March/April 2016
Reprinted with permission from Well Servicing Magazine
Lo-Pro Fluid Transport s
Designing Trailers to Reduce Rollover Risk
By AL PICKETT
___________________
Contributing Writer
Cobe Gilliam (left) of Bruckner Truck Sales and Chris Roberts of Basic Energy Services stand beside a
Lo-Pro 130bbl vacuum trailer, which is designed to have a lower center of gravity.
W
hat started as just an idea has now become
the safest, most efficient trailer in the oil and
gas service industry, according to Tommy
Finklea, vice president for Lo-Pro Fluid Transports, LLC
in Longview, Texas.
“We were just a small fabrication shop, turning out
a trailer every week or two,” Finklea recalls. “A large
energy service company customer had a rollover with
one of its trucks, and they asked us, ‘Why can’t someone
design a vacuum trailer that is much less likely to roll
over?’ So we went to work on it.”
Working with experts from different areas of
manufacturing and engineering, Lo-Pro Fluid Transports
made safety the most important priority as it developed
a new vacuum trailer and fluid transport vessel. Finklea
says the company built five or six to make sure its
trailer would bridge correctly.
Lo-Pro’s new trailer, which received its patent in 2011,
is easily identified because of the eccentric cone in the
middle section of the trailer. The cone is sandwiched
between two conventional barrel-shaped sections.
Finklea says Lo-Pro took the trailer to market in hopes
of gaining the trust and attention of the major oilfield
service companies. He claims it has been accepted with
high praise from its customers. The company now has
nearly 300 of its trailers in operation hauling produced
water or drilling mud in the field.
“We have never had a trailer rollover,” he boasts.
When the company designed its new trailer, it did
much more than just put a cone-shaped middle section
in the trailer.
Well Servicing March/April 2016
“The eccentric cone has a lower center of gravity,
18 inches below the standard vacuum trailers on the
road today,” Finklea points out. “Standard trailers are
96 inches wide. We made our trailers 102 inches wide,
which is the same width as the truck. By making our
trailer six inches wider and with an 18-inch lower center
of gravity, it is much more stable.”
“The eccentric cone has a lower
center of gravity, 18 inches below
the standard vacuum trailers on the
road today. Standard trailers are 96
inches wide. We made our trailers
102 inches wide.”
He says Lo-Pro based the idea for its design of its
new trailers on a 2007 government study “GS 23-F-0011L
Final Report,” which stated there were 1,265 cargo tank
incidents that year, of which 291 were rollovers. The
average weighted cost of those rollovers were $575,000
each, according to the study. It listed driver training and
experience, electronic stability aids, highway design
and tanker design as four ways to affect rollovers.
By widening the wheelbase from the standard 96
inches to 102 inches, the study estimated a 17 percent
reduction for potential rollovers, according to Finklea.
The study also claimed that lowering the center of
gravity by three inches yielded a 10 percent reduction
for rollover.
“We have made our
trailers six inches wider
with an 18-inch lower
center of gravity, which
we believe has reduced
the chance of a rollover
by 75 percent,” he adds.
Finklea says in most
accidents, whether
caused by a driver falling
asleep, a collision with
another vehicle or a
mishap on an icy road,
it is usually the trailer
that pulls the truck over
because the trailer has
more weight.
“When you look at our
Recey Kirk (left) and Shawn McMahan, asset supervisors for Gibsons in Wilburton,
trailers, you will see a
Oklahoma with a Lo-Pro 150bbl vacuum trailer, which is 102 inches wide­
huge difference in how
for more stability—standard trailers are 96 inches wide.
it sits,” he continues. “It
almost sits down like a
middle linebacker.”
