Wow! Good Stuff! You guys seem to have handled every question that came up. Mud Maker, thanks for the link to the jumper, They are actually considering having me build one! My company tried some of the composite drums once. For a few months they were awesome, then one day a Fin Fish ( an oddly fish shaped chunk of concrete) broke free and punched several holes through the side of the drum! So they may be stronger now, or maybe you just have to be real clean with them.
As you guys have explained you have some time to get a drum turning and kill a load, but pretty much everything went wrong here. For perspective this is the only one in 11 years....and as a mechanic I must place the blame firmly on the driver of course