Online DOT
Expert Expediter
There have been several good posts latley. So see what you think about this one. Tell about your funniest or scariest trucking moment. OR tell about that load that just seemed odd.
Tell About Your funniest or scariest truckin
- Thread starter Online DOT
- Start date
I'll never forget the funniest. This happened near a high school in Rochester, NY. I was sitting at a red light when I saw it coming. Run away self-propelled push lawn mower. It came to the intersection nearly perfectly at the corner, then came over the curb and J-walked through the intersection, when a guy in a car finally stopped it. Looked as though some kids at the school started it and put some tape around the handle bar to make it move on its own. Dangerous as it was everyone at that intersection was in tears!
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I will never forget the scariest!
It was back in the winter of 1993. I had just started expediting for Roberts Express, and drove a very light Mitsubishi cabover. I was northbound on 23 headed for Toledo a little past midnight, and a really bad storm had hit that night. There were very high crosswinds, I think they said gusts were up to 60-70 mph in spots. Tractor trailors and 4 wheelers were off the road everywhere, but I was a brand new "Supertrucker" and "just knew" I could make it through. Well, I went thru an underpass, that was also a long left hand curve, so the wind was off me for a while... I came out of the underpass, still curving to the left, when a particularly high crosswind hit me from the left... my truck leaned sharply to the right, and to this day, I believe my left wheels were off the ground. Anyway, when the truck came back down, the rear end came around to the drivers side...... I did the famous fishtail slides for a good 100 yards or more! Needless to say, I pulled off at the next rest area with a sudden urge to urinate... LOL>.. and called in to tell them I'd be there the next day... and never again, did I put a load in front of safety, and I always used a LOT more common sense!
It was back in the winter of 1993. I had just started expediting for Roberts Express, and drove a very light Mitsubishi cabover. I was northbound on 23 headed for Toledo a little past midnight, and a really bad storm had hit that night. There were very high crosswinds, I think they said gusts were up to 60-70 mph in spots. Tractor trailors and 4 wheelers were off the road everywhere, but I was a brand new "Supertrucker" and "just knew" I could make it through. Well, I went thru an underpass, that was also a long left hand curve, so the wind was off me for a while... I came out of the underpass, still curving to the left, when a particularly high crosswind hit me from the left... my truck leaned sharply to the right, and to this day, I believe my left wheels were off the ground. Anyway, when the truck came back down, the rear end came around to the drivers side...... I did the famous fishtail slides for a good 100 yards or more! Needless to say, I pulled off at the next rest area with a sudden urge to urinate... LOL>.. and called in to tell them I'd be there the next day... and never again, did I put a load in front of safety, and I always used a LOT more common sense!
Online DOT
Expert Expediter
Great story dreamer...Did you keep the pants to show your Grandkids? LOL
My scariest was about 12 years ago when I was driving tractor trailer. My wife and I teamed pulling exhibits and trade shows. We were coming out of Denver in late November, and only had about 7000lbs. in the trailer. We were to stop in Oklahoma city to pick up another load the next day, and continue on to Florida, where we were going to leave the rig, in one of our agents lots, and go on a long tropical vacation. It was our last run of the year. Just outside of Stratton, Colorado, we ran into a severe snow storm. It came up fast. The snow was blowing horizontal and there were large patches of ice on the road. I was trying to find the next exit sign. Just about the time I was driving across one of those ice patches, a strong gust of wind hit the trailer like a boat sail. The snow had drifted onto the road just in front of us, and you could barely see. Suddenly you couldn´t see a thing as the truck was jacknifing, plowing into the snowdrift, and throwing white everywhere. I didn´t know which way to try to steer, even if i could have, because I couldn´t see where I was. We ended up in the median. The Kenworth, was totalled. The under carriage was torn apart, broke the bell housing, and bent the frame pretty bad. Fortunately neither one of us was hurt, but to this day I can still hear the involuntary screams and the loud snapping sounds of the truck breaking up. It scared us enough, that we debated for 5 months whether to go back out on the road or not. In time we got over it. Though I was never charged with a preventable from the carrier, or given a citation by the highway patrol, from that day on, when I see ice, I shut down. Since that time I¨ve told many an overzealous dispatcher, "There is nothing you can put in the back of this truck, that is worth me risking my life". I have also seen several times, since then, trucks that kept going in bad weather, sitting in the median, rolled over, or through the gaurd rails, the next morning when i got back out there. It was a lesson I´ll never forget.
