Trucks carrying steel coils in HCMC pose threat to road users

A tractor-trailer on Nguyen Van Linh Street in District 7 on Mar. 13.
Many people have warned about the threat this poses to other vehicles. In fact, steel coils falling off trucks is not a rare occurrence in the city or elsewhere in the country for that matter.
Even this month a 20-ton coil fell off a truck on Nguyen Van Linh Street in Binh Chanh District, crushing a motorbike parked near the sidewalk and seriously injuring a lottery ticket seller. The police said the driver had slammed on the brakes to avoid a pedestrian, which caused the coil to fall off.

Steel coils stored at Tan Thuan Port in District 7 on Mar. 10.
Mai Van Cu, director of Tan Thuan Port JSC, said on some days tractors make 50-60 trips to the port to take delivery of coils and transport them to Binh Duong Province, an industrial hub neighboring HCMC, and to the Mekong Delta.

Nguyen Trong Nhon, 39, a tractor driver, secures a 20-ton steel coil with a diameter of 2m to his vehicle.
Nhon admitted there are no mandatory requirements related to securing the coils when transporting them. “Other drivers taught me how to do it, and I also learned from experience. When I feel the chain is tight enough, I’ll drive,” he said.

The entire process of fastening the steel coils is done in five minutes and manually.
After attaching a chain to the steel coils, Nhon uses his foot to tighten it. Several drivers at Tan Thuan Port said it is more dangerous to carry steel coils than a container. They have to fix the steel coil to the trailer completely manually and assess its safety themselves, they said.
The port’s director, Cu, admitted no one checks trucks carrying steel coils for safety before they leave, and the port only provides a crane to load the coils on the trailer.

A tractor-trailer turns from Huynh Tan Phat Street into Tran Xuan Soan Street in District 7 after leaving Tan Thuan Port.
A local resident, Nguyen Thanh Tuan, said, “This turn is extremely dangerous as the street is narrow while the trucks are big and normally block the view of motorbike drivers. “People living on Tran Xuan Soan Street are always worried every time such a truck passes by.”

A tractor trailer almost fully occupies Huynh Tan Phat Street.
“Every time I see a trailer carrying steel coils I pull over and wait for it to drive a far distance away,” Nguyen Trong Dai, who goes to work every day on the street, said. He has seen steel coils detach from trailers and said the sight was frightening.

Motorcyclists drive right beside a trailer carrying steel coils on Huynh Tan Phat Street.

A trailer carrying a number of steel coils on Nguyen Van Linh Street in District 7.

Tractor-trailers with steel coils head to the western gateway to the city on Nguyen Van Linh Street

Besides coils, trailers also carry steel wire from the port.

In most cases, steel wires are not fastened to the vehicle by chains.
The city Traffic Safety Board under the Transport Department said “in the long term” businesses need to invest in specialized vehicles like in other countries to transport steel coils safely.