Property-carrying and passenger-carrying trucks are different, and drivers need to follow different regulations when driving them. The perfect example of that is how dangerous overloading is for property-carrying trucks due to all the accidents it can cause.
Trucks are made to be strong and able to carry many things with no problem, but that doesn’t mean people can load their vehicles with more weight than the ones they can support.
Taking care of their vehicles is part of the job of truck drivers, and while many of them wonder why their trucks crashed or stopped working randomly, not many of them know that may have happened because they overloaded their vehicles.
As it was mentioned before, overloading can cause truck accidents, so it’s best for all drivers out there to know who to call in case the worst happens. The Law Office of Carl Maltese works in Long Island, New York, and it’s ready to do everything it can to get clients the compensation they deserve after a truck accident. Also, learn how tread separation may cause truck accidents.
No one should hesitate to contact this law firm as soon as they are in trouble!
What Happens When Someone Overloads a Truck?
When truck drivers overload a truck, they add pressure on the truck’s shocks and suspension system. Initially, that makes the truck more difficult to steer.
Extreme pressure on a truck can also blow tires and ruin the vehicle’s transmission. This additional stress on the truck’s mechanical components also reduces its braking power, which could cause an accident if the driver ever encounters a car or bystander in front of the truck.
Dangers of Overloading a Truck
Drivers shouldn’t be scared of how much overloading can damage trucks but of the consequences of causing that damage. Blowing out a tire in the middle of a highway, for example, is one of the most common things that can happen to a truck.
Cars going behind the truck will surely crash with each other, and even if nothing happens to the people inside the vehicle, other victims will get severe injuries.
If a truck loses its steering power, it will be more difficult for the driver to maneuver it when another car gets too close to it or a bystander crosses the street without noticing it.
The same issue happens with the braking system, which is one of the most important parts of not only trucks but motor vehicles. Summarizing it all, overloading a truck will cause truck accidents in the mid and long term.
However, how dangerous are those accidents? Well, everything depends on how the accident goes.
Most truck accidents happen when another car gets into the truck’s no zone or due to distracted drivers. These are some of the most common injuries people can get after getting involved in a truck accident:
Spinal cord injuries
Traumatic brain injuries
Neck trauma
Burns
Cuts
Broken bones
Internal bleeding
Wrongful death
Besides how dangerous and painful it is to get those injuries, it’s also expensive. Medical bills are not affordable, and things get worse when people add property damage to the mix.
How Much Weight Should Drivers Carry on Their Trucks?
It’s difficult to find an average answer for all trucks since all models are different, so some trucks may be able to carry more weight than others. Regardless of that, the easiest way to know the weight one’s truck should carry is by subtracting the truck’s curb weight from its GVWR.
If one truck, for example, has a GVWR of 10,000 pounds and a curb weight of 5,000 pounds, the truck should have 5,000 pounds as a max weight limit. All truck drivers should know this before starting work to prevent any accidents from happening in the future. Also, accidents can occur because of the amount of hours driven. Learn how many hours a truck driver can drive a week.
Wrapping Up
Driving is dangerous, and many unforeseeable situations can happen, so all drivers need to do what they can to keep the number of motor vehicle accidents to a minimum. How can truck drivers do that? They can start by not overloading their trucks to prevent their vehicles from failing while they work.
Unfortunately, sometimes, it’s too late to prevent an accident from happening, and when that happens, victims need a semi accident attorney in Long Island NY who can get them the compensation they need to pay for property damage and medical bills.
Truck accident victims in Long Island, NY, can always count on the Law Office of Carl Maltese to help them with that!