may2022 - 36

Turner started checking around for ways to
prevent these wheel-off events when maintenance
is lacking.
" There's nothing out there, " all the distributors
he spoke with told him.
This gave the former NASCAR driver a new
challenge: " I just sat down and made it my mission
to figure out a way to stop that. "
Turner had been involved with automotive engineering
since he was an eight-year-old tinkering
with go-karts, and though he had no formal engineering
education, within five years he had invented
the mechanical fastening device-with the help
of the engineering department at Oklahoma State
University-which has the potential to stop wheeloff
events dead in their tracks.
All Around Distribution sells the safety device,
and every part is manufactured by Oklahoma
City-based American Machining Solutions. Not to
belabor how prevalent wheel-offs are, but Turner
noted an investor in the machine shop told him
a set of duals once bounced off I-35 and into his
daughter's bedroom.
" It just happens a lot more frequently than
people can even imagine, " reiterated Turner,
rattling off several other instances.
'Steaking' a claim
Even when a trailer wheel-off does not lead to
injury or loss of life, the consequences can be
catastrophic for a carrier, especially one that
hauls perishable refrigerated goods. Bishop
Trucking found this out firsthand, which is why
the small Oklahoma-based fleet-which does
both cold chain and oilfield work-began using
TetherTech last fall.
" We had one hub-related failure where we lost
everything on a reefer trailer-both wheels, both
tires, brake drums, " recalled Joe Madore, manager
of Bishop Trucking. " It pretty much just took that
whole corner off the trailer. "
The company was moving a full load of beef,
and the severe damage put the delivery three
days behind schedule. That also pushed the meat
three days closer to the expiration date, forcing
the shipper to reduce the price. " We ended up
paying for half that load, " Madore said. " That was
a $70,000 claim. "
A few months later, one of Bishop's flatbeds
used for oilfield work also lost a wheel.
" The first thing that goes through your mind is,
» Bill Turner (left) demonstrates how the
TetherTech device attaches to the wheel end.
The system prevents wheel-off events even
in the absence of traditional hub fasteners.
Photo: TetherTech Safety
'Oh, my God. I'm getting a phone call that somebody's
dead, or there's huge amounts of property
damage,' " Madore said. " We were fortunate in both
of ours that we lost them out in the middle of the
country. We actually ended up finding both sets of
wheels and tires just down the middle of the field. "
36 Fleet Maintenance | May 2022
» At TMC 2022, the S.2 Tire & Wheel Study
Group held a mock trial to find who was
responsible for a wheel-off accident.
Photo: John Hitch | Fleet Maintenance
Madore said the lug nuts completely snapped
off the hub and attached to the wheel. Both trailers
had recently been acquired from a larger fleet
and had recently received annual inspections.
" We hadn't even gone in and inspected them
ourselves, " Madore said. He believes there was
likely a torqueing issue.
Madore raced in the same circles as Turner
decades ago and had wanted to try out TetherTech,
but his trailers used automatic tire inflation
systems (ATIS), and TetherTech at the time was
not compatible. The latest iteration of the device
does work with ATIS, and Madore started installing
them last fall.
Bishop Trucking now has the TetherTech system
on the front and rear axles of all of its trailers in
an effort to protect expensive cargo and company.
" If you just put it on the rear axle and then the
front axle comes off, it'd really make you look
liable, " Madore said, in the event of an accident
and the following litigation. " You won't go to jail
for it, but you'd probably go to the poor house. "
Verdict is in
At the 2022 TMC Annual Meeting, the S.2 Tire
& Wheel Study Group, in conjunction with the
transportation-centric Scopelitis law firm, held
a mock trial to show fleets how to defend themselves
from wheel-related litigation. The case
was not dissimilar to the one that killed those
teenagers on I-40, or another in 2018 on the same
highway in Oklahoma City that killed a 33-yearold
woman. In the mock case, a woman only was
injured, not killed.
" We don't have any data on whether the
numbers are up or down, but the costs related
to wheel-off accidents are definitely going up,

may2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of may2022

Hitched Up: Confessions of a fuel-cell fool
Shop Operations: Ins & outs of maintenance oursourcing
In the Bay: Training surge
Equipment: Go with the flow
Body & Cab: Air brake breakdown
Special Technology Report: The dawn of hydrogen trucks
Management: Tips to manage your mental checklist
Safety: Inventor puts end to wheel-off accidents
Fleet Parts & Components
Tools & Equipment
Classifieds
Guest Editorial: The EV e-fluids revolution
may2022 - 1
may2022 - 2
may2022 - 3
may2022 - 4
may2022 - 5
may2022 - Hitched Up: Confessions of a fuel-cell fool
may2022 - 7
may2022 - Shop Operations: Ins & outs of maintenance oursourcing
may2022 - 9
may2022 - 10
may2022 - 11
may2022 - 12
may2022 - 13
may2022 - 14
may2022 - 15
may2022 - In the Bay: Training surge
may2022 - 17
may2022 - 18
may2022 - 19
may2022 - Equipment: Go with the flow
may2022 - 21
may2022 - 22
may2022 - 23
may2022 - 24
may2022 - 25
may2022 - Body & Cab: Air brake breakdown
may2022 - 27
may2022 - Special Technology Report: The dawn of hydrogen trucks
may2022 - 29
may2022 - 30
may2022 - 31
may2022 - 32
may2022 - Management: Tips to manage your mental checklist
may2022 - Safety: Inventor puts end to wheel-off accidents
may2022 - 35
may2022 - 36
may2022 - 37
may2022 - Fleet Parts & Components
may2022 - 39
may2022 - Tools & Equipment
may2022 - Classifieds
may2022 - Guest Editorial: The EV e-fluids revolution
may2022 - 43
may2022 - 44
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