Isn't this already the law in PA . . NY, maybe?

[cdswans]

Bill requiring drivers to clean snow, ice from vehicles advances . .

Bill requiring drivers to clean snow, ice from vehicles advances | Daily Record | Daily Record

Have you ever seen it enforced?

Have you ever seen the equipment or facilities they suggest we use or in use?

"Trucking industry officials said federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration rules would prohibit drivers climbing on the roof of a 13-foot high tractor trailer to clean off snow and ice."

That should read "industry officials perpetuating the myth . . " We work for the DOT and are therefore exempted from OSHA regs.

[Snowman7]

This subject has been debated heavily many times. Everyone agrees snow and ice on trailers is dangerous but so is climbing on top of one to clean it off. I think LEO's try to look the other way because most understand the difficulty involved. But if someone gets hurt because of your snow and ice I'm sure you're going to be in some trouble. Here in OH you cannot get on the turnpike if you are over 14'. If you look by the toll booth you will see two poles with lazer and if you cannot get under them you dont get on. This picture shows my supervisors cleaning off trailers last winter. They knew if they didnt we would not pull them and we weren't gonna climb up there. I did climb to the top of the ladder but it just wasnt gonna happen! We normally go under a bridge around the corner from our terminal that was just over 13'6" but last year that road was closed due to construction.



There are scraper systems that can be bought but they are expensive and would be of no use to an OTR guy who was no where near a home terminal. Our Harrisburg terminal has one similar to this.

Scraper Systems, Inc. - Snow Removal Equipment for the Trucking Industry

If they start enforcing laws then I don't know what the OTR guys can do to comply.

[AC120]

We don't "work for the DOT." -- It's okay, just kidding, I know what you were trying to say.

Truck drivers are not always exempt from OSHA regs and investigations. If you had been the Swift driver who was crushed to death between two pups at Swift's (old) Wilsonville, OR yard in 1991, OSHA would have investigated your passing (they did--it was your fault). If you had been the Swift driver who pulled out of the shop at the (old) Salt Lake yard, crushing the legs of a mechanic who was working under the truck, OSHA would have investigated--and cited you as the responsible party. They did and you sure as hell were.

Google "OSHA trucking" to learn more. A lot more. Maybe too much . . .

A guy on top of a trailer shoveling snow--cue OSHA!

Interesting posts, cdswans and snowman7. Thanks.

[mike3fan]

OSHA has jurisdiction over off-highway loading and unloading, such as warehouses, plants, grain handling facilities, retail locations, marine terminals, wharves, piers, and shipyards. DOT has jurisdiction over interstate highway driving, Commercial Driving Licensing (CDL), the hours of service and roadworthiness of the vehicles. EPA has jurisdiction over the natural environment and pollution prevention programs. OSHA has jurisdiction unless preempted by another federal agency such as DOT or EPA, but can only be preempted in a specified activity or task. OSHA has the ultimate responsibility for the safety and health of all employees.

Summary of and Guidance for OSHA Safety Requirements for the Trucking Transportation Industry

[Double R]

Bill requiring drivers to clean snow, ice from vehicles advances . .

Bill requiring drivers to clean snow, ice from vehicles advances | Daily Record | Daily Record

Have you ever seen it enforced?

Have you ever seen the equipment or facilities they suggest we use or in use?

"Trucking industry officials said federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration rules would prohibit drivers climbing on the roof of a 13-foot high tractor trailer to clean off snow and ice."

That should read "industry officials perpetuating the myth . . " We work for the DOT and are therefore exempted from OSHA regs.

It is a law in PA. It was passed a couple years ago.

As for being enforced, I have never seen it happen on this side of the state but I did hear about them enforcing about 1 1/2 ago out by Lancaster. It was right after a huge chunk of ice flew off a west bond tractor trailer on the PA pike and the ice hit the windshield of a east bound tanker causing a crash.

Now if they would enforce that law on the 4-wheeler too. It is for BOTH!

