Inspection Detail

Inspection: 119759579 - Redwood Coast Trucking

Inspection Information - Office: Redding District Office

Investigation Summary

Employee #1, of Redwood Coast Trucking, a log trucking company, was hauling a moderate load of small logs for chipping in a Freightliner log truck on the M line road, a private road on Louisiana Pacific Corporation property. The CHP estimated the road's grade to be about 6 percent and 3 to 4 miles long. According to evidence, Employee #1 started down the hill in too high a gear, causing the brakes to overheat. As the brakes began to fade, Employee #1 probably tried to shift into a lower gear (the truck was found in neutral), but was unable to because of increasing speed. He then apparently decided to jump out of the truck rather than ride out the impending crash. Employee #1 was killed. The truck continued down the road until it reached an embankment and rolled onto its side. The cause of the accident was driver error. The Tach chart indicates that the truck was probably traveling 45 to 50 mph when Employee #1 jumped out. The CHP checked the brakes on the truck and found no problems. Employee #1 was not driving his usual truck, which was being worked on, but had driven trucks with the same type of transmission. Company records indicate Employee #1 had driven 15 different trucks since he began to work for the company and that he had driven that road approximately 258 times. The coroner reported to the CHP that Employee's #1's blood tested positive for amphetamine and methamphetamine. They were unable to screen for quantitative amounts, so there is no way to determine if Employee #1 was under the influence at the time of the accident since these drugs can linger in the blood. The company does have a drug testing program. No accident-related violations were found.

Keywords: HEAD, BRAKE, SPEEDING, EQUIPMENT FAILURE, TRUCK, FALL, LOST CONTROL