Safety Shorts: Haul Truck Safety with Clay Albright of Caldwell Stone

NSSGA Podcast

Clay Albright of Caldwell Stone developed his career in the Aggregate Industry at an early age, through a family-owned quarry in Kentucky. He is a third-generation miner and a young leader in the industry. Today Clay joins Libby to discuss his safety story as a haul truck driver nearly twenty years ago. He shares what he learned from this scary experience, and how he uses it to teach other miners about the importance of center-loading trucks, preventing the rear from becoming overloaded, and avoiding risk wherever you can. Clay’s story is a great reminder of how something can happen at any time, even on a routine day.

Episode Highlights

• Clay’s family history in the Aggregates Industry
• Third-generation owner of Caldwell Stone
• Clay shares his safety story of a near-miss that happened nearly 20 years ago as a haul truck driver
• Material shifted to the back of the truck, caused the front wheels to lift off the ground and the engine to stall out entirely
• Engine had an internal failure that caused it to lose power
• Truck is still in service and has not had any engine-related trouble since
• This experience highlighted the importance of center-loading trucks and preventing the rear from being overloaded

Toolbox Talk Discussion Questions

• If something like this happened at our operation, what would we do? Who would be called?
• Are there things we could do or consider at our operation to make hauling and loading material safer?
• Does anyone have a story about material hauling safety they’d like to share?

Quotes:

“As I was pulling up the first hill, the material shifted to the back of the truck bed, and I could feel the front tires coming up off the ground.”

“I knew something wasn’t right, so I immediately grabbed my hard hat and put it on. I put my foot on the brake and radioed for help.”

“I was extremely nervous, but I had confidence in the other guys that they’d take care of me.”

“We took the truck to the dump, and got rid of the material. And on to the shop for a diagnosis for why the engine seemed to stall out.”

“That near-miss definitely made me more aware of shifting loads.”

“The trucks can take a lot, but why risk it when we can avoid the problem before it even happens?”

Links:

National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association website

Caldwell Stone website