After a short and bumpy ride, you arrive at the location of the truck. Luckily, Tiny, the truck driver is standing near the truck after visiting the hospital. You ask him to explain what happened.

After talking to truck driver Tiny you walk around and get in the truck cabin. You find the cargo documents, which show that the weight of the cargo is 8500 kg. You also find the truck documents, and they show that the truck is 10 years and 11 months old.

Now it is time to dive under the truck and have a look at where the truck broke in two. There is a problem: you cannot examine the front part of the truck. You have to wait for the truck to be lifted in order to have access. The rear part of the truck is accessible. In the images below, you can see the truck’s steel frame. It appears that a fracture occurred along the main steel beam element (blue horizontal bar in Photo 145 and the Sketch below). You determine after measurement that 100 centimeters beside the main connection the fracture appears (see Photo 145 below).

You look at the tires. It appears that two back tires on the truck (one at the left and one at the right side) are flat. These are the tires that are closest to the fractured frame.

In the Sketch below, you can see a top view of the truck frame at the position of the wheels. The horizontal blue bar is the main steel beam.

Moreover, you walk a couple of meters along the dust road, and you can see that the road is in fair condition, although some potholes of approximately 5 cm do exist. You don’t see any sharp objects or loose stones in a proximity of 100 meters. Finally, you notice that the truck is positioned at the side of the road, not in contact with other vehicles, trees, etc.

After you get home it is time to get some background information. You start making phone calls and send out emails to get additional background information. Using the weather data website, you’re able to obtain the weather information for that day as is shown by the image below.

Also, you are able to obtain the construction drawings. In the construction drawing below, several details are shown that can be potentially relevant information for you in this investigation.