Yes, as per my truck driving nephew, they are not supposed to block the tracks under ANY conditions. If necessary the driver should have waited before crossing the tracks until he could get his entire load across them.
Hope he wasn't an independent

That goes for any truck. If you can't clear the tracks in one move DON'T cross until you can. NEVER, EVER block a RR crossing. And if a car forces you to stop and a train is coming you have to push the car out of the way it's better to hit the car than have the train hit you. I've been driving a truck for 34 yrs it's just common sense.

I was replying to this particular comment:


Most semis carry either $1mil or $2mil in combined single limit liability coverage, meaning that their liability coverage is one lump sum that applies to property damage and bodily injury. That has to cover damage to the train, the crossing, any damaged cargo on the train (cargo being hauled by the truck is covered separately), any injuries on the train, as well as recovering and transporting the damaged train cars. No amount of arguing that the crossing is insufficient, etc. is going to get them off the hook from paying their full limits. The trucking co and driver are going to feel the wrath of the rail company, because the cost of this incident is going to be well over their insurance limits. Bankruptcy for both is entirely possible.

IIRC, there's also a prohibition against shifting when any part of the truck/trailer unit is over the tracks. The reason is because that's when driveline failures happen. It's primarily for loads that have to stop before crossing the tracks like busses, flammable, and hazmat. I suspect oversize would fall into that category but I'm not ambitious enough to research it this morning.

You are right it shouldn't have happened.

When I was a kid, not too far from the shop we owned a truck hauling a oil derrick hit an overpass.

The driver and trucking company had an planned and approved route from the State of LA. The state said it would fine clearance wise and it was approved.

The state said it was the trucks fault and tried to fine/bill the trucking company. Trucking company said the state approved the route it's the state's fault.

That taught me to never trust state approvals.

The last line on just about every permit I've ever seen says no matter what the permit says, if you hit it, you own it. Must verify all horizontal and vertical clearances before departure.

Kevin

We had an independent rig a few years back that was taking a shortcut from his approved using I-680, OOOPPSS , his laod was higher tha an overpass, made quite a mess