PACCAR RECALLS KENWORTH, PETERBILT TRUCKS

PACCAR RECALLS KENWORTH, PETERBILT TRUCKS

2/10/2014 2:00:00 PM | By Truck Fleet Management

Paccar Inc. said it is recalling more than 21,000 trucks for potential defects to door latches and seat belts, according to a notice from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s website.

The recalls involve various 2013 and 2014 Kenworth and Peterbilt models, Paccar wrote to NHTSA in a letter outlining the recalls. Paccar is the parent company of Kenworth Truck Co. and Peterbilt Motors Co.

Included in the door latch recall are 7,292 Peterbilt 567 and 579 models manufactured between Jan. 20, 2012, and Oct. 11, 2013. Also included are 6,746 Kenworth T680 from the same model years that were manufactured at around the same time.

The seat belt recall is for 5,276 units of a range of brand Kenworth model year 2014 — including T660s  and T680s — as well as 5,138 Peterbilts, also for the current model year and also for a range of brands. Those trucks were manufactured between early August and early November of last year.

Paccar told NHTSA that it will notify owners and dealers of the defects by the end of February and that it will replace the seat belt buckles and door-latch assemblies, if needed, free of charge.

The truck makers did not respond to a request for comment Feb. 10.

The seat belts — made by Westfield, Ind.-based Indiana Mills and Manufacturing Inc. — fail to conform to federal standards in which it may take more effort than is standard to separate the latch plate from the buckle, NHTSA said.

The door latches were made by component maker Inteva Products, based in Troy, Mich.

Daimler Trucks North America, Volvo Trucks and Mack Trucks issued recall notices in January over the same seat belt issue involving IMMI’s L9 seatbelt model. Those recalls included more than 26,000 of Daimler’s Freightliner models and 5,000 Volvo models.

Eliminating Fire Department Water Tanker Rollovers

,

National Tank Truck Carriers  June   2013  
Eliminating Fire Department Water Tanker Rollovers is Goal of New NTTC/DOT Video

DENVER CO – On November 11, 2012, Firefighter Mark Haudenschild II, 26, was killed when the water tanker he was driving overturned while he was  responding to a brush fire near Fort Wayne, Indiana. He left a wife and two young children. He was a volunteer with the Washington Township Volunteer Fire Department serving his community.

Over the past several years, too many firefighters have been killed or injured in water tanker/ tender  rollovers while responding to emergencies.  National Tank Truck Carriers ( NTTC) has produced a new version of the Cargo Tank Rollover Prevention Video it developed with the U.S. Department of Transportation to help educate water tanker drivers on the special characteristics of tank truck vehicles and the actions they can take to avoid rollovers.

“While this DVD was originally developed for commercial tank truck drivers, the principles of tank truck vehicle dynamics, road challenges,  and   safe  driving  practices  it presents are equally applicable  to water tankers  used in emergency response,” said Jim Shaeffer, president of McKenzie Tank Lines, Tallahassee FL,  and Chairman of National Tank Truck Carriers, Inc.  “I know we will use this DVD in our outreach to firefighters and LEPCs (Local Emergency Planning Councils) in the areas in which we operate.  It is especially appropriate  that we introduce this material at our Annual Safety Conference in Denver.  Safety is the core mission of NTTC.”

Fire Department water tanker rollovers are not a new phenomenon. The Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a report on Firefighter Deaths from Tanker Truck Rollovers in 2001.  That report said there had been 62 deaths from water tanker rollovers from 1977-1999. The report  did not include the injuries.  The  ability to track media and other reports on such crashes  today shows that they continue to be a real issue of concern. Firefighters continue to be killed and injured in these usually preventable crashes.
The original 20-minute video was produced by the U.S. Department of Transportation with input from National Tank Truck Carriers in 2010 following increased industry and government concerns about the number of tank truck rollovers. It focuses on:  Tank truck vehicle design; cargo/load  factors; highway factors; and driver factors.  The video features real tank truck drivers who share their experiences, different types of tank truck equipment and detailed graphics,  and  various highway challenges.  The video has been translated into French, Spanish and Japanese.  

