on 12-04-2015 05:12 PM
Extract from SMH this morning.
Hope No Ebay Sellers had any items on it that will now be under MBG or Not delivered INR.
A truck carrying letters on behalf of Australia Post has caught fire on the Hume Highway sending traffic into chaos on one of the key thoroughfares between Sydney and Melbourne for over two hours.
It took at least four Rural Fire Service trucks to extinguish the blaze which resulted in a large amount of letters being destroyed that were on their way from Sydney to Melbourne.
"Postal letters were sprawled out across the highway," said Declan McCarthy who had to wait over two hours to pass through the fire scene.
An Australia Post spokeswoman said that the company was currently working through the information to advise customers of the impact. The truck is owned by a third-party contractor.
"Fortunately and most importantly, no one was injured in the incident," she said in a statement.
The fire started after the truck appeared to crash into an embankment on the highway just south of Gundagai in south-west NSW.
It took fire crews almost two hours to get the blaze under control. The driver escaped before the truck was completely engulfed in flames.
By 5pm on Saturday the shell of the truck was still emitting smoke and a fuel leakage had kept the south-bound lane of the Hume Highway closed.
HAZMAT teams have been called in to clear the fuel off the road, a RFSNSW spokesman said.
Drivers are being told to expect delays.
"We expect that lane to remain closed for the next few hours," the spokesman said.
on 12-04-2015 07:20 PM
Good the driver escaped and no one else was injured.
Can't they find contractors with more reliable trucks to deliver the mail though?
on 12-04-2015 08:15 PM
With Australia Post I guess NOT the Cheaper the Better
on 12-04-2015 08:21 PM
Has anyone said what caused the fire? How do you know that it was the truck at fault....it could have been something that was in the mail in the back of the truck.
on 12-04-2015 08:25 PM
@queenslander wrote:With Australia Post I guess NOT the Cheaper the Better
Australia Post contractors have to have vehicles that meet specific criteria one of which is that it must be under 5 years old and in good order and condition. They cannot use just any old vehicle. None of the acceptable vehicles is cheap.
on 12-04-2015 08:29 PM
on 13-04-2015 12:50 AM
@lyndal1838 wrote:Has anyone said what caused the fire? How do you know that it was the truck at fault....it could have been something that was in the mail in the back of the truck.
According to the report, the fire appeared to be the result of the accident itself.
quote: "The fire started after the truck appeared to crash into an embankment on the highway just south of Gundagai in south-west NSW."
on 13-04-2015 02:54 AM
@cq_tech wrote:
@lyndal1838 wrote:Has anyone said what caused the fire? How do you know that it was the truck at fault....it could have been something that was in the mail in the back of the truck.
According to the report, the fire appeared to be the result of the accident itself.
quote: "The fire started after the truck appeared to crash into an embankment on the highway just south of Gundagai in south-west NSW."
Thanks CQ...so it appears that the truck did not spontaneously combust.
on 13-04-2015 04:19 AM
on 13-04-2015 06:30 AM
I service vehicles for Roadrunner transport who cart mail on the mid north coast and between Sydney and Brisbane
Their most modern vehicle is a 2005 Mercedes Atego 1820
Their oldest vehicle is a UD CWA45 .......everybody would know the shape of these trucks........ Noah drove one onto the Ark