Galvanized Slider Insp.
Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
Kalyn Siebert recently identified an unexpected crack on a beam of an uncompleted galvanized slider. After a thorough investigation, we believe that our steel supplier delivered a batch of flange material with a hardness and ultimate yield strength higher than called out in our specification. While this would not create a problem on a painted trailer, steel's ultimate yield strength and hardness are important factors in the galvanizing process. Extremely hard steel can become brittle during the process of galvanization, which ultimately created a crack on one of our trailers. However, we do not believe any trailers in the field are impacted by this issue. If there was an issue it likely would have presented itself at the time of galvanization. Late-stage failures (more than several hours after the process of galvanization) are extremely rare and are often the result of unrelated factors. Despite our confidence that fielded trailers are not at risk, we encourage end users in possession of the following serial numbers to conduct a simple visual inspection for cracks at the locations identified.