Patent ID: 8651580

Claim:
A method of transporting oil sands using a truck, the method comprising: loading a load of oil sands into a truck body of the truck at a mining site, the truck body including a floor having a non-linear edge at which the oil sands loaded into the body is released when the body is moved into a dumping position, a front wall confining the load, and sidewalls confining the load such that each taper outwardly from the front of the truck body to an open rear of the truck body, the load being subjected to compressive forces during the loading due to the weight of the load which compacts the load; transporting the oil sands in the truck body from a mining site to a dumping site using the truck, during which the load is vibrated, resulting in further compression of the load that causes the load to amalgamate as a single mass; pivoting the front of the truck body upward to dump the oil sands from the truck body; releasing lateral confinement of the load as it falls out of the truck body such that the outward tapering sidewalls recede from the load as the load falls, thereby breaking up of the single mass of the oil sands, and releasing floor support of the falling load unevenly across a width of the floor, thereby further breaking up the single mass of oil sands.