HIGHWAY ACCIDENT REPORT
Adopted: October 2, 1974
HOPPY'S OIL SERVICE, INC.
TRUCK OVERTURN AND FIRE
STATE ROUTE 128,
BRAINTREE, MASSACHUSETTS
OCTOBER 18, 1973 
NTSB Number: HAR-74/04
NTIS Number: PB-237259/AS
SYNOPSIS
At 5:30 a.m., on October 18, 1973, an overweight tractor-semitrailer (tank) carrying gasoline was traveling west on State Route 128 in Braintree, Mass., at about 55 mph. As the truck traversed a minor depression in the road at a repaving project, the rear end of the left equalizer beam on the tractor tandem suspension failed and dropped onto the road surface. This permitted the left end of the rear tractor tandem axle to pivot rearward, which caused the vehicle to steer right and the driver to lose control. The truck veered to the right across the outside traffic lane and shoulder and struck the guardrail on the right side of the road. As the trailer overturned onto the guardrail and slid along the rail, the cargo tank shell punctured and the gasoline cargo escaped. The truck then slid back onto the roadway which abraded through the tank and permitted further escape of the cargo. The truck came to rest on the roadway and burst into flames. The truckdriver died in the fire.

The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the cause of loss of control and subsequent overturn of the truck was the failure of the rear end of the left equalizer beam of the tractor tandem suspension. The failure was precipitated by the increased dynamic loading imposed on the equalizer beam as the truck traversed a depression in the road. Contributing to the failure of the equalizer beam were: (1) inappropriate maintenance and repair procedures used to remove worn bushings and sleeves from the beam, (2) the overweight cargo, and (3) the presence of the minor depression in the road.

RECOMMENDATIONS

On March 15, 1974, as a result of the Board's investigation of this accident, the National Transportation Safety Board issued three recommendations to the Federal Highway Administration. (See Appendix E.) By letter of August 23, 1974, the FHWA advised that these recommendations were under study by the BMCS/FHWA.

The Safety Board further recommends that:

1. The American Trucking Association, Inc., and the Motor Vehicle Manufacturers Association publicize the significance of proper vehicle maintenance and repair procedures with particular emphasis on the importance of not using heat of any kind in those areas where heat may adversely alter the strength characteristics of structural components. (Recommendation H-74-31)

2. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts increase their enforcement of the motor vehicle gross weight regulations presently on its statutes. (Recommendation H-74-32)

3. The Office of Hazardous Materials (Office of the Secretary, Department of Transportation) and the Bureau of Motor Carrier Safety (Federal Highway Administration) review 49 CFR 178.340 to determine if the regulation as presently written is intended to provide protection against puncture or abrasion of cargo tank walls during predictable accident environments. If this is not the case, consider the necessity of rewriting the regulation to provide this protection. (Recommendation H-74-33)

4. That Hendrickson Manufacturing Company and International Harvester Company revise their respective maintenance and repair manuals and service bulletins to delete any reference to the use of heat-producing (ovens, burning, or cutting torch) methods in the performance of-maintenance or repair operations that could in any way effect the strength characteristics of any vehicle component and further, to insure that the manuals and service bulletins carry conspicuous warnings against the use of such heat-producing methods. (Recommendation H-74-34)