13-043-VEH: Capacidades de carga de los sistemas de enganche de bola o acopladores de montaje en canal ajustables

Fecha de registro	21 de octubre de 2013
Número de asunto	13-043-VEH
Nombre	Ofc. Alexis Crockett
Agencia	Garland Police Dept.
Dirección	1891 Forest LaneGarland, TX, 75042United StatesVer en el mapa (se abre en una pestaña nueva)
Teléfono	972-205-4061
Fax	(972) 485-4808
Correo electrónico	[email protected]
Comité	Comité de Vehículos
Estado	Cerrado
Resumen del asunto	Recientemente inspeccioné una Ford F-350 de plataforma plana que remolcaba un remolque de plataforma plana con enganche de parachoques. La camioneta tenía un sistema de enganche de bola con una capacidad de carga de 6000 lb. El remolque tenía un acoplador de montaje de canal ajustable (fotos adjuntas) con una capacidad de carga bruta de 12 500 lb. El remolque tenía una capacidad de carga bruta vehicular de 14 000 lb. En correspondencia con representantes de Curt Manufacturing y Cequent Performance Products (fabricantes de acopladores de montaje de canal ajustables), excluyendo el sistema de enganche de bola, el acoplador del remolque es el punto débil, ya que su capacidad de carga es menor que la capacidad de carga bruta vehicular del remolque y no debe usarse.
Justificación o necesidad	En el OOSC no se menciona nada sobre el uso de un sistema de enganche de bola o un acoplador de montaje de canal ajustable con una capacidad de carga inferior a la del vehículo remolcado. La sección 393.70(c)(1) trata sobre la necesidad de que las barras de remolque sean estructuralmente adecuadas para el peso que se arrastra (remolques completos). No se menciona nada sobre semirremolques. ¿Se consideraría esto una infracción? Si lo es, ¿debería considerarse también una condición fuera de servicio?
Solicitud de acción	Agregue la condición OOS a la sección Sistemas de enganche de los Dispositivos de acoplamiento OOSC si durante una inspección en carretera se observa el uso de un sistema de enganche de bola y/o un acoplador de montaje de canal ajustable con una capacidad de carga inferior a la del vehículo remolcado.
Medidas adoptadas por el comité	The ad hoc committee discussed the issues involved with enforcement of the request. The enforcement officer simply cannot go off of the GVWR of the trailer compared to the rating of the coupling device because that is probably not what the trailer weighs. An empty or lightly loaded trailer would obviously be different than a trailer that was loaded to full capacity. The officer would be required to know the weight of the trailer and the amount of pull on that coupling system in order to determine if the combination was over its rating by the manufacturer. Enforcement officers do not have the knowledge or expertise in this area to be determining whether or not a particular system is an imminent hazard or not. The recommendation from the ad hoc committee was that it was not something that we wanted to address since it would open up many issues involved with the different components and that inspectors would lack to expertise to properly understand and enforce a regulation of this type. The weight rating of hitch components varies greatly from one to another. The coupling device spoke of in the issue request is only one of those components. The ratings of hitches on towing units, balls, and coupling devices vary from one manufacturer to another and even based on size, whether the connection is a 1 7/8”, 2”, or 2 5/16”. For example, a 2” ball will have a rating of 4,000 lbs to 7500 lbs based on its construction and manufacturer. The system in the picture is showing a 2 5/16” ball and socket system. Most 2 5/16” balls are rated at 10,000 lbs, but can be less. This means the ball is still rated under the 12,500 lbs of the coupling device and well below the actual 14,000 lbs GVWR of the trailer which would mean that the ball is the weakest point, not the coupler. During the vehicle committee meeting, industry representatives reaffirmed the ad hoc committee decision. Industry reps stated that the device in the picture is rare in that it actually states trailer weight. Coupling devices are usually just given a rating not an actual trailer weight. This rating would then be based on the amount of pull on the coupling system and not necessarily on the weight of the trailer. This would mean that even if the inspector knew the weight of the trailer, he/she would still not have the necessary information to determine if the coupling system was overloaded and a hazard because there is no way to know the actual amount of weight being pulled by the coupling system. Based on this information, the vehicle committee determined there would be no action taken.
Documentos de respaldo	138241068429315_channel_mount_coupler.jpg (se abre en una pestaña nueva) 138241068429315_14k_trailer.jpg (se abre en una pestaña nueva) 138241068429315_channel_coupler_1.jpg (se abre en una pestaña nueva) 138241068429315_channel_coupler_2.jpg (se abre en una pestaña nueva)

Fecha de registro

21 de octubre de 2013

Número de asunto

13-043-VEH

Nombre

Ofc. Alexis Crockett

Agencia

Garland Police Dept.

