Runaway Truck Ramps

Runaway truck ramps are important highway features for truckers driving in mountainous areas. Familiarize yourself with the locations of ramps wherever you are hauling goods on roads with steep grades. Here is a quick guide to truck ramps.

A Quick Guide to Runaway Truck Ramps

A truck escape ramp is generally built on a highway headed downhill. If the grade increases too rapidly, a truck in a too-high-gear may be unable to downshift. Brakes may be ineffective. The installation of a runaway truck ramp decreases the likelihood of out-of-control rigs causing road closures, injuries and fatalities.

Factors that determine the placement of a truck ramp include:

• Runaway-truck accident rate at same grade
• Percent of slope on road
• Length of steep grade
• Total traffic volume on road
• Frequency of crashes along stretch of highway

Placement of a runaway truck ramp also depends on the location of sharp turns and end-of-grade conditions like the location of a school or busy intersection.

Flat, unpaved runaway ramps use gravel up to 48 inches deep to stop runaway. There are long ascending runaway ramps that head uphill. These use an arrester bed of gravel or sand combined with a gravity escape ramp (the uphill part) to stop a runaway truck. Shorter, downhill ramps may use stainless-steel nets to catch runaway rigs.

source: http://www.arrowtruck.com/blog/2017/10/16/guide-runaway-truck-ramps-locations-may-need-one/

Check this video compilation of runaway truck ramps: