| Past
Issues |
November 2001 |
A
REMINDER
TO TRAIN
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COURTESY
Lights on and driving cautiously and courteously is what this driver from Bakers Transport was doing. Good one Bakers. You looked really good out there. Note the conditions though - rain, poor light and a road surface made slippery from the hail.
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It has been pointed out in past issues of this magazine that South African truck drivers can travel through four seasons in one day. FleetWatch editor Patrick O'Leary experienced two of them on a short trip from Johannesburg to Heidelberg and took these photographs to remind truckers that it gets pretty hairy out there at times and because of this, they should never stop training their drivers.
It wasn't exactly sunny in Johannesburg when I set off. The sky was pretty clear and the only hint of what was to come were some darkish clouds in the distance. However, about 15 kms out on the N3, those darkish clouds had coagulated into real Highveld 'humdingers' - you know the type where you just wait for them to open and drop their deluge of lightning, rain and hail.
JACKNIFE
(below left)
The first casualty along the way - a jack-knifed 'Poni'
combination. That's Rod MacKintosh of Car Towing Services
on the right with his colleague on the left and the driver
in the middle. Note the clear weather conditions compared
to the other photographs taken about ten minutes later.
SHELTER(above
right)
Trucks and cars shared the shelter under the bridge to avoid the deluge |
It was just over a rise that the first casualty of the rain sat stranded. It was a 'Poni' combination which had jack-knifed with the Sprinter locked under its trailer which was extending dangerously across one lane of the highway. I stopped and mere seconds after, two guys in a Mercedes pulled up. I couldn't believe it. It was Rod MacKintosh of Car Towing Services. These guys are fast.
We saw that the rain was fast approaching again and MacKintosh suggested that we stand on the back of the Sprinter and bounce on it with the driver inching the Sprinter forward as we did so. It worked. The trailer unlocked itself and before we had a change to talk to the grateful driver, we were running towards our respective cars as the rain started again.
It wasn't long after that the deluge hit and as I drove, I encountered some white 'stuff' lying on the sides of the road. The first thought was that it was some kind of a spillage but then I realised it was hail. The ground was covered in it - it looked like snow.
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HAIL(below
left)
This close-up of the hail on the road and the traffic demonstrates the dangerous driving conditions.
WIPERCHECK
(above right)
And this photograph acts as reminder to all operators that we're in the rainy season so check out those wipers on all your rigs. As you can see, it's a critical safety item at this time of the year. |
With the rain and the hail cutting visibility to a dangerous level, I pulled up under the next bridge, hauled out the camera and took the shots you see here. It was pretty crowded under that bridge with cars and trucks sharing the shelter.
As I stood and watched the comings and goings of the cars and trucks, it struck me just how dangerous it can get out on the roads. That hail made the road conditions as slippery as an ice-rink. It was dangerous stuff. And 45 minutes earlier, we had all been driving on dry roads under a fairly clear sky.
To all operators, we say: Regard these photographs as a reminder that your drivers need your support while they're out on the roads - and the best support you can give them is on-going training to prepare them for the different circumstances they will encounter. As we said: It can get pretty hairy out there - and these photographs prove that.