The funniest experience I can remember, I was also driving tractor trailer, and we were pulling into a weigh station somwhere out west, New Mexico if memory serves me right, about 10 years ago. Right behind me was a driver with a loaded bull wagon. I was just entering the weigh station house when the bull wagon was crossing the scales. As I was getting ready to leave, the bull wagon driver was coming in. The inspector started reading the bull wagon cowboy the riot act about how he parked in the lot. He had parked kind of askew, and was taking up two, maybe three parking lanes...but there was no traffic coming in, and he had plenty of time to move. The inspector was going to throw his weight around, so he tells the cowboy to move his truck or he wasn´t leaving. They started to argue. By this time a couple of other drivers were inside. The inspector and the cowboy were screaming at each other. The inspector wasn´t backing off. The cowboy begrudgingly goes out and moves the truck. When he came back in the second time he had a lunch pail with him. The cowboy waited til he was given clearance, then he takes the lunch pail which was full of cow dung and dumps it in the inspectors lap. The inspector was sputtering he was so mad. The cowboy simply said, "boil it first", went out to his truck and left. The rest of us were howling. The inspector headed for the restroom. Don´t know what ever happened to the cowboy.
Online DOT
Expert Expediter
It good to see that Im not the only one who belives that there is no load worth my life. Snow, I dont mind.... Ice? the truck is shut down
I pulled a tractor/trailer into Ford Engine in Dearborn about 4:00 a.m. When they opened the door, everyone had that questioning look on their face - wanting to know what those empty racks were for?? I handed them the paper work and assured them that they were suppose to be unloaded there. The guys unloaded the racks and I called in. It seems I had the wrong trailer. The guys in receiving took a looooong looooooong time reloading the trailer. Since this was a regular run for me, I showed up the next day with coffee, donuts and company baseball caps.
I was pulling a 53 footer near Bowling Green, OH. I didn't properly check my left convex mirror and proceeded to put a car in the medium. She was traveling about 70 mph (I was going under 60 mph.) The vehicles never touched and there was no damage - but I came close to killing a man & wife and two small kids. I walked over to the car and saw the faces of the woman who was driving and the two kids. If the husband had wanted to beat on me I would of allowed it.
Drive Safe.
I was pulling a 53 footer near Bowling Green, OH. I didn't properly check my left convex mirror and proceeded to put a car in the medium. She was traveling about 70 mph (I was going under 60 mph.) The vehicles never touched and there was no damage - but I came close to killing a man & wife and two small kids. I walked over to the car and saw the faces of the woman who was driving and the two kids. If the husband had wanted to beat on me I would of allowed it.
Drive Safe.
spiderwebbj
Expert Expediter
this just happened today, i was early to pick up a load so i decided to get something to eat, it was rush hour so the traffic was terrible. i was making a left hand turn and there was three lanes the first two the cars stopped to let me go the third was empty, so i thought. a cop was barreling down the lane and surprized me and i hit him in the side. barly a scratch on my bumper but little more in his car, mainly cuz he went up on the curb and slid for about 150 feet. he then gets in my face screaming that i could have killed him and his dog which was barking like crazy. i then had to sit there for another cop to come and take the report, and still got to pick up early. funny thing was i saw the cop i hit on the news tonight with his dog tracking some armed robber. no tickets but a report was taken, they tell me they were being nice but i think he knew he shouldn't have been going that fast.