Cement trucks with concrete-mixer trailers can get in many of the same kinds of accidents as other commercial trucks do, but the nature of their business and cargo means their crashes are sometimes unusual compared to others. So how are cement truck accidents different?
Answer: Many accidents involving cement trucks are unique due to their increased risk of rolling over, their drivers' need for (and occasional lack of) specific training, and the uniquely dangerous cargo those trucks carry.
These differences aren’t just theoretical; they show up in real-world crashes all the time. To better understand how they set cement truck accidents apart and make them more complex than typical truck accidents, we should examine each more closely—starting with one of the most common and dangerous types of accidents cement trucks are involved in: rollovers.
Rollover Dangers
One of the most immediate dangers posed by cement trucks stems from how they’re built and how their cargo behaves on the road. Both the shape and weight distribution of a cement truck lead to a disproportionate number of rollover accidents—in some cases even while traveling ten or fewer miles an hour. Their high center of gravity and easily-shifted cargo mean that taking a corner or curve too quickly has greater risk of destabilizing them, and when they tip over the mixer and its thousands of pounds of liquid cargo present a major crushing hazard to anything in their way.
To put it another way, the rollover dangers presented by cement trucks mean that what otherwise might be safe driving in another type of commercial vehicle could be dangerous or even reckless if done by a cement truck driver. That means part of understanding the physical dangers of these trucks is looking at who's operating them and how ready they are for that duty.
Specialized Driver Training
To ensure they can handle the various potential hazards of cement trucks, drivers tapped to operate them are expected to be highly capable. The duty of care expected from most truckers—careful handling, obeying traffic controls and federal regulations, alert and attentive operation—is just as urgent for cement trucks, if not more so. On top of that, the drivers often need more specialized training in operating the mixing machinery and an "N" endorsement (for tanker truck operation) on their commercial license.
One might think that specialized licenses and training means anyone behind the wheel of a cement truck must be ideally qualified. That might even be true—except those steps aren't always taken. Litigating hundreds of truck accidents has shown us that some companies, whether they're commercial trucking firms or construction outfits with their own trucks, don't actually prepare their drivers for the job they were hired for. We've found that some of them hire anyone who can fog a mirror, give them (at best) some vague bare-bones instruction, then expect immediate and error-free performance. As you might guess, those ill-prepared employees often end up causing devastating accidents that hurt themselves and others.
To be clear, irresponsible companies like those are few and far between. Most companies do what they can (or at least what they're required to) for safety, including training their drivers in best practices. Even with well-trained people at the wheel, though, the nature of cement itself can still introduce serious risks during transport.
Hazardous Cargo
Cement isn't technically hazardous material (HAZMAT) as the government defines it, but that doesn't mean it can't be dangerous in its own right. Trucks carrying liquids face some inherent risks due to their unstable cargo sloshing around, and cement trucks are no exception. The truck's rotating drum keeps the concrete mixture from hardening as quickly, but every trip still has a ticking clock. To keep from losing their cargo, cement truck drivers sometimes speed or take risks to reach job sites more quickly. Anyone who exceeds speed limits or ignores other traffic laws has greater potential for causing a crash, and a truck weighing tens of thousands of pounds crashes much harder than a passenger vehicle.
Furthermore, concrete may create serious hazards if it leaks out of the mixer. In one of the worst cases we've seen, a mixer ruptured and large quantities of concrete actually washed over and encased a nearby vehicle. The people inside, unable to escape, were trapped for some time. Sadly, one person actually suffocated before rescuers could reach them. In other accidents, loose concrete hardened in the roadway and created obstacles for traffic, which led to several multi-vehicle pileups and some serious injuries.
Those risks relate mostly to what happens when concrete escapes the mixer, but even if it stays where it belongs it can cause a rollover if it shifts too dramatically. When accidents like those occur, any attorney intent on helping the injured victims may need to account for the complexities of cement trucks.
Grossman Law Offices Can Help
As you can see, cement truck accidents have elements that differentiate it from other commercial truck wrecks. That uniqueness also affects the way an attorney must investigate and build a case for a client hurt by a cement truck crash. As a general rule, an attorney who has experience dealing with the issues unique to cement truck accidents is less likely to be tripped up by those issues, because he's encountered them in prior litigation.
The attorneys at Grossman Law Offices have decades of experience litigating all types of commercial truck accidents, including those with cement trucks and other construction vehicles. If you were injured or lost a loved one in an accident with a commercial truck of any sort, reach out to Grossman Law Offices any time for a free and confidential consultation.
