More often than you think..

Speaking of passing...

WEL in Texas...

Ouch. That can happen. I've bumped a parked trailer or two in my time, no damage of course, but the overhang is something you gotta watch. The truck pulling out was too close on the left side to try to swing wide. Should have gone out straight until the tail was clear, THEN turned.

Yup WSS.

Hard to tell distances, but it looked like the truck doing the filming was too close for the truck pulling out to pull clear before turning. There was still room to pull further out though.

Some older truck stops have lots designed for the older standard trailer length of 45 feet, not the newer 53 foot ones. They can be very tricky to park and unpark (depark?) in.

Maybe I'm missing something blatantly obvious to everyone else, but why aren't wider parking spaces used and marked out?
Rear overhang less likely to clout adjacent vehicles in the turn?

The more space you got, the more money you might make, so they crowd in as many trucks as will fit on the property.

Actually, some new truck stops and a very few older ones are doing just this. Wider spaces, especially in rest stops does help prevent this situation but, as digr said, the more spaces ya got, the more trucks can get in and the more money you are likely to make.

Damn D.O.T.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oz3RpU45_E

Wait for it.

Tires explode when they burn. Big Rig tire pressures are northwards of 100 psi.

No idea how that one happened. Mebbe electrical, could have been a tire fire that got out of control, or even a fuel leak near hot exhaust parts. Looks nasty though. Hope the driver got out with his phone, logbooks and paperwork.

A good reason to inflate the tires with nitrogen.

They would still explode. It is the explosive decompression of all the internal pressure suddenly being released as the tire melts away that causes the loud bang, not the gases themselves.

What she said.

Well, this is a shitty thing to have happen to ya:



I hope you can see it, all I can see is the black bar.

Here's a YouTube link.

I thought it was a video by that band The Black Stripes. ;)

That poor white car!

Oh, phew!

I did not know trucks had explosive bm's.

so why was that person driving on the shoulder? And I had assumed that was a fixed camera, but I guess they were videoing too? Umm....?

Dashcams come in many configurations. I run a single in the middle of my windshield for legal protection.

Honk Honk...

it's the ice cream man!

Wow! Now that's what I call service! Usually the roach coach makes us come to him!

What the I don't even:

Attachment 57765

How can that even happen? How'd he get away from the trailer with no drive axle?

The truck was, er, truckin' right along when the extended frame cracked, losing the axles and allowing the driveshaft to drop free. The shaft isn't held in by much, only splines and the universal joints. Remove a joint, the shaft will drop free.

That said, what would cause the frame to crack like that? It appears that the frame was damaged in the past and welded back together, which is illegal.

That driver wins a trophy for most creative crash of the month!

Cool!

Do not brake check a big rig...

You think he survived?

Not even for a minute.

Did that used to be a pickup truck?

The wheels look like an SS Trailblazer.

Looks like a smaller pickup. It had four doors but I don't see any shell as in a cap or SUV-style body shape. Looks more like the bed folded up and over a cab to me.

Yes, this can happen but it isn't very likely. More often, the semi rolls right over the vehicle or it bounces off and is thrown clear like a little toy.

Interesting picture though. Did it come with a backstory?

No, just the picture. Six lug wheels, so some kind of truck/SUV. I suspect there was another rig in front that's been moved.

I've tried to copy and paste at least some of this article, but there's a script running on the site which freezes my computer. This is the best I can do at the moment.

LINK

Good find, that's it. :notworthy

Looks like it says "Silverado" on the lower part of the driver's door.

From here. Be warned there's something wonky there. Maybe to do with Flash. I turned off Flash in Firefox and the site was ok.

Aye, SILVERado matey.

B-61 Mack, and after all that, another red light...

That's rowing yer own right there.

Whoops.

I had to back it up and watch it again to see the driver hop out just before the cab went into the water.

That water is so deep, they can just leave it there and keep using that spot to land.

I never ran over any cars in my Peterbilt, but once in Wyoming I was flatbedding. There was black ice on the road. Two vehicles were on the shoulder on the left. I tapped the breaks. The trailer swung sideways with 35,000 lbs. of sheetrock. The back bumper hit the van and peeled the side off. The people from the vehicles were in the meridian talking. I don't know why because the wind was blowing and it was colder than chit. No one was hurt, but by the time I got back they still had googly eyes and one had brown spot on his pants. The only good thing about it was the trooper. She was a stacked blue eyed blonde who was in great physical shape.

tarheel

Supposed to move trailers up to 25 ton, but I can see an itty bitty rock stopping that thing...

It's just a jumbo-sized power walker, a type of pallet jack.
There are versions available to move rv-type trailers too, costing around $2000. I wanted one until I saw the price. I can see a market in rv dealers and maybe even small freight companies, but a spotter truck can precisely place a trailer faster and more reliably.

Visibility looks to be a major issue with that. You would need two other people to walk with you while you moved a trailer, to watch out for obstructions and help you back it in.

Maybe hire a midget that can see under the trailer. :lol:

Whoops. Must've hit the brakes too hard...

Attachment 58421

Found this when I tried to get to this thread:

Attachment 58422

Never seen that before.

No headache rack? tsk tsk

Improper loading and securement. If that driver lived they will get a huge ticket.

I disagree. Secure straps were evident and properly installed. The straps are to prevent sideways movement of the freight, not to keep it from sliding forward or backward. The headache rack (large metal plate installed on the front of the trailer or rear of the cab) is to deflect the freight upwards and away from the cab or at least over the driver's head. Since there was none, this is the result of a sudden stop.

What happened I think, is they (the shipper) put smaller pieces in the middle and didn't tell the driver. Loads like that are normally easy throw a few straps and maybe some chains to keep that from happening. If that was a live load the driver should have been paying attention, and not allowed them to put loose product in the middle of the stack. What probably happened was some reefer hand who thinks that flat bedders are stupid, and all I need is some straps and a winch bar.
I was a flat bedder for 10 years. Hauled open equipment 49 states and Canada.
And never lost anything off my trailer.

What caused the sudden stop? I don't see tire marks. The front end is not bent on this side view. Trailer is not jackknifed.

tarheel

I would venture to guess a car slowed suddenly in front of the truck. That'll do it every time.

I would estimate the driver is hauling 35k weight. Looks like a busy highway with no outs. The truck would have pushed the car out the way like a freight train. I used to haul 40k of Budweiser from Newark to Greenbay. Once a car ran into the trailer at a light. I didn't feel a thing. A driver on the slab called me on the CB informed me. Oh well. Never heard anything about it. I guess they lived.

tarheel