The video was based in part on information developed in 2007 in a detailed cargo tank rollover report prepared for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) by Battelle. Among information in that report was that over 75 percent of rollovers are caused by a driver’s action or inaction, the majority of rollovers are single vehicle crashes that occur on straight dry roadways (not exit ramps as is often thought,) and that about one-quarter of tanker rollovers involve straight trucks where the tank sits on the truck body.  
"I am delighted that we can help extend the very important safety message of the Cargo Tank Rollover Prevention Video to the fire service," said Tim Butters, Deputy Administrator of the USDOT’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration and former chief fire officer with the Fairfax City (Virginia) Fire Department.  "We continue to see vehicle rollovers involving fire department apparatus, particularly tenders/tankers used for transporting large volumes of water.  Understanding how to safety operate these vehicles will help reduce rollover accidents.  Vehicle accidents continue to be one of the leading causes of firefighter injuries and fatalities.  I will strongly encourage my colleagues in the fire and emergency response service to include this training video in their emergency vehicle driver/operator safety training and driver refresher programs.  Emergency responder’s provide a critical public safety service to their communities, and we want to return home safely."

“We have been pleased with the response to the original video and hope that this version directed to the fire community will become a tool for training drivers who perform such a valuable service to us all,”  said Dan Furth,  National Tank Truck Carriers president.  “The DVD is free for downloading from our website www.tanktruck.org and we encourage everyone to help spread this safety outreach to anyone who can benefit from it. Many of our NTTC members already work with fire departments in their operating areas and we know that  this  information will help in the training they provide.”

A free copy of the  DVD can be obtained for review and reproduction by contacting NTTC at 703/838-1960, by email to  nttcstaff@tanktruck.org, or by mail to NTTC, 950 N. Glebe Rd., Arlington VA 22203. If large amounts of copies are desired, we can put people  in touch with our video company for obtaining copies. None of this material is copyright protected.  National Tank Truck Carriers, Inc. is the trade association of the tank truck industry.  

Note to editors:  For more information, contact:  John Conley, jconley@tanktruck.org, 703/216-0449.
The Battelle Report referenced can be found on the FMCSA website: http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/safety-security/hazmat/cargo-tank-roll-stability-finalreport-april2007.pdf

 

Read more

Safety Defect Recall Notification: Meritor WABCO

This just in from Ferrara Fire Apparatus on a major safety item involving all fire apparatus with the associated Meritor/Wabco control module.  Please post the notice from Ferrara and note that the recall pertains to all fire apparatus utilizing the part numbers listed.

Re: Safety Defect Recall Notification filed with NHTSA

Meritor WABCO Recall Number 11E039000
Ferrara Fire Apparatus Campaign # 11V-507

Ferrara Fire Apparatus Inc. has been notified by Meritor WABCO that a defect, which relates to motor vehicle safety, exists in units with Electronic Stability Control Systems (ESC) installed. Our records indicate only 104 Inferno / Igniter chassis has received one of the suspect ESC modules. The purpose of this letter is to inform you of our plan for addressing this defect.

What the defect is and the risks involved in vehicle safety:

Meritor Wabco has determined that under certain unique road and driving conditions involving tight, successive, highly banked curves in opposite directions, vehicle body roll and road inclination characteristics may adversely affect the slip angle calculation by the ESC Module. This might cause the ESC system to perceive an oversteering situation and therefore apply the front axle outer wheel service brake until the vehicle is perceived to be stable by the ESC. This unnecessary brake intervention may pull the vehicle out of the curve, requiring the driver to counter steer to keep the vehicle on its intended path. If the driver is slow to react during this described unnecessary ESC intervention, the vehicle may deviate from its intended path. All known occurrences of this described condition have occurred on tight S-type curves that are highly banked above 6 degrees. The faster the vehicle is drives on this unique road condition, the tighter the curves and higher the bank, the more likely the occurrence of unnecessary oversteer brake activation by the ESC.
What Ferrara Fire Apparatus is doing to resolve this issue.

Once the required replacement ESC modules have been procured, a Ferrara Fire Apparatus Inc. field service technician will visit each affected location to replace the defective module and recalibrate the ESC system. Replacement ESC modules should be available to Ferrara Fire Apparatus by Meritor WABCO by November 30, 2011. Vehicles affected will be attended to as quickly as possible thereafter.

Other Manufacturers Fire apparatus will also be affected and they will be handled by their own recall campaign notifications. The Meritor Wabco ESC Module part numbers affected are:

• 446 065 020 0
• 446 065 027 0
• 400 850 179 0
• 400 850 185 0
• 400 850 195 0

Any questions pertaining to this Safety recall should be directed to:
Charlie Grimes @ 800-443-9006 Ext. 3011 or Email charlieg@ferrarafire.com

Safety Alert–For Immediate Release

, , , ,

Please do a close inspection of any of your late model Freightliners for these front suspension issues.

This was found on a LACoFD Crew Carrier last week during their quarterly inspection.  Issue was not there 90 days ago. 

2008 Freightliner Front Steer Axle Suspension
Meritor model number: MFS-12-143A  12,000 lb.
Serial number: ARD00337731

F1943__2F1943__1