Dirección

1891 Forest LaneGarland, TX, 75042United StatesVer en el mapa

Teléfono

972-205-4061

Fax

(972) 485-4808

Correo electrónico

[email protected]

Comité

Comité de Vehículos

Estado

Cerrado

Resumen del asunto

Recientemente inspeccioné una Ford F-350 de plataforma plana que remolcaba un remolque de plataforma plana con enganche de parachoques. La camioneta tenía un sistema de enganche de bola con una capacidad de carga de 6000 lb. El remolque tenía un acoplador de montaje de canal ajustable (fotos adjuntas) con una capacidad de carga bruta de 12 500 lb. El remolque tenía una capacidad de carga bruta vehicular de 14 000 lb. En correspondencia con representantes de Curt Manufacturing y Cequent Performance Products (fabricantes de acopladores de montaje de canal ajustables), excluyendo el sistema de enganche de bola, el acoplador del remolque es el punto débil, ya que su capacidad de carga es menor que la capacidad de carga bruta vehicular del remolque y no debe usarse.

Justificación o necesidad

En el OOSC no se menciona nada sobre el uso de un sistema de enganche de bola o un acoplador de montaje de canal ajustable con una capacidad de carga inferior a la del vehículo remolcado. La sección 393.70(c)(1) trata sobre la necesidad de que las barras de remolque sean estructuralmente adecuadas para el peso que se arrastra (remolques completos). No se menciona nada sobre semirremolques. ¿Se consideraría esto una infracción? Si lo es, ¿debería considerarse también una condición fuera de servicio?

Solicitud de acción

Agregue la condición OOS a la sección Sistemas de enganche de los Dispositivos de acoplamiento OOSC si durante una inspección en carretera se observa el uso de un sistema de enganche de bola y/o un acoplador de montaje de canal ajustable con una capacidad de carga inferior a la del vehículo remolcado.

Medidas adoptadas por el comité

The ad hoc committee discussed the issues involved with enforcement of the request. The enforcement officer simply cannot go off of the GVWR of the trailer compared to the rating of the coupling device because that is probably not what the trailer weighs. An empty or lightly loaded trailer would obviously be different than a trailer that was loaded to full capacity. The officer would be required to know the weight of the trailer and the amount of pull on that coupling system in order to determine if the combination was over its rating by the manufacturer. Enforcement officers do not have the knowledge or expertise in this area to be determining whether or not a particular system is an imminent hazard or not. The recommendation from the ad hoc committee was that it was not something that we wanted to address since it would open up many issues involved with the different components and that inspectors would lack to expertise to properly understand and enforce a regulation of this type. The weight rating of hitch components varies greatly from one to another. The coupling device spoke of in the issue request is only one of those components.

The ratings of hitches on towing units, balls, and coupling devices vary from one manufacturer to another and even based on size, whether the connection is a 1 7/8”, 2”, or 2 5/16”. For example, a 2” ball will have a rating of 4,000 lbs to 7500 lbs based on its construction and manufacturer. The system in the picture is showing a 2 5/16” ball and socket system. Most 2 5/16” balls are rated at 10,000 lbs, but can be less. This means the ball is still rated under the 12,500 lbs of the coupling device and well below the actual 14,000 lbs GVWR of the trailer which would mean that the ball is the weakest point, not the coupler.

During the vehicle committee meeting, industry representatives reaffirmed the ad hoc committee decision. Industry reps stated that the device in the picture is rare in that it actually states trailer weight. Coupling devices are usually just given a rating not an actual trailer weight. This rating would then be based on the amount of pull on the coupling system and not necessarily on the weight of the trailer. This would mean that even if the inspector knew the weight of the trailer, he/she would still not have the necessary information to determine if the coupling system was overloaded and a hazard because there is no way to know the actual amount of weight being pulled by the coupling system. Based on this information, the vehicle committee determined there would be no action taken.

Documentos de respaldo