Anyone ever had a trailer tyre blow out?

[Cock Womble 7]

And if so, did you notice? Did you hear it? Did you feel it?


Seemingly silly question, but quite important. Thanks.

[Cock Womble 7]

Thanks chaps.

So, basically what you're saying is if a tyre goes, there's no way I wouldn't notice it?

Well, I had a tyre go (and damage to the wheel) nearly two weeks ago.

I've been suspended from work ever since, facing disciplinary action for "failing to report".

Thing is, I honestly, hand on heart, didn't notice ANYTHING.

I had driven from a cafe on the A4 just outside Slough, round the M25, up the M1 and off at J15 for our depot. From the picture of the damaged wheel/tyre I've seen, there's no way that it would have stayed intact (tyre still attached to wheel) for any kind of distance at 55mph.

I can only imagine that it happened in the yard, at low speed. Would that have made less of a bang?

There's a 2 hour window between me leaving the vehicle and the damage being noticed. It was not moved in that time.

We can rule out an FLT incident (sadly) as all of ours shut themselves down if they register an impact and have to be reset by a supervisor. No resets occurred in that time.


I've got the "big" interview on Monday and I am, quite frankly, stting it.

[Cock Womble 7]

4key said:

If its not compulsory for you to do a vehicle check at the end of a run

It's not - we do our checks at the start of a shift. Part of my "defence" however, will be to suggest end-of-shift checks in future.

4key said:

so the distance is really irrelevant

Not really. If I'd done the damage outside of the yard, doing 55, 50 or 30mph, there is now way that tyre would still have been attached to the wheel when I got back.

[Cock Womble 7]

philthy said:

Was the tyre still on the rim

Yes.

philthy said:

and if so, how did the damage occur?

If I knew that, I wouldn't be in the st would I?


Here's a picture of the damage:



(Sorry for the poor quality, but it's a scan of a photocopy of a printed photo.)

[Cock Womble 7]

Thing is, I'm not being investigated for the damage, I'm being investigated because I didn't report the damage.

Having seen the damage now, do you think it's plausible that I could have done that and not noticed?

[Cock Womble 7]

philthy said:

I'm trying to help.

I know mate. Sorry to snap, I'm just a bit wound up at the moment.

Right, the damaged tyre/wheel was the N/S/F on one of these trailers:



The trailer was lightly loaded at the time, with just a few bits on the "swan neck" - but not even enough to make the lift axle drop.

So you're saying it's entirely possible that I drove over something that punctured the tyre and dented the rim and didn't notice? That's quite comforting.

When I came off the M1 and was coming up the A45, I did hear a "dull thud", which I put down to the stuff on the back moving slightly. It certainly wasn't a sound I would associate with a tyre going like that.

I checked my mirrors to make sure nothing was hanging out of the curtains, took it easy for the rest of the way (under 2 miles) and opened the curtains very carefully when I tipped - just in case anything had shifted. It hadn't; the load was still all strapped in and secure. I didn't need to fully open the curtain, so didn't walk back as far as the rear axles.

So, perhaps, my "dull thud" was the tyre hitting something?

philthy said:

Sorry if I'm being unhelpful....

You're not. Quite the opposite. Thank you.

[Cock Womble 7]

philthy said:

How can you report, what you do not know about?

This is my point exactly.

And if they can't prove "reasonable belief" that I intentionally didn't report it...

They're dragging up my previous "incident" record - which I'll admit is a bit poor. But the very fact that I have an incident record clearly shows that I report everything.

Why would I not report something like this (if I'd noticed it)?

[Cock Womble 7]

Thanks for all the advice chaps.

My ex girlfriend is a top bod in HR and she's been brilliant with advice on that side of things. All in all, I think I've got plenty of ammunition to put up a good case for the defence.

Wish me luck.

[Cock Womble 7]

Final Written Warning.

I'm back in bloody work tomorrow!

[Cock Womble 7]

4key said:

Think that its time to start looking for another job. One of my main requirements is having a transport manger that is on my side, if im constantly having to explain things/my actions/the reason why their planning all went tits up, then i dont want to work there. If theyre digging you out about stuff like that, unfortunately your days are numbered anyway and their just going through the motions.

Well, his argument was that having heard the "dull thud" and attributing that to the load shifting, and then checking the load and finding it all safe and secure, I should have thought "So, if it wasn't the load, where did that dull thud come from?" and checked the entire vehicle.

Fair point.

4key said:

Now give us a giggle and tell us about your previous incident record

OK, if you insist.

Date	Location	Details	Damage	Liable
04/01/2011	Twickenham	Alleged hit third party. Driver unaware.	None.	Liability on balance of probability
12/02/2011	Bushey, Herts	Whilst avoiding an over-hanging tree, hit a van on the other side of the road.	Scrape along N/S rear of van.	Liable.
23/02/2011	Warrington	Third party backed into cab.	O/S mirror cracked and dent to O/S cab.	Non-liable
04/06/2011	London	Took N/S wing mirror off parked Mercedes when turning left.	Broken mirror and scrape down the side of the car.	Liable.
12/06/2011	Errol, Scotland	A large American car coming the other way caused me to pull over to the left and the mirror collided with a tree.	N/S convex mirror broken.	Liable.
12/08/2011	Errol, Scotland	Broke convex mirror on a tree (yes, the same one).	N/S convex mirror broken.	Liable.
17/08/2011	A51 between Colwich and Hixon	Hit a railway bridge.	Corner cap knocked off trailer.	Driver not liable - RailTrack proven to have incorrect sign on the bridge.
16/09/2011	Burntwood	Caught trailer mud-guard on kerb.	Mud-guard ripped off.	Liable.
25/10/2011	Northampton	Reversing under a trailer and caught the handle.	Damaged handle on fifth wheel.	Liable.
29/10/2011	Northampton	Reversing under a trailer and hit the O/S wind deflector.	Damage to O/S wind deflector.	Liable.
04/11/2011	Ashby-de-la-Zouch	Turning in delivery area, pulled out electrical Suzie.	Suzie broken.	Liable.
07/11/2011	Northampton	Collided with another trailer when leaving a loading bay.	Damaged trim on trailer.	Liable.
17/07/2012	Northampton	Wheel and tyre damage caused by a strike.	Tyre punctured and wheel dented.	TBA.

[Cock Womble 7]

Humper said:

It is a fair list for 18 months........
But most are minor mishaps, there,s just a hell of a lot in a short space of time, but no need for all the ste youve been given.

To be fair, the Transport Manager looked down the list, said "They're all pretty minor, aren't they?"

Then I pointed out that - up until the most recent incident - I'd gone eight months without hitting anything. He agreed that this was a big improvement.

Then I pulled an ace out of my sleeve:

"Did you get another driving assessment after the last disciplinary?"

"Er, no."

"Right, I see. Well you should have."

"I know, I was told that was what would happen. I was also promised further shunting training, but that didn't happen either..."

"OK, I'll have to look into that."