Inspection Detail

Inspection: 305475808 - Williams Tank Lines

Inspection Information - Office: Long Beach District Office

Investigation Summary

At 3:30 a.m. on March 23, 2004, Employee #1, a truck driving trainee working for William Tank Lines, was receiving training sessions at the employer's terminal in Long Beach, CA. The employer was a petroleum tanker truck line and it trained drivers with at least one year of verifiable large rig over-the-road trucking practice. Experienced drivers were assigned as trainers to ride along with trainees. The terminal was used as a staging area where trucks were kept, cleaned, and prepared for runs. Trucks being cleaned or serviced for trial runs were parked in one or two lines to the south of the main office. There was no established minimum distance requirement between the two lines of trucks. At the time of the incident, the first coworker was assisting his trainee, Employee #1, in preparing a Peterbilt tractor with dual tankers (company Number 91) for a trial run. The vehicle was parked on the left side of that morning's two-row arrangement, close to the main office. The second coworker, a trainer operating a Peterbilt tractor (Model Number 379 and company Number 2027) that was hauling two tankers, drove around the office and parked at the head of the line on the right side to pick up his trainee. As a result, the second coworker's tractor was parked beside Employee #1's rig. When the second coworker had picked up his trainee, he set the tractor in motion once again. Employee #1 was located in front of his rig and his trainer was closing a side of their tractor's engine cover. The second coworker said that he looked in his left rearview mirror and saw Employee #1 and then looked at his right rearview mirror in order to maneuver the vehicle to avoid several parked cars. When we looked at his left rearview mirror again, he saw Employee #1 lying on the ground between the front and rear tires of his back tanker (Number 9928). The second coworker immediately stopped the tractor. The first coworker said that he did not see what happened at the moment Employee #1 fell under the wheels, but that he did hear a thump and screamed to warn the second coworker to stop his vehicle. A manager assessed Employee #1's condition and sent for paramedics. Employee #1 suffered a crushed pelvis and a fractured clavicle. He was taken to the Long Beach Memorial Hospital for rehabilitation. Employee #1 does not recall anything that happened prior to him performing preliminary truck checks.

Keywords: SHOULDER, CRUSHED, TRUCK, PELVIS, TRACTOR TRAILER, TRACTOR--TRUCK, RUN OVER, INATTENTION