“No one else offers a side load,” he says. “It is in our
While its top priority was saving lives, Finklea claims
patent. It acts like an internal straw. Service companies
Lo-Pro is reducing liability for the oilfield service
told us there are a significant number of incidents with
companies.
drivers hitting things when they have to back up. So
“These trailers are running 24/7, and accidents
we came up with the side load. Now they can pull up
happen,” he notes. “We are trying to reduce rollovers,
next to the tank, and they only have to pull out 15
which will lessen the service companies’ liability. We
feet of hose instead of
hope insurance companies will validate our patent as
“Service companies 30 feet. The side load
the gold standard for the industry. I think that is coming
fills five to seven
in the future because we now have enough trailers in
told us there are a also
minutes faster because
the field to validate that our trailers don’t rollover.”
significant number it is an internal, top-fill
The Lo-Pro trailer design has received positive
pipe. If you can save
feedback on performance. Basic Energy Services’ Brett J.
of incidents with
five to seven minutes
Taylor, vice president of manufacturing and equipment
drivers hitting
per load per day, that
points out, “Basic Energy Services is continually seeking
is substantial. If you
new technology to improve driver safety and asset
things when they
haul 10 loads a day, that
performance. The lower center of gravity offered by
have to back up. So could mean an extra 50
the Lo-Pro trailer improved load stability, reducing the
minutes or more of work
potential for control loss or rollovers. Additionally, the
we came up with
time per day.”
trailer’s user-friendly loading design reduces operator’s
the side load.”
Because the trailers
workload and provides additional versatility in position
are often loading at
during loading and unloading.”
night, Lo-Pro made an additional improvement to its
Courtney Brackin, vice president-Mid-Con/Rockies of
new product, making what Finklea calls an industry-first
Gibsons says, “The Lo-Pro trailers have proven to be
20-inch LED light bar on the rear of the trailer. He says
very effective at mitigating rollover risk while providing
they also put another LED light on the side that lights
a solid fluid hauling trailer solution for meeting the
up the side load and another light under the trailer.
needs of our customers. We are pleased with the
overall durability and decreased weight of the trailer
as a result of the design of the Lo-Pro.”
Finklea says Lo-Pro made several other changes on
its trailers that were designed to make life better for
the drivers.
“The hose trays are just above the waist, which makes
the driver’s job easier,” he relates. “They can pull the
hoses out and hook up without having to lift. That
Vice President
means less wear and tear on their back and reduced
work claims. That is all done because we lowered the
100 South Spur 63
O 903.230.0973
center of gravity of the trailer, and the drivers like it.”
Longview, Texas 75601
F 903.230.0978
Finklea, however, says the most exciting feature on
[email protected]
M 903.736.4152
its trailer is the new side load option, meaning it is no
www.lo-pro.net
longer necessary to back up to the location.
TOMMY FINKLEA
Well Servicing March/April 2016
Because trailers are often loading at night, there is a 20-inch LED light bar on the rear of the trailer, another
LED light on the side that lights up the side-load and another light underneath, as shown on this 140bbl unit.
“There is a four-way plug in the cab,” he explains.
“When the driver gets to the site, he can activate a
switch in the cab of the truck and all three lights come
on. They can see the axles, the side load and behind
the trailer. It also shines into the hose trays. That is
one of the most significant things we have changed.
It is really a big deal. There is the ‘cool’ factor when
you drive up on the site with all of those lights on.
But the objective is all about raising
the bar for job safety at night. It is
game-changer for sure. It may be a
small thing, but the drivers love it.”
Besides being safer, he says drivers
report there are two other things they
like about the Lo-Pro trailers. One, it
pulls like a lowboy or flatbed trailer,
with not as much sloshing of the
water in the trailer. And two, drivers
claim the trailer remains stable and
doesn’t lean over when they make
right-hand or left-hand turns.
Finklea says Troxell Trailer
Manufacturing in Fort Worth now
makes the trailer, which is called
Well Servicing March/April 2016
the Troxell Lo-Pro. Bruckner Truck Sales, which has
22 full-service dealerships in seven states, has served
as the distributor for the Lo-Pro trailers since 2014.
So why can’t someone design a vacuum trailer that
is less likely to rollover? Well, according to Finklea,
Lo-Pro Fluid Transports already has.
For more information, visit www.lo-pro.net.