Abour 20 years ago,[or more] when I was the Fleet Manager for Telecom, based in Goulburn, I received an urgent call to go to the depot in Cooma [about 120 miles away]

When I got there I found a medium/large sized trenching machine that was VERY securely chained down on a two axle trailer with its ROPS [roll over protection system] badly damaged & with damage to the mudguards/fenders on both sides of the trailer.

These larger size trailers were towed by something like a 3 to 5 ton truck using a towing ring on the trailer & pin on the truck. The towing eye on the trailer could rotate a full 360 degrees on it's shaft in the housing.

It seems that they were traveling a bit quicker than they should along a recently reconstructed section of dirt road that was elevated about 2.5m/7 ft above the surrounding ground level. The road swung to the right & the road surface was VERY slippery due to the fact that it had been raining steadily for the last week.

It doesnt take much imagination to see the trailer sliding off to the left, taking the back of the truck with it.
The trailer slipped off the left side of the road & slid down the embankment performing a single roll as it went. The swiveling towing eye shaft allowed the trailer to roll over without taking the truck with it, which had fortunately remained on the road surface.

The trailer rolled up onto its wheels as the ground level & road level became one again & the trailer fell obediently in behind the truck as a very shaken driver & ditcher operator pulled to the side of the road & got out for a quick inspection, a smoke, & a 15 minute break while they changed their underwear.
The fact that the trencher was so securely chained & dogged down meant that it the two were effectively one unit & there was much less damage as a result.

If it had not been for the swiveling towing eye we could have lost the truck & possibly the crew.
Unbelieveably, the ditcher needed only a good washdown, a replacement ROPS, & vertical exhaust system to restore it to service & the trailer needed a washdown, some mudguard, wiring & tow coupling repairs & it too was good to go.

The truck escaped unscathed & both the driver & operator took to the pub to settle their nerves. It could so easily have ended in tradgedy.



We also lost a Caterpillar D7 bulldozer off the side of a low loader at about 75kph near Crookwell back in the early 80's & it lay on it's side, blocking the main road for almost a full day before I could get it moved, .......... but that's another story.