Liquid Chocolate Tanker Recovery
By George L. Nitti
On March 28, one of the casualties of a wicked snow squall that descended upon Schulylkill County, Pennsylvania, which caused a massive pile-up on Interstate 81, 50 miles north of Harrisburg, was a tanker filled with chocolate syrup enroute to Hershey Park.
Mark Hammer, owner/president and operator of their 65-ton NRC rotator, along with Jeremy Richards, the operator of their Century 75-ton rotator, were both instrumental in removing the tanker, one of the last recoveries made amidst many entangled and mangled vehicles numbering more than 80.
At the recovery scene, many contaminants were released on the roadside and vehicles were burned up from fire. According to Hammer, those were a couple of the many challenges they faced during the clean-up.
Hammer added “The tanker recovery was challenging because it was full of liquid chocolate and because the heat from the fire was so significant, the tanker/product was left at a dangerously high temperature.”
The crew of Hammer’s decided it best to let the tanker sit and cool down while they worked on recoveries around it.
When it came time to remove the tanker with the 65 and 75 ton rotators, Hammer said they first attempted to sit it on a bus hauler for transport.
“However, it was determined that this was not the safest method,” said Hammer. “Therefore crews placed a dolly underneath the front of the tanker and chained and secured everything for transport.”
Finally all axles were chained and the tanker was towed from the rear.
Credit goes to all of the operators at Hammer’s including both Hammer and Richards, along with tow operators Dwayne Kimmel, Dale Reightler, Shawn Houtz, Daniel Shuman, Brian Huntzinger, and Brian Staller.
Brag @ TIW!
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Dennie Ortiz x213