Would you make sure all your doors are locked in your house if it was on fire????? NOPE! You would get the h*** out! Why should you try and drive a burning truck?? Not me! Let it burn!

 

I was pulling a Old Flatbed and the seals messed up on it. I had another driver pass me yelled at me over the CB Hey Flatbed, your wheels are smoking bad and that Drum is Red as a Cherry back there. I stopped and walked to the back of the trailer smoke still coming out as notomorrow. Then I saw some flame so I ran and got the fire extingusher and got the fire out. But damagews been done, Pulled out to go to the nearest Truck stop, Ext 199 or 200 there on I-81. Not ext 205 before that. A truck stop that has a Western Star Dealership next door. 2 days and 1600.00 later we pull out of there. My Boss asked me why didn't you just disconnect and let the sucker Burn... Their maiden Voyage into Flatbeding. They mostly did Reefers. Out of the 3 trucks they had, I was the only one who had experence at Flatbeds.

It happens. just got to becareful.

 

Ok, so don't try it if your a company driver but as an O/O, I would try to save my truck if the trailer is going up. You usually won't have time to unhitch from the trailer if the truck goes up, especially with an electrical fire anyways. Just wondering what others would do in this situation since it seems to be happening more and more.

And for the record, the one yesterday was not electrical, the driver had ran off the road into the guardrail where he ripped open his fuel tank which ignited with the sparks from metal on metal grinding. A lot of us thought he had an electrical fire and ran into the guardrail trying to just get stopped so he could get out.

 

My boss once told us if your truck starts on fire call me so I can pull mine up next to yours. But maybe if the rear of the trailer is on fire you could possibly drop it and get the tractor away.

 

If mine catches fire I'll get on the CB ...and quick like!

More than likely I'll be hauling steaks or beef.

"Break on 19...I need some barbeque sauce and A1"

 

When I had my little Fire I mentioned just above yuor last post, I was working for an O/O. They told me I should have let the trailer Burn, that what insurance is for.

My wife was sleeping when I stopped. When I got back to the cab to get my Fire exstingusher I woke her for I was going to get her to help disconnect of need be, but I got the fire out.

 

The Lee Hi at exit 195.

I've put out a wheel fire too. Something went wrong with a brake on my tractor, and it was dragging. It didn't cam over, I'm sure, so I don't know what really caused it, but I figure it was cold-related. I heard a tire blow, looked, saw sparks in my side mirror, but the sparks were actually flames.

It caught one of the inside drives on fire, but the flames had just started going, and I actually got the fire out with my little extinguisher. I was surprised just how little the thing was. Pffft, it's all gone. Not enough extinguishing compound for anything, really, but I guess it was just enough.

It was unusually cold for that area that night, I think it was 7 F outside. I was parked on frozen mud beside a cemetery, and very grateful I had escaped having my whole truck go up. I was glad to have heat, although laying in the bunk in those cascading waves of burnt brake stench for several hours was one of the more miserable experiences of my life. The smell was so thick you could eat it.

One thing I remember most about that night is how nobody on the radio took me seriously at all. "My truck is on fire." "Ba ba booey ba ba booey ba ba booey." "MY TRUCK IS ON FIRE!!!!" "Shut up stupid!" This was before cell phones, and the last pay phone I could think of was miles behind me on dark country road. I was afraid I might not make the round trip with no more winter clothing than I had on that night. Fortunately, I caught a ride with a nice but very mysterious little man, who even lent me money for the pay phone.

 

Yes that is the Truck Stop. It's been a long time since I been that way. The Shop said if I had gone another 5 miles, I would had a wheels flying past me.

Some people will be idiots.. I am one who will help out anyone if I can.

 

Same for me, even though it's in my back yard. That's a story in of itself, but the short version is I've been trying very hard to avoid heading north from here. I have yankeephobia I think.
Me too, but we're a rare breed anymore.

I don't know if it matters, but I'd like to point out that I broke down somewhere in rural North Carolina, not near the Lee Hi. I was talking about two different things there.

Drive safe.

 

Before I became a City driver in Reno I would smell and see drivers burning up their brakes bad going down Donner to Sac on a regular basis.

I was told by the line driver I did my training runs with that ever few months someone has a full blown fire every few months.