What happens when a larger vehicle goes off the road? Have you wondered what happens when a semi trailer, bus, or an RV goes off road and needs to be pulled out?
When a passenger vehicle goes off road, a normal tow truck is often sufficient to retrieve it. Unfortunately, a regular tow truck is nowhere near sufficient to recover heavier equipment. The average US car tips the scales at around 4,000 pounds. Semi trucks are, on average, over 3 times as heavy for just the truck alone! A truck and trailer combo (with the trailer empty) typically weighs between 30,000 and 35,000 pounds.
With that in mind, it is evident that it takes special equipment to recover these beastly vehicles. There are many things to consider when undertaking these heavy duty recoveries. Is a trailer involved? Is the trailer full or empty? Was it a flat-bed transporting other equipment? These questions, and more, will determine which method is used to perform the recovery.
In many instances, an airbag recovery system is employed. A massive airbag is wedged underneath the toppled equipment and inflated in a very controlled manner. The overturned trailer is then uprighted without the costly time consuming process of unloading the cargo contained within. One of the major benefits to this is the ease of use and the time it takes to actually work. The airbag cushion can significantly reduce any additional damage to your heavy duty equipment, saving you time AND money in the process.
Other times, we need to utilize a combination of rotator crane and possibly forklifts. In the past, when we have had to recover a trailer that was carrying heavy farming equipment, the crane has been used with great success to safely pull the wrecked vehicles out. When using the crane, it is often necessary to employ a forklift to gently hoist part of the wreckage up enough to get the crane cables underneath securely to pull the wreckage free.
Heavy duty recovery is no small task. We make every effort to safely and securely recover your heavy equipment, paying special attention so as to minimize any additional damages that may happen during the process. Our technicians have all the experience and qualifications to retrieve any vehicle in an accident, be it large or small.
If you have a heavy duty accident, do not hesitate to call us here at Rob’s to facilitate the recovery of your equipment and cargo!