I should apply for a CDL license
- Thread starter Arjun
- Start date
I see videos like this weekly on YT, from all over the world.
What concerns me the most is that there is a purportedly CDL-licensed driver barreling down the highway at 70+ MPH, big mirrors on both sides of the truck and a clear rear window.....and they're oblivious for miles that the bed is up. Are they stoned? On the phone? Drunk? WTF?
Since the 70's none of the bucket truck or boom trucks I operated would allow you to move if A) all of the outriggers were not retracted and locked or B) if the booms and extensions were not fully retracted, parked in their home position and strapped down.
Would it be that difficult or expensive to put a similar feature or at least a warning light and alarm on the dash of these dump trucks to tell them their $%#@ bed is up? Check valves in the hydraulic line that feeds the lift cylinder will allow an un-restrained bed or boom to inch up as the vehicle bounces but prevents the same cylinder from going back down because the fluid is locked in place by the check valve. After many miles the bed can be very, very high. In some cases maybe the driver dumped then drove off with the bed raised...only they know, I guess. This has been the case for many, many years. I wonder if some operators disabled such safety measures.
In any event, there's no good excuse for hitting an overpass, bridge, etc. with a fully extended dump bed, IMO.
What concerns me the most is that there is a purportedly CDL-licensed driver barreling down the highway at 70+ MPH, big mirrors on both sides of the truck and a clear rear window.....and they're oblivious for miles that the bed is up. Are they stoned? On the phone? Drunk? WTF?
Since the 70's none of the bucket truck or boom trucks I operated would allow you to move if A) all of the outriggers were not retracted and locked or B) if the booms and extensions were not fully retracted, parked in their home position and strapped down.
Would it be that difficult or expensive to put a similar feature or at least a warning light and alarm on the dash of these dump trucks to tell them their $%#@ bed is up? Check valves in the hydraulic line that feeds the lift cylinder will allow an un-restrained bed or boom to inch up as the vehicle bounces but prevents the same cylinder from going back down because the fluid is locked in place by the check valve. After many miles the bed can be very, very high. In some cases maybe the driver dumped then drove off with the bed raised...only they know, I guess. This has been the case for many, many years. I wonder if some operators disabled such safety measures.
In any event, there's no good excuse for hitting an overpass, bridge, etc. with a fully extended dump bed, IMO.
Last edited: