HEAVY LOAD: Trailer mishap with 47,000 pound steel coil gets interesting

Mon, 06/15/2015 - 8:25am — Diane Dyer

What do you do when a trailer hauling a steel coil weighing 47,000 pounds breaks? That was the question the Ingram Brothers, Eric and Chase, had to figured it out Friday morning. Answer? Pick it up and pull another trailer under the coil. Easier said than done, but with the help of Felts Towing, several great employees, and traffic control by the state highway department things worked out great.

An Ingram Brothers truck loaded with a 47,000 pound AK Steel Coil pulled out on to Veterans Lane headed to Chicago when driver Chris Gilstrap felt a strange pull. “I thought the trailer had come unhooked, but it had broken,” said Gilstrap.

According to Eric Ingram, metal fatigue was the likely cause. The trailer was setting on the highway with the rear tires in the air. Felts Towing had to be called due the weight of the steel coil. Felts were able to lift the coil, allowing the broken trailer to be driven out and a new trailer to be placed under the coil.

An onlooker came to the scene, Jim Allen, was visiting his daughter Sarah and her husband Derrick Embry, when he spotted the mishap. He was familiar with the steel coil as he had retired from AK Steel after working there for 30-plus year along with several members of his family.