Wash Off That Salt
If you think you’re immune to corrosion horrors, you’re wrong.
JIM WINSOR
EXECUTIVE EDITOR
If you want to save your fleet a lot of maintenance headaches and expense, frequent and thorough washing is your best solution.
If you had attended the Technology and Maintenance Council fall meeting and saw the “horror show” of failed parts and severe rust and corrosion damage to trucks, tractors and trailers, your reaction might have been this could never happen in my fleet.
Wrong!
The worst evidence came from fleets that operate in the so-called Rust Belt, the states that are heavy users of salt and road chemicals put on roads to prevent or reduce ice and snow accumulation. But the story doesn’t stop there. Some of the evidence also came from fleets based in Florida, Arizona and the South.
Some of the fleets dispatched rigs only occasionally to Rust Belt areas but these visits were enough to start the cancer of destruction. And like human cancers, if not caught early they spread rapidly, especially through wiring and connections. We saw tables-full of evidence fleets had brought with them… rusted-through spring brake chambers, failed fuel tank retaining straps, wheel nuts eaten away, trailer support leg crank handles, and even brackets and bushings eaten through.
There were a dozen brake shoes with severe rust jacking, the phenomena that takes place when corrosive road chemicals work their way between brake linings and shoe tables and rust away the surface, leaving the linings without proper support. In the worst examples linings had separated from the shoes; accumulated rust was 1/8-inch thick (For more on rust jacking, see our feature article, pg. 46, Sept. 2001 and my column pg. 78 of the same issue.)
Photographic evidence included severe body and frame rust, leaking engine oil pans, rusted-through rear axle housings also leaking oil, failed oil filter canisters, rotted rear trailer door frames, badly pitted chrome and aluminum front bumpers and even trailer reefer unit panels and doors that rusted through.
Speaker Darry Stuart from Quickway Transportation headquartered in Nashville and who has worked for fleets in New England, summarized the overall problem this way:
“Unless or until highway departments stop using the severe chemicals they’re putting on their roads, those of us in the fleet maintenance business need to re-evaluate what we’re doing and what we’re buying.
“For starters, regular and thorough vehicle and undercarriage washing can make a big difference. The Hood Dairy fleet in New England has little rust and corrosion problems by getting the chemicals off before their attack sets in.
“Insure proper chassis and body preparation and coatings on new equipment. Require di-electric grease in all electrical sockets and connections. Discuss with suppliers the use of special paints and coatings.
“Consider stainless steel parts where affordable, fuel tank straps, for instance.
“Consider painting as a part of maintenance. This is something many of us have tried to stay away from but in some cases repainting is the most cost-effective solution.”
Stuart’s parting shot brought down the house: “Tell your drivers to drive a lot in rain storms!” His point was this is the cheapest way to wash the undercarriage and suck clean water through the radiator core, aftercooler and AC condenser. Road chemicals blasting onto these components can severely shorten their life.
Other speakers said it takes as little as two years for the killer chemicals to do their damage. And like cancers, it’s much more difficult and expensive to deal with the issues once they’ve started.
Take this as a word to the wise.
