Semi Tow Team Called In After Overturned Reefer Truck Blocks 3 Lanes on I-35
Santa Fe’s semi tow team vividly remembers the night in March 2020 when they received an urgent call at 3AM. A truck with a refrigerated trailer (commonly referred to as a reefer truck) was transporting over 41,000 lb of processed beef offcuts destined to become dog food. Unfortunately, the truck driver lost control of the truck on the I-35 in Lenexa, KS. The truck flipped over onto its side and slid across all three lanes of the highway!
Recovering an overturned and fully-loaded truck comes with it’s complications. Trailer walls are surprisingly fragile. Should the truck be uprighted without applying adequate pressure to the trailer walls, the cargo inside could tear the walls apart. The tow truck team placed air lifting cushions underneath the trailer. As the cushions inflated, they would apply enough pressure on the trailer walls to counteract the pressure from the shifted cargo.
Once the trailer was at a 45 degree angle, the team was able to use two rotators to carefully get the trailer upright again. Job done, right? Actually, no. With rush hour quickly approaching, the team still had one more hurdle to jump over. The truck was still blocking all three lanes of the I-35! Seeing as it was still attached to the broken down tractor, the team towed both tractor and trailer as a unit to the shoulder of the road.
Fantastic work out there team! You managed to upright the tractor trailer in a short period of time without compromising any of the load! All of our canine friends need not worry; the customer sent another tractor to deliver the trailer full of beef to its intended destination!
Details of Semi Tow Team Called In After Overturned Reefer Truck Blocks 3 Lanes on I-35
A request for a semi tow team was received by Sante Fe Tow Service’s dispatch center. A semi tow team was immediately dispatched to the scene of an accident on I-35 in Lenexa. The semi tow team brought along one 75 ton rotator and one 50 ton rotator. The semi tow truck team arrived at the scene of the accident.
The tow team assessed the situation. The towing team decided to upright the tractor and trailer at the same time instead of disconnecting them. The semi tow team placed two recovery straps around the trailer to help with uprighting it. The semi tow team placed air lift cushions in place to support the walls of the fully loaded trailer. The tow team slowly inflated the air lift cushions until the trailer was resting at a 45 degree angle.
The semi tow team then used the 75 ton rotator and the 50 ton rotator to slowly complete the uprighting procedure. The tow team successfully uprighted the trailer. The semi tow team used a rotator to hook onto the front of the tractor. The semi towing team towed the tractor trailer to the side of the road.