inch and watch the weight on the scale go down. The brick is still in the box, but because it exerts no downward pressure, it adds no weight to the box. It's the exact same concept of the bird in the van scenario.

[Sheepdancer]

Did you not watch the whole show? They proved that theory, BUSTED.
The trailer will weigh the same. Newton’s Third Law of Motion, which says that all forces in nature occur in equal and opposite pairs. When they fly, they must push down on the air with a force equal to their weight (or they would fall) and the air, in turn, pushes down the truck floor. The scale measures the downward force equal to the birds' weight. Therefore, the scale reading doesn't change.
They also used a remote control helecopter in the trailer and the weight didnt change.
For your "brick theory" the reason the weight changes is because the equal but opposite force isnt the air pressure pushing down on the floor, Your arm is the equal but opposite force.

[Twilight Flyer]

I didn't watch the show. It was a physics experiment we did back in the early 80's based on the question, does an object in air weigh anything. I suppose, due to the air being forced down, that probably lends itself to busting the myth. But by the same token, if those 10,000 birds hopped up into the air instead of flew, the truck would weigh less.

[Sheepdancer]

When I was in college we had a close to the same question in a Physics of Aviation class. The question was if a 747 was flying from south america with 10,000 5 lb parrots. Could they save fuel by keeping the birds in flight inside the jet? The answer was no.

A simplified question of this same principle can help people undersand. Which weighs more. A fishbowl with 10 dead goldfish on the bottom, A fishbowl with 10 dead goldrfish floating on the top, or a fishbowl with 10 live goldfish swimming around? They all will weigh the same. Fish in a fishbowl is really no different than birds in a trailer, no matter what they are doing.