Loose, Broken or Missing Body-to-Frame Securement Bolts
| Entry Date | February 11, 2007 |
|---|---|
| Issue Number | 07-007-VEH |
| Name | Senior Trooper W. O. Coleman |
| Agency | Virginia State Police |
| Address | P.O. Box 1116Salem, VA, 24153United StatesMap It (opens in a new tab) |
| Phone | (540) 387-5437 |
| [email protected] | |
| Committee | Vehicle Committee |
| Status | Closed |
| Summary of Issue | Title 49CFR 393.203(b) states that body-to-frame securement bolts shall not be loose, broken or missing. Recently I inspected a three axle straight truck in which all six (three on ea. side) body-to-frame securement bolts where so loose I could move them by hand. However; there was no immediate evidence of movement or shifting between the two components. I searched the OOS criteria and was unable to find this issue addressed. I will forward photos of vehicle in question. |
| Justification or Need | Although in the above incident there ws no movement between the components it stands to reason that when securement devices are loose or ineffective movement, shifting or failure could occur. This particular vehicle was a loaded log truck. As we require loads to be properly secured to a vehicle, so should we require the bodies that carry or contain those loads to be properly secured to the vehicle frame. |
| Request for Action | I would like to see this issue addressed in the OOS criteria. Establishing a percentage of ineffective securement devices which places the vehicle OOS as has been done for other securement devices such as upper coupler/lower coupler bolts etc. seems approiate |