Paul Soglin thinks so:
Flying Wheel: Milwaukee Highway Death and the Role of Government
... Somewhere there was failure. Somewhere there was some government agency too busy, too over-worked, stretched beyond its resources that was not able to effectively follow up and enforce the regulations. You know, those troublesome regulations that drive up the cost of doing business.
Right now all levels of government are under assault. With "Americans for Prosperity," Wisconsin legislators and the political right clamoring to embrace Grover Norquist's goal to "..cut government in half in twenty-five years, to get it down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub," such incidents are not surprising.
That is not to say that government spending will eliminate all accidental deaths or that there is no limit for such spending. But statistically, the less resources there are for making highways safer, logically, there will be more deaths.
He goes on, but you get the idea. We conservatives/Republicans are pretty used to this by now. Let a major hurricane hit a city built below sea level and it's George W. Bush's fault. If a jet plane full of lesbian nuns crashes it will be due to the Iraq War. A fire in an orphanage? There will be a direct line of causation to Talk Radio.
But what do experts in the trucking industry have to say? From jsonline.com:
"In the last 10 to 15 years, more and more, they've been using liquid corrosives to melt salt on the roads instead of the solid rock salt and other compounds," Boyce said. "These liquid ice melters stick to the undercarriage and the axles and the wheels of a truck much more readily than solid de-icers.
"Because of that, when they were first started being used, maintenance managers were shocked to see that trailers were wearing out and bolts were falling off after just a few years on the road."
He said materials have been improved as a result. "But it's still a problem," he said.
And from Land Line, The Business Magazine For Professional Truckers:
The crisis of corrosion: Today’s newer ice-melting chemicals taking premature toll on equipment
Investigation led to one conclusion: Rust jacking and increased corrosion are directly traceable to the increased use of more aggressive snow- and ice-fighting chemicals.
Rock salt (sodium chloride) has been used to lower the freeze point of ice since the 1950s, and is often mixed with sand or cinders to increase traction. Passenger car and light-duty vehicle rusting increased in the 1970s. The auto industry responded with more non-corroding materials and improved coatings. Cars today are far less susceptible to rust, at least from salt. But resistance to salt alone is no longer enough.
In the late 1990s, highway departments found they could reduce costs by taking advantage of more aggressive snow-fighting chemicals. When they used rock salt, they had to position the snow plow-salt spreader combinations at regular intervals to wait for heavy snowfall or freezing rain. The trucks idled, wasting fuel and creating pollution. Drivers were paid to sit and wait, and then paid overtime when they were finally dispatched.
By adding magnesium chloride, calcium chloride and various acetates, highway departments could change operations. Mixtures were spread in anticipation of snowfall, to remain in place until snow actually fell. The mixtures would then melt the snow.
This usually gave the departments time to call up personnel and dispatch trucks, saving idling and overtime. Granular salts might be blown away, but spraying liquid compounds on the roads would leave the chemical coating to do its work later. Many departments started applying the mixtures, or brines, to the roads. The savings met and exceeded expectations – but the consequences were horrendous.
And from Heavy Duty Trucking:
Corrosion Versus Wheels
Corrosion - called rust when you're talking about iron and steel - is a natural force that eats away at metals. Left unchecked, it burrows deep into wheels. Corrosion is aided and abetted by road departments that use aggressive salts to melt ice and snow on pavements. Rock salt works well on pavement and can be fairly easily washed from vehicles to protect them. But the far more efficient magnesium- and calcium-chloride compounds are more corrosive and cling tenaciously to metal. Wheels are literally closer to salt sprays than anything else on the truck, so they need extra defensive measures to protect them.
And from truck magazine CCJ:
Confronting Corrosion
The root cause? While good old salt always has done a good job melting ice and snow — and, unfortunately, corroding metal — highway departments in snow-prone states have discovered that other compounds such as calcium chloride and magnesium chloride do a better melting job, and are far cheaper. They also are far more corrosive, often to critical vehicle safety components like brakes. ...
“It’s been tough getting people to realize the damage this stuff can do,” says Gambrell. “Even to tires. Think about it — if there’s a small nick in the tread, these chemicals can wick their way up to the steel belts and corrode them.” And it’s not just steel or other ferrous alloys that get attacked. “I’ve seen holes eaten in aluminum fuel tanks,” he attests. “No part on a truck is safe.”
Nor does it appear that the problem is getting better. Due to the low cost of the chemicals and their effectiveness at clearing roads, “it’s getting worse,” Gambrell says. “The highway departments figure that, if a little is good, more must be better.” ...
No doubt, trailer manufacturers are taking more precautions against corrosion, but the war is far from over. “Corrosion is still getting worse,” Stuart says. “We’re seeing better coatings and, just driving on the highway, you can see a lot more stainless and galvanized steel. But the use of these new chemicals is spreading faster than the industry can keep up.”
So I guess we conservatives aren't quite to blame for this one. But just wait a day and I'm sure we'll be on the hook for something else. Right, Paul?
