Monster Trucks: Hugenormous Edition

So, say you have some natural gas lying around and you want to extract hydrocarbon liquids from it. 

You're going to need a demethanizer tower. Problem is, those towers are huge and must be built in one shot. On site assembly of smaller parts isn't possible. 

How do you get it from the manufacturing plant to your site?

You call an oversize/overweight load specialty motor carrier. These pros work with MoDOT to determine a safe route, design a trailer/tire layout that distributes the weight evenly and ensure the load can safely travel all the bridges, exits and corners on the route.

In many cases, the carrier also contacts the Missouri State Highway Patrol. Troopers assist in escorting the largest and/or most complicated movements. 

This demethanizer load was 12' wide, 15' 3" tall and 240' long
from bumper to bumper. (A football field is 300' long.)

From centuries-old houses to manufacturing equipment to wind turbine elements, MoDOT and the Patrol have assisted in thousands of safe trips.  

It takes time, patience and some expense to arrange such a move, but it sure beats trying to build a demethanizer tower from scratch!

Celebrate - Then Get Back to Work!

It's always fun to share success with friends.

MoDOT Motor Carrier Services got to do that at a recent ceremony, when our division and the MoDOT Springfield Area District received Governor's Awards for Quality and Productivity.

Motor Carrier Services earned honors in customer services. Our group handles the licensing of Missouri-based motor carriers. We also collect fees, taxes and enforce safety laws. Here's the big news: the people we license, tax and hold to the law are happy to work with us! In fact, 95.7 percent of them report they are satisfied - or very satisfied - with our service. A government agency. Wow.

We, in turn, are awed by our co-workers in southwest Missouri. The Springfield Area District earned the first-ever GAQP Pinnacle Award for constructing the first Diverging Diamond Interchange in the Western Hemisphere. The radical, lower-cost design dramatically improved safety and traffic flow in a heavily-congested area. They even completed the entire project in just six months. People found it easy to keep tabs on the project and quickly learned to use the "wrong" side of the road to get through the area quickly and safely. (I used to live nearby and am floored every time I drive through the area!)

It's very telling that even at the celebration, the two groups talked shop, discussing what new improvements could be made to the driving and freight-moving experience. It made me proud to be MoDOT.

Champions of the Highway

I met some folks this weekend who are experts at the Funky Monkey, the Flying H and the Two-Pole Serpentine. They’re not dances or cooking techniques. Those are the names of some problems built into this year’s obstacle course at the Missouri Truck Driving Championships.

The Missouri Trucking Association calls together dozens and dozens of the state’s best accident-free professional drivers for two days of challenges. The marquee event is a
six-station obstacle course. Everyday driving and delivery skills are tested to the extreme. Supporters roared their support as drivers maneuvered large delivery vans and tractors pulling flatbed, tank and van trailers through obstacles demonstrating tight turns, backing skills, distance estimation and safe operation.

Curious, I started asking drivers about their road history. How long had they been accident-free? Five years, two years, 13 years. One gentleman reported an accident-free career of more than 20 years! He’d driven more than enough miles to backhaul moon rocks.

I asked what caused them worry on the road. Family problems? Schedule deadlines? No.

Other drivers.

Given the chance, they’d beg other highway users to put down the cell phone, stop texting, stop with the mascara, quit reading books (what?) and concentrate on driving.

What else? They want everyone to buckle up and to realize that trucks are big. Big stuff takes time to stop. Big trucks have big blind spots. Big vehicles take time to climb big Missouri hills.

What do professional drivers worry about when they’re on the road?

Your safety.

Disappearing Dump Trucks!

My mom always said that my first sentence was, “Me do!” And it seems that anytime I can do and see things for myself, the lesson sticks with me – especially if what I do is out of the ordinary. So I have no doubt that the young adults who participated in a recent “No Zone” event are living the lessons they learned about large trucks’ blind spots.

Wal-Mart, the Missouri Motor Carriers Association and MoDOT brought an 18-wheeler to a Jefferson City parking lot, parked full-sized dump trucks to the back and sides of the trailer and placed a car in front of the truck tractor.

The youths – all enrolled in transportation career exploration programs – climbed into the cab, settled into the driver’s position and discovered something amazing…the dump trucks had DISAPPEARED!

Check out the video. Watch the reactions when the youths realize they can’t see the bright yellow behemoths parked just a few feet away. Without leaning way out of a safe driving position, there was no way to see any of the other vehicles. The vehicle in front of the truck might as well have been a speck on the pavement.

I have no doubt that these young drivers learned a new respect for commercial drivers. When they travel near trucks, they keep look for the drivers’ mirrors, knowing that unless they see the driver, the driver doesn’t see them. They don’t linger while passing and make sure they see the top of the truck in their own mirrors before completing a pass.

Sometimes, "do by self" is the best way to learn how to Arrive Alive.

Back Seat Driving with Trucks

My husband, Mr. Terrific (not his real name), and I did some interstate traveling this week with a good friend. As expected, we encountered several large trucks along the way. What with all the gorgeous Missouri hills and all, we had the opportunity to pass a few.

I reminded Mr. Terrific to re-enter the driving lane only when he saw the truck’s full grille in the rearview mirror. He also got reminders about keeping the truck’s big mirrors in view when driving behind one. (Yes, I was in the back seat.)

That started a discussion in our vehicle. Good Friend remarked how anxious she gets when driving near commercial trucks. I explained that truck drivers are among the most safety-conscious people I know. It’s built into their jobs as rolling businesspeople. They check their vehicle safety systems before they start their workday. They log the location and time of every start, stop and break because there are tough rules about the amount of time they can be behind the wheel. They pull over at weigh stations so the Highway Patrol can check their paperwork and vehicle for violations.

Good Friend didn’t know about all of that. She asked about the mud flaps that say “If you can’t see my mirrors, I can’t see you.” They’re not kidding! The blind spots for trucks are HUGE. They’re located directly behind and in front of the truck and from the back bumper to almost the cab on the driver’s side and the front bumper on the passenger side.

I noticed that Mr. Terrific was leaving more space between our car and the trucks. “I guess in the end, it doesn’t matter whose fault a crash is…when it’s car versus commercial truck, it’s going to be bad news for the car.”

Smart guy, my Mr. Terrific.