Fontaine "Ultra LT" 5th wheels being investigated

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Insurance Journal / July 6, 2015

On a twisty, snow-lined hill that the locals call “Devil’s Backbone,” a 12-ton semi-trailer came loose from its tractor and plowed into an oncoming line of pre-dawn commuters.

At 40 miles per hour, the trailer struck the side of one pickup truck and careened head-on into another, killing the drivers of both vehicles.

At first the Jan. 24, 2014, crash on U.S. 50 in Cincinnati’s eastern suburbs drew only the attention of Ohio authorities, who faulted the semi driver for not properly inspecting the hitch that holds the trailer to the tractor. But 17 months later, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has raised the possibility that the hitch was defective.

On June 9, the agency began investigating a potentially high rate of trailer separations for the hitch involved in the crash — the “Ultra LT” made by Fontaine Fifth Wheel of Trussville, Alabama. Fontaine says it is cooperating with the probe.

The Ultra LT could be in use on as many as 6,000 semis across the nation.

Given the nearly 1 1/2-year gap between the crash and the investigation, the safety agency could face renewed criticism for failing to analyze its own data to uncover a safety problem — the same failure that delayed recalls of defective General Motors ignition switches and faulty Takata air bags.

Although the agency’s new administrator says reforms are underway, one frequent critic of NHTSA sees remnants of an old problem.

“(The Fontaine case) sounds like an artifact of what we used to see from the agency over time, an inability to connect the dots,” says Sean Kane, president of Safety Research and Strategies.

Kane says the agency needs to move quickly given the number of semis using the Ultra LT hitches.

The agency says it acted properly, opening the investigation after Fontaine said it wanted to replace all 6,000 hitches for unspecified “non-safety” reasons.

The agency investigated the hitches once before, in 2011, after Fontaine issued a service bulletin. NHTSA found 12 complaints about the hitches, plus one crash with no injuries. Truck companies Freightliner, Kenworth, Volvo and Mack recalled 2,400 tractors to replace a bar that locks a pin from the trailers to the hitch.

NHTSA said Fontaine made a design change at that time to prevent the problem from occurring in future products.

In 2012, Fontaine revealed another problem with the Ultra LTs in a second service bulletin, but the agency decided the issue didn’t warrant an investigation.

As required by law, Fontaine notified NHTSA of the Cincinnati-area crash in August of last year, as did the truck’s maker, Navistar. Fontaine subsequently submitted reports that blamed the crash on an improper hookup by the driver, so the agency didn’t pursue the matter further.

Once Fontaine said it wanted to replace the hitches, NHTSA decided to act. Agency spokesman Gordon Trowbridge says the investigation will “determine if the service bulletin, the fatal crash and the plan to replace all of the fifth wheels (hitches) have a common safety-related root cause.”

Fontaine has until July 24 to turn over communications on the Ohio crash and other information.

Steve Mann, vice president of engineering for Fontaine, which is part of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., says in a statement that the company analyzes data to help ensure “safety and reliability.” NHTSA said in documents that Fontaine believes operator error caused the Devil’s Backbone crash.

Before he drove on the hill that frigid January morning, Michael Simpson tried to hook his grocery trailer to a tractor at a truck yard north of Cincinnati. Three times, it didn’t latch, he told police. It locked on the fourth try, and Simpson drove a short distance to make sure. He checked again while en route to an IGA store, saying he was “concerned.”

Then, about 6:30 a.m., as he was climbing Devil’s Backbone, the trailer came loose. It tore across the side of Michael Brown’s Chevy Silverado, killing the 43-year-old father of three. Then it hit Shawn Wilson’s Dodge Ram head-on, killing the 39-year-old father who had one daughter.

“It was a terrible accident. Just so sad,” said Kathy Sabo, who saw it happen while driving to work and tried to help victims.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol investigated, finding that the hitch didn’t lock due to a combination of the minus 4 degree temperature and a buildup of frozen grease on the pin and receiver.

Days after the crash, tests showed the hitch worked just fine. Sgt. Charlie Scales, a reconstruction expert, says Simpson would have spotted the loose connection if he had properly inspected the hitch.

Simpson, now 62, was convicted earlier this year of vehicular manslaughter, a misdemeanor. His commercial driver’s license was suspended for 90 days and he got a year’s probation. His attorney in a lawsuit stemming from the crash wouldn’t comment.

Scales says loose trailers and a lack of proper visual inspections by truckers are common. But in most cases, an unhitched trailer stops safely and is re-attached to the truck, he says.

Timeline of Probe into Big-Rig Hitches

• March 1, 2011: Fontaine Fifth Wheel sends service bulletin to customers telling them that the Ultra LT hitch used on semis may not lock properly and trailers can detach from tractors on the road. The bulletin also is sent to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
• April 15, 2011: NHTSA opens investigation to find out which tractor manufacturers use the Ultra LT.
• May 13, 2011: Daimler Trucks North America recalls 2,281 Freightliner cabs to replace the locking bar on the hitches.
• June 27, 2011: NHTSA closes investigation, says it knows other truck manufacturers used the Ultra LT on tractors and will work with Fontaine “to ensure that the remaining vehicles are identified and remedied.”
• July-September 2011: Paccar recalls 10 Kenworth trucks to fix the problem. Mack Trucks and Volvo Trucks recall a total of 129 cabs for the same issue.
• April 4, 2012: Fontaine issues a second service bulletin telling customers that the hitches can have a bent lever that also can allow trailers to come loose. Problem is caused by “improper coupling techniques.” NHTSA says it reviewed bulletin but took no action because warnings about proper product use are common.
• Jan. 24, 2014: Trailer comes loose from International ProStar tractor on U.S. 50 east of Cincinnati. Plows into oncoming traffic, killing two men, each driving a pickup truck. Two others hurt.
• August, 2014: Fontaine and Navistar report the crash to NHTSA as required by law. No NHTSA action is noted in records, but agency says it asked for more information in September.
• November, 2014: Fontaine responds with report blaming crash on truck driver error in coupling trailer.
• May 13, 2015: The company meets with NHTSA safety investigators to discuss a third service campaign to replace 6,000 Ultra LT hitches for unspecified “non-safety” issue.
• June 9, 2015: NHTSA opens investigation to test the Ultra LT and estimates that 6,000 tractors are on the road with the potentially defective hitches. Fontaine says it will cooperate with the probe.

Sources: NHTSA documents, agency and Fontaine statements.