On May 23, 1998, a tanker truck loaded with gasoline (p=719.7 kg/m^3) jumped a jersey barrier and collided with an oncoming pickup truck. The resulting fireball and blaze melted structural supports of the I-95 bridge near Philadelphia on which the crash occurred. Hypothetically, upon leaving the filling station, tire pressure for each tire on the 18-wheeler was measured as 105 psi (gauge), and the wheel contact area with the ground was a 6.0 in by 7.0 in rectangle.
If the weight of the empty truck and tanker was 120 kN, please calculate the volume of gasoline in the tanker at the time of the crash in m^3. Furthermore, at today’s gasoline price of $2.58/gal, plus the cost of the 18-wheeler (purchase price of $98, 000.00), what was the total economic loss to the shipper?