[cdswans]

Scraper Systems, Inc. - Snow Removal Equipment for the Trucking Industry That's pretty much how I thunk it would look. Now imagine you have responsibility for more than one truck, like a (#?) fleet of trucks. Where is the removed snow and ice supposed to go so that it doesn't create it's own set of problems? You couldn't put one of these at a truck stop, for instance. You'd have a mountain in no time.

If any of you read the comments attached to the article, one of the posters suggested "someone" would have to build garages for us . . Ala Danny's Truck Spa!

[cdswans]

This is the section I was referring to:

While traveling on public highways, the Department of Transportation (DOT) has jurisdiction. However, while loading and unloading trucks, OSHA regulations govern the safety and health of the workers and the responsibilities of employers to ensure their safety at the warehouse, at the dock, at the rig, at the construction site, at the airport terminal and in all places truckers go to deliver and pick up loads.

And the link: Safety and Health Topics: OSHA Assistance for the Trucking Industry - OSHA Standards

My understanding is that if you undertake to remove the snow yourself, you have no OSHA. If you hire someone to do it, they do have OSHA. The same would be true of a chain-up or off contractor or even a chrome cleaner.

99% of my time is spent in on or around a truck on a highway. I have no OSHA. Not that I'd really want another bureaucracy to answer to.

[Rawlco]

A similar law was passed in CT last year, so all together that makes CT, NJ, PA for sure. All we need are NY and MA to make it the complete set of over-regulated states.

[Windwalker]

Scraper Systems, Inc. - Snow Removal Equipment for the Trucking Industry

I know I've seen one of these, and while I'm not sure, I believe it was at a Wal-Mart DC, but I don't remember which one. Seems to me, someone else had one too, and had a couple of outside drivers run under it before they left. Wish I could remember where. Does that mean I'm not just getting older, but "old"???

[golfhobo]

Well, I have no opinion at the moment concerning OSHA or cost accounting for carriers. And, as a driver, I don't want to get up there and DO it! But, it IS a safety issue that should be addressed somehow or another!

A couple of days ago, while returning to my "other yard" in Charlotte, NC, I was behind a truck who obviously had been up North earlier that day. He had a big sheet of ice on the roof of his trailer near the back. The temp was rising, and it was melting. I had to run my wipers to clear the water he was shedding, like a rainstorm!

Suddenly, it occurred to me, that this whole "shelf" of ice cold come off at one moment and crash through my windshield seriously altering my God given beauty!

I was trying like HECK to pass him, but I was heavier and he was stubborn! I don't think he had ANY IDEA that the ice was there, or that it was about to come off!

As for the "garage" idea, or whatever..... remember that he MAY have started out in a sunny clime, and got stuck in the ICE STORM that hit the Midwest. He MAY have been shut down for a day in a truckstop with NO POWER.

No one really THINKS about all that snow or icy mix that builds up on their trailers when they finally get to "go!" They just drive like heck!

Earlier that day, I had my OWN "ice flow" drop like a bomb on my windshield from my "visor." Scared the heck out of me! I can only imagine what a 4wheeler would do if a sheet of ice that big hit HIS windshield! Can you say "multiple car accident with fatalities?"

I believe this is a SERIOUS problem. I will be paying attention to the discussion of what should be done. But, I have no doubt that SOMETHING should be done!

Maybe, an "oldtimer" will chime in here with what THEY used to do in this situation. OSHA be danged! I'll climb up there if I need to. But, I don't want to shovel 742 square feet of ice or snow without getting PAID for it!

I WOULD ask Belpre (since he knows everything...) but, heck.... he yanks a silver bullet on it's SIDE! What does HE know?

[Windwalker]

The current means of cleaning off the roofs of trailers all have short-comings.

The ones that you pull the trailers under to scrap off the snow only takes off the loose snow, and the rubber blades do nothing at all about the ice under the snow. I don't mind snowballs coming off of someone's roof. It's the sheet of ice that will do all the damage when it hits, and that can be up to a couple of inches thick. I've seen a 13' 6" trailer hit the top of a 13' 7" overpass. I don't know if the roof of the trailer was damaged, but the I-beam shaved a layer of ice off the top of the trailer. The Wal-Mart driver said he pulled it through the snow removal at the DC.

