Inspection Detail

Inspection: 1216486.015 - Rml Transport, Llc

Inspection Information - Office: Baton Rouge Area Office

Investigation Summary

At 8:45 a.m. on January 30, 2017, a truck driver delivered a JLG Telehandler to a rental company. The JLG was on a step-deck trailer. A step-deck trailer has an upper deck on the front of the trailer then steps down to a lower level which allows multiple loads of cargo. The forks on the telehandler were folded under, and work-light support brackets located on the left and right side of the telehandler so the machine could be as far forward as possible against the step. The driver backed the rear of his trailer against the offloading platform located in the yard. The off-loading/loading ramp was a twenty five foot triangle shaped ramp with expanded metal on the ramp for traction. On the upper left and right side of the ramp were two chains that attached to the trailer of the truck to prevent a gap from occurring between the trunk and ramp. The driver put on his hard hat and exited the truck cab in order to remove the chains and binders holding the piece of equipment on the trailer. An employee of the rental company told the truck driver to say out of the way as he backed the machine off the trailer. The rental company employee got into the JLG Telehandler to back it off the trailer. The JLG Telehandler operator sits on the left side and the operator's view is partially obstructed by the boom and engine. The JLG telehandler is slightly smaller in width than the ramp so the rental company employee was carefully watching his placement on the ramp as he was backing up. Once the rear wheels of the machine were on the ground the carriage was dragging the ground so the rental company employee raised the carriage just enough to keep it from dragging. At this time, the machine engaged its auto-leveling system. The auto-leveling system on board the equipment self-adjusts to keep the carriage and the forks in a flat position. When this system operated, the forks, which were still tucked under the work-lights, rose upward slightly and put pressure on the bottom of the work lights. As a result, the pressure on the work-lights caused the lights to be sheared off the brackets and flung into the air. The truck driver was standing on the passenger side of the trailer about half way down and was struck in the face with the lights. The rental company employee who was operating the JLG Telehandler saw the truck driver fall off the loading dock.

Keywords: Fall, Loading Dock, Struck By, Truck Driver