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

NTTC Vice Chairman Dean Kaplan of K-Limited Carrier, Toledo OH and NTTC Safety Council Chairman Becky Perlaky of Kenan Advantage Group, Canton OH, introduced a DVD offered by NTTC to help eliminate fire department water tanker rollover crashes. The DVD is available at no cost and for reproduction at www.tanktruck.org. 

PHMSA Deputy Administrator Tim Butters can be reached at tim.butters@dot.gov 202-366-4461.