I've been on top of a flatbed loaded with lumber, each unit covered with it's own disposable plastic tarp material. While parked at the yard, it snowed, thawed, then snowed again. The day I was up there, I could wear a t-shirt. Ice under the snow, and a layer of water under that. Took one step, and got an instant elevator ride to the ground. Now, do that while trying to shovel off the top of a 13' 6"... Your shoe does not have to slip. The ice you may be standing on can take off like a surf-board, with you on it. It's a long way down to that sudden stop.

There are only two safe ways I know of to get the ice off the top.. Well, maybe three...

1. Put the trailer into a heated building and melt the ice off... will take a few hours.

2. Rigging from above with a safety cable, and wearing a safety harness while removing it. When the ice breaks loose and wants to give you a ride over the edge, the safety cable keeps you up there. (There are shippers that load flatbeds that make a driver do this to tarp his load.)

and....

3. Wait for it to melt off in spring...

Lawmakers can pass laws about removing the snow and ice, but they have no realistic idea of how dangerous it is for anyone attempting to abide by the full letter of the law. Their intent for safety on the highway is great, but their practicallity is seriously flawed.

[allan5oh]

More and more trailers have transulcent roofs nowadays. There's no way that roof can support a driver up there.

[mike3fan]

More and more trailers have transulcent roofs nowadays. There's no way that roof can support a driver up there.

I walked on my translucent roof plenty of times.

[Old Salt_19]

I was doing a D/H at Kane Distribution in Tunkhannock, PA. My loaded trailer like all the others staged against the rear of the warehose had between 2' and 4' of snow drifted on top.

The yard jockey sat out back informing the drivers picking up loads that they were not allowed to leave the facility until the driver had removed the snow from the trailer. He stated that its against the law in PA to drive on their roads like that.

He then directed the drivers over to the snow removal rack, pull through at a slow pace as it scrapes scrapes the snow off the trailer, then another yard jockey running a bobcat scooped up and removed the pile left behind so the next driver could pull through.

First time I'd encountered a shipper or receiver going to these lengths to protect themselves, the drivers and the driving public.

[GMAN]

These lawmakers can make all the laws they want but I would not climb on top of a 13' 6" trailer and shovel off ice and snow. I fell from the top of a carhauler about 10 years ago and broke my back. I don't plan on repeating it. These people panic when something happens to one individual. It is much more dangerous for drivers to climb on top of a icy trailer than it is from ice falling through a windshield. It is highly unlikely that ice would fly off a trailer and through a windshield unless that driver is following too closely to the truck. These people make all these laws without being required to use common sense. They would do more to protect the public if they had a law that required these 4 wheelers to stay back 500 feet when they see snow on a trailer. Frankly, I think they just have too much time on their hands. I bet those who pushed through this legislation were personal injury lawyers.

[Windwalker]

I was doing a D/H at Kane Distribution in Tunkhannock, PA. My loaded trailer like all the others staged against the rear of the warehose had between 2' and 4' of snow drifted on top.

The yard jockey sat out back informing the drivers picking up loads that they were not allowed to leave the facility until the driver had removed the snow from the trailer. He stated that its against the law in PA to drive on their roads like that.

He then directed the drivers over to the snow removal rack, pull through at a slow pace as it scrapes scrapes the snow off the trailer, then another yard jockey running a bobcat scooped up and removed the pile left behind so the next driver could pull through.

First time I'd encountered a shipper or receiver going to these lengths to protect themselves, the drivers and the driving public.

And, the snow removal rack has rubber blades, like a snow plow, to remove the snow. But, that's all it removes. If there is a layer of ice at the bottom, it's still there when you leave. And, it's the ice, not the snow, that really does the damage when it comes off. I don't mind the snowballs on my windshield. I have wipers that I can turn on, even for just one stroke. But the "KITE" that lifts off the top of a trailer is a different story.