On the 4th of April, this year i was going along C-5 when something caught my eye! A truck pulling along a trailer with what seemed like a 20 ft Intermodal container without the proper Umbilical cable connections!
Why are we allowing them to go on our public roads like this?! Given the right circumstances he could ram something, or someone because he has a fraction of the braking force available to him! Or someone could go under the trailer just because the driver failed to notice the truck was slowing down. Failed to notice since the trucks brake lights were there, but not operational
This one has no air lines, or brake lines connected to the trailer, but instead its shoved off to the side of the tractor head..
A clear view of the gap between the tractor and trailer
According to the GPS data recorded on the picture we were in this exact area, when i took the picture. (The green arrow on the map)
The truck I’ve shown you doesn’t even have electrical connections for the trailer lights! Isn’t that a direct violation of R.A. 4136 Section 34, D, and E?
(d) Taillights. – Every motor vehicle and trailer shall, during the above-mentioned hours, also bear on each side in the rear a lamp showing a red light visible at least one hundred meters from the rear of the vehicle and a lamp throwing a white light upon the number plate issued for such vehicle.
(e) Stop lights. – Every motor vehicle shall be equipped at the rear with at least one lamp which shall throw a sustained bright red light visible under all conditions, even under bright sunlight, when the brakes are applied. Each bus, truck, trailer or similar vehicle shall be equipped, as its stop light at or near its rear center, with a lamp at least twelve centimeters in diameter with the word “stop” inscribed in the center.
The connections between the tractor head and the trailer would normally be for the brakes, and electrical systems of the trailer, but in some cases may have additional specialized connections like monitoring, or additional dedicated electrical connection for equipment on board.
It’s not that hard to connect the electrical and air lines since it normally uses “Glad-hands” that are somewhat similar to the ones that couple locomotives together, only on a smaller scale. So why not connect the damn thing?! At least connect the electrical connections, since it’s just like plugging in a plug to a mains outlet.
C-5 is littered by police, so why has he not been stopped? General ignorance and stupidity of our Traffic police is why! This could be why Truck accidents happen here in the Philippines.
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- A view of semi-trailer “Suzies” at the back of an Australian prime mover. The red line is emergency/supply and the blue is control line.
