Ensuring safe operation of a water truck on the road is unavoidably important in order to ensure the positive aspects for which water truck businesses are known for. Approximately one-quarter of all freight hauled in Australia is transported in tanker trucks. With so much danger involved in travelling with such bulky vehicles on the nation’s roads – and casualties involving cars and road tankers not exactly unusual — why are there surprisingly limited spillages and casualties? 

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The credit goes to 3 things- Tanker design, Safety equipment and Driver training.

Tanker Design-The Prime Saviour 

With tanker trucks that can each carry 10,000 gallons of water, tanker design is important when preventing accidents and prioritising safety.

While transporting, the water expands and contracts as it depends on changes in the ambient temperature. It can also keep shifting inside the tank and result in an ever-changing centre of gravity with respect to  the truck.

This danger is mainly mitigated by tankers being manufactured with low centres of gravity, as well as interior bulkheads (also called baffles) which divide water into many portions and enhance strength of the water tankers.

Electronic Stability Control Systems Fitted To Water Trucks

ESC predicts rollovers and loss of directional management.  It’s an intelligent regulator, a box of electronics that can apply brakes on the truck in a way that will increase its control. So, for example, if the sensors recognize that a truck is likely to roll over because it is going too fast into a crossing, ESC can interfere to break the vehicle and slow it down.

Safety Valves 

Valves on the lower side of the truck are built to shear off and safely protect the liquid in the tanker during a disaster or if a truck drives an undertaker.

Manlius

Manlius on the tip of the water tank trucks is equipped with roll-over equipment that in the circumstance of a rollover will seal the opening. The hazard on the top of the truck is that the expansion and contraction of the water mean that each cell must be equipped to breathe else the pressure in the truck could shatter it.  Enabling the tank to breathe means that in the circumstance of a tanker rolling over, there would be an apparent leak path for water to escape which could cause loss.

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Safety Equipment-The Unavoidable Rescuer 

Over the years, factories have made consecutive developments in tank truck appliances, equipment, and devices that contribute to the protection of the road tanker and enhance their businesses.

The fusion of technology within the water trailer industry is constantly developing with the utmost incarnation of ‘safe driving’ being ensured in the entirely autonomous trucks. Many experts within the water tank trailer business are worried that the absence of any driver’s duty could result in increased, instead of decreased, road accidents. Trials are currently underway but several years of field testing will likely be needed before the road tanker industry gives a go ahead to a driverless water truck business.

Unavoidable safety equipment includes

  • Highly engineered mantids/manholes
  • Vapour recovery equipment (valves and vents)
  • Foot, emergency, and internal valves
  • Manifolds and dust caps
  • Electronic stability control (ESC) systems

Driver Training-The Human Factor 

An ordinary tanker of water will often be transporting ten thousand gallons of water. When it comes to transporting such bulky amounts of water, practice is the key.

While every driver transporting such a huge amount of material is highly skilled, experienced, technology and equipment within the water tanker industry are constantly improving with the latest incarnation of so-called ‘safe driving’ being approved with the use of fully automated vehicles. Until that time, fully automated water trucks become the new normal, ensuring truck drivers have all the necessary training and skills is a must.

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