BusBuilding

Correct brake adjustment is critical in keeping the brake system operating in a fail-safe manner.

The brake chamber strokes, and through the linkage, mechanically moves the brake shoes against the brake drum. Typically, the maximum stroke is two to three inches, depending on the size of the brake chamber. As the brake shoes wear, the shoe/drum clearance continues to increase. Excessive clearance (brakes out of adjustment) will cause the chamber(s) to stroke near their maximum before the shoes contact the drum. With the brake chambers near maximum stroke, as the brake drum heats and expands, the shoes follow the expansion. Due to the mechanical advantage (ratio) between the brake chamber rod and shoe movement, very little drum growth will cause the chamber rod to move sufficiently to become fully stroked! Braking action on that wheel will be greatly reduced!

Once this concept is understood, it is easy to grasp that descending a grade with brake chambers at near maximum stroke spells pending disaster.

Air Brake Basics 101, by Dave Galey & Dick Stafford, Bus Conversions Magazine, January, 2006.

Don’t Follow Trucks (or busses!)

There are many reasons why you shouldn’t follow trucks.

They are bigger than you.

They have to fit inside a lane that was made for cars. They might have 2 feet to spare if you add up the space on either side.

You can’t see in front of us - so when we inch over into the other lane to avoid that chunk of tire in the road it might end up causing you some problems if you end up hitting it. Or if we inch over because there is a guy is changing his tire on the side of the road, you might not notice and that too might cause some problems if you hit him. There is also the occasional deer carcass, the christmas tree, a boat, insulation, baggage that fell off someone’s car, plastic in many forms, a bicycle, mystery bag with something in it, large rocks, and the suicide rabbits that love that joke that goes…

“Why did the rabbit cross the road?” “Rabbits and deer have no concept of speed vs. size vs. distance.”

more at: Truck Driver Journal

Peeping Tom? Hollywood stuntman? Burglar? Nah…this Spiderman wannabe is installing windows on the 7th floor of a new building overseas. It’s interesting to see that there is not much of a windowsill to stand on and he’s completely shut out of the building by the glass. Brave soul.

Hey, the job just ain’t worth it if you’re going to die before you can pick up your paycheck. Consider the risks before you put yourself out on a limb (or ledge). It doesn’t take that long to put on a safety harness or whatever other safety equipment you need for the job.

What’s that you say…A harness is uncomfortable? Yeah, maybe, but not as uncomfortable as that long drop to the asphalt. Think about it.

US Naval Safety Center Photo of the Week

Short version: Big truck parks for lunch. Small truck sneaks up and parks right under big truck’s wheel. Big truck driver finishes his bologna sandwich, belches, and then drives off. He stops when he realizes that the crunch he hears is not the soda can he tossed out the window.

Fortunately, the driver of the red truck was not in the vehicle at the time.

What’s the lesson? Them big semi-trucks, trailers and busses out there will win any battle in the war for space…and you’ve got to respect that.

US Naval Safety Center
Photo of the Week

Everyday things to be careful when doing:


1. Drinking a cup of hot coffee (burn hazard)
2. Eating donuts (choking hazard)
3. Cutting the crust off your PB&J (cutting hazard)
4. Driving a great big ’skyrocket’ around (boom hazard)


I don’t want to say what this thing really is because I might get in trouble!

[US Naval Safety Center]

Highway Watch is yet another civilian distributed counterterrorism program. Basically, truckers are trained to look out for suspicious activities on the highways.

Why? Two things: training, and a broader focus than terrorism. From their overview:
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