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Fuel tanker crashes and burns, closing I-30 west of downtown Dallas

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A fuel tanker crashed and burned on Interstate 30 early this morning, shutting down both sides of the freeway west of downtown Dallas. By 6:30 a.m., the highway's westbound lanes had reopened between Hampton Road and Sylvan Avenue, but officials with the Texas Department of Transportation said the eastbound lanes are likely to be closed for several hours....................

Fuel tanker crashes and burns, closing I-30 west of downtown Dallas | Downtown Dallas news | Dallas-Fort Worth news | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News
 
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Report and Video:
Fiery Accident Closes Interstate 30
 
As I was driving the second tanker in that accident, let me tell you how this went.

The driver of the car entering I-30 eastbound came across two lanes of traffic and clipped my front, right steering tire. When she did it knocked me to the left a little as the fuel tanker passed me on the left. After the fuel tanker hit my left mirror, he lost control of his rig, turning it over in front of me. That is when it burst into flames. When I finally came to a stop, I was behind the fuel tanker that was on fire and about 15 feet from the flames. So I started my truck up and made a right hand U turn getting my truck on the west bound shoulder facing against the traffic, but away from the fire.

The fuel tanker was a total loss, and it burned a pretty good portion of the pavement under the truck. The two girls in the car were freaked out but were not seriously hurt at all. The fuel tanker driver was missing for a good while but he did climb out of the truck and showed up after my boss had arrived at the scene of the accident. When the fuel tanker driver stated shivering in the cold, I offered him my jacket to wear until someone picked him up. He tried to sue me personally, even though he was hauling a hazmat load and should have never been there in the first place.

Everyone got tickets except me. Everyone went to the hospital but me.....Two hours later I was heading to Oklaunion Texas for a load of fly ash. That accident was the first in a 36 year trucking career and was caused by a four wheeler that was too impatient to wait until they were past me before cutting in front of me. Thanks girls.

Girls....go easier on the drinks the next time you go out clubbing. And for the Fuel Tanker driver and his company...too bad I know the Hazmat rules better than you because once I explained to the examiner that the fuel truck was supposed to be on loop 12 going around Dallas an not on I-30 east bound going THROUGH Dallas? I never heard another word from their lawyers.

But it was one hell of a show! But I prefer a more subdued life.
 
Thanks a lot for the follow up eye witness report on this crash atuocar65.
So many crashes have been posted mostly by me,and some other concerned safety minded truckers.
However very few ever have updates,or follow up information to the causes.
 
autocar65 said:
As I was driving the second tanker in that accident, let me tell you how this went.

The driver of the car entering I-30 eastbound came across two lanes of traffic and clipped my front, right steering tire. When she did it knocked me to the left a little as the fuel tanker passed me on the left. After the fuel tanker hit my left mirror, he lost control of his rig, turning it over in front of me. That is when it burst into flames. When I finally came to a stop, I was behind the fuel tanker that was on fire and about 15 feet from the flames. So I started my truck up and made a right hand U turn getting my truck on the west bound shoulder facing against the traffic, but away from the fire.

The fuel tanker was a total loss, and it burned a pretty good portion of the pavement under the truck. The two girls in the car were freaked out but were not seriously hurt at all. The fuel tanker driver was missing for a good while but he did climb out of the truck and showed up after my boss had arrived at the scene of the accident. When the fuel tanker driver stated shivering in the cold, I offered him my jacket to wear until someone picked him up. He tried to sue me personally, even though he was hauling a hazmat load and should have never been there in the first place.

Everyone got tickets except me. Everyone went to the hospital but me.....Two hours later I was heading to Oklaunion Texas for a load of fly ash. That accident was the first in a 36 year trucking career and was caused by a four wheeler that was too impatient to wait until they were past me before cutting in front of me. Thanks girls.

Girls....go easier on the drinks the next time you go out clubbing. And for the Fuel Tanker driver and his company...too bad I know the Hazmat rules better than you because once I explained to the examiner that the fuel truck was supposed to be on loop 12 going around Dallas an not on I-30 east bound going THROUGH Dallas? I never heard another word from their lawyers.

But it was one hell of a show! But I prefer a more subdued life.
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Jeff: This gets my Vote for "Post of the Year".
 
That was my first question what the hell is he doing in down town Dallas it's not like you can miss all the HC signs all over the city...
 
1tt1 said:
That was my first question what the hell is he doing in down town Dallas it's not like you can miss all the HC signs all over the city...
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The tanker driver had just gotten back from vacation and barely spoke English. Don't get me wrong, he was a nice guy and I am thankful for him climbing through the window and getting out. Are fuel tanker companies this strapped for decent drivers?

I remember being turned down for hauling fuel because I didn't have enough experience! It seems at the time that my stint in going back to being a driving instructor didn't count as "Real driving experience" according to the HR guy. So the twenty years plus driving experience didn't count. It was as if I had taken a sabbatical from driving and had started over.

A few weeks after being turned down, it seems one of this companies trucks had taken a U turn under I-35 and had turned his fuel tanker over under I-35. So luckily I had saved this certain fuel hauling companies number in my cell phone. I called and told the HR guy that one of his drivers who had all that "Recent Experience" had just turned his truck over under I-35 and maybe he should call Hazmat and report it....This same company turn trucks over all the time.

So I guess the prerequisite for getting hired on there that you wear the same after shave as the Human Resources guy. Companies like these cheat themselves out of hiring decent drivers. I actually think they would rather not have the experienced driver who has too many years under his belt and is not intimidated by them. That driver may not be willing to violate Hazmat rules which I suspect most of our fuel haulers violate all the time.
 
Not to take sides and I don't know the tanker drivers destination but if he was east bound on I 30 he could legally exit at Industrial Blvd. Just glad everyone was OK. I do know that there are a lot of Haz Mat loads that sneek through town.
 
rowdy said:
Not to take sides and I don't know the tanker drivers destination but if he was east bound on I 30 he could legally exit at Industrial Blvd. Just glad everyone was OK. I do know that there are a lot of Haz Mat loads that sneek through town.
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did you notice that you can now take Woodall Rogers freeway spur with hazmat? That's odd. Odd, since it's now basically a tunnel.
 
rowdy said:
Not to take sides and I don't know the tanker drivers destination but if he was east bound on I 30 he could legally exit at Industrial Blvd. Just glad everyone was OK. I do know that there are a lot of Haz Mat loads that sneek through town.
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I know that the truck came from the fuel terminal near Trinity and hwy 157 in Euless Texas. The worst part is that the fuel tanker driver TOLD ME personally that he saw what was happening in front of him, and instead of backing off and letting the accident between the car and I happen in front of him, he decided to try and steer around it.

Now, I have hauled liquid and pneumatic tankers both...Even the idea of "steering around" anything is showing how green the other driver was. Now, I will admit I was empty at the time. Had I been loaded, I may have had a better chance of holding it in my own lane.

But yes, Hazmat loads go right through town all the time, especially at 1 in the morning. The last thing I would do if I were trying to "Sneak a Hazmat load" through town is the allow anyone to get close enough to me to touch me. Before the CDL, we hauled all kinds of munitions though every town in the USA. Unmarked, no warning and no special endorsements. It is a wonder Tulsa Oklahoma is not a burnt hole in the ground!

I don't consider it taking sides anyway, just stating an alternative. But if I remember, he was headed for Rockwall Texas. And if he was, he was in no way Hazmat Compliant. Had I been 10 minutes early or late, it would have never happened. That's life as they say.
 
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