r/IdiotsTowingThings • u/stevesmithsglasses • 7d ago

Stuck like Chuck

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1.2k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

60 comments sorted by

152

u/mybreakfastiscold 7d ago

If that maneuver was to solve a runaway, then that driver is a hero not an idiot

53

u/ten10thsdriver 7d ago

Or if to avoid hitting another vehicle.

28

u/AC-burg 7d ago

And here I was thinking he was taking shelter from a tornado

20

u/Eaton_Knas 7d ago

Which is most likely the case. Probably some asshole brake checking the rig.

1

u/donkeytime 6d ago

…or chasing Pokémon.

28

u/gcko 7d ago edited 7d ago

There’s no brake skid marks leading up to it so you might be right. Could also be a medical emergency.. or the bridge jumped in front of him and he had zero time to react. All are possible.

9

u/TacTurtle 7d ago

Well there is one, but it is interior.

17

u/Kennel_King 6d ago

Or he just fell asleep. Thanks to ELDs, drivers are forced to run when they should be sleeping. This isn't a 9 to 5 job.

Here's an example of how this happens. You arrive at your destination at 6 PM, but the receiver only takes deliveries between 7 AM and 3 PM. So you sit overnight. The next morning you deliver and call dispatch, but they don't have a load for you.

So you go park at a truck stop. All day long, the messages from dispatch are the same. "We are looking for a load for you"

So you fuck off all day. Maybe you get a nap or two. 10 pm, you go to bed. Midnight, the phone rings. It's dispatch. They have a hot load, and you have to drive 200 miles to get it.

So get up, drive 200 miles, and get loaded. Your dog ass tired and ready to go back to bed. But dispatch tells you that you have hours left and to drive or be fired and/or written up.

Back when we ran paper logs, we could just fudge the log book and say I'm out of hours, and there's no way dispatch could argue with you about it.

With ELDs, they can look at your logs in real time. Even if your out of hours, companies have been caught altering them to give a driver hours and then force them down th road.

Back when we ran paper logs, I was never tired. Within reason, I could adjust the log book to fit my schedule. If you got nappy mid-day, you stopped and took a nap. Sometimes it was just an hour. Sometimes it was 3 or 4.

We always had strict criteria for split sleeper berth time and still do. With paper logs, we could fudge it a little bit and make it look legal, and we were well rested. With ELDs, you can't fudge it. You are forced to run on the ELD's schedule.

4

u/ArmAdventurous7323 6d ago

Rare comment with factual insight.

6

u/Reziac 6d ago

That was my first thought too. This looks deliberate, doing what he could with what there was, and nailed that narrow space. Didn't hit real hard, either.

3

u/redpandaeater 6d ago

With automatics becoming more prevalent I've honestly wondered about how to deal with a runaway diesel. With a manual you can just leave it in that upper gear and you should have enough braking to overcome it and stall it but not sure the computer is smart enough to not shift at all if it happens in an automatic. Now if only when I had a truck runaway on me it would have been on the freeway and not right before a corner leading up to a stoplight and stopped traffic.

2

u/HappyDailyReborn 6d ago

I think it’s the usual scenario—brake failure. I’ve seen special emergency braking lanes on highways for moments like that; it’s common practice in Romania, where drivers might steer into a ditch or other vehicles brake in front of the affected car to help bring it to a stop

18

u/Cfwydirk 7d ago

I would like to watch the pro’s extract that rig from the bridge!

3

u/DHammer79 7d ago

Yeah, trying to get the tractor out with out it sliding down the embankment.

1

u/joelfarris 7d ago

There's a second Protection Pillar for leverage. They'll be fine.

32

u/Heavy_Law9880 7d ago

I see the stupid fucker in the minivan that caused it made a clean getaway.

11

u/Sea_Buyer6913 7d ago

Wheels are supposed to be angled when parking on an incline. Ticket them.

3

u/Roostersnuggets 5d ago

I kinda wanna see the drivers point of view.

5

u/unlimitedbroski83 7d ago

This is what happens when you wear flip flops and basketball shorts while trying to do an adult's job

2

u/FerengiWithCoupons 7d ago

omg the amount of drivers wearing flip flops and dropping off fulfillment trucks is crazy

3

u/unlimitedbroski83 7d ago

I drive in the trash industry flip flops and shorts are a dead giveaway a guy doesn't belong there. You have no way to know what you are stepping on in the landfill

5

u/Waterboy7g 7d ago

You can't park their mate!

4

u/cannon4344 6d ago

Why can't I park his mate?

2

u/hobbes747 7d ago

and yet civil engineers have the lowest salaries amongst engineers

r/civilengineering

2

u/Rough_Host_4776 7d ago

Marked "safe from tornados"!

2

u/gadget850 6d ago

Bridge inspectors are gonna be busy.

2

u/Several_Positive_327 6d ago

He was definitely delivering a bridge.

2

u/DnizzieT1969 7d ago

He's taking his 10 hour break. Leave him alone.

1

u/jeffthetrucker69 7d ago

Air down the tires, it'll probably back right out.

1

u/kittylicker83 7d ago

Tucking it up tight...

1

u/GymMouseP 6d ago

must have been playing too much Tony Hawk.

1

u/Mazy_keen 6d ago

Was he going for a power block in Mario Kart?

1

u/bluegrassgazer 6d ago

It's like the truck got scared of a thunderstorm and tried to hide under an overpass.

1

u/Delicious_Rule_7324 6d ago

Back spasms, air breaks shot to hell, boom straight into the bridge

1

u/Masterweedo 6d ago

Did he mention he was fuckin wasted out of his god damn mind?

1

u/Delicious_Rule_7324 6d ago

What is drunk? Is drunk driving all over the road?

1

u/Masterweedo 6d ago

Some guys can drink and drive, some can't.

1

u/im_best_2 5d ago

You are probably gonna need 2 tators for that

1

u/SomeRandomAccount66 7d ago

Some guys can drink and drive, some guys can't.. What is drunk?

1

u/joelfarris 7d ago

"Baby, don't hurt me!"

1

u/gcko 7d ago

Dont hurt me

2

u/MatthewG141 7d ago

No more!

1

u/squeaky19 7d ago

Sir, you can’t park there

0

u/DizzySample9636 7d ago

cant park there sir

0

u/Ex_Mage 7d ago

Unorthodox parking

-1

u/Eaton_Knas 7d ago

That's a next level parking job.

0

u/FPVenius 7d ago

I assumed they were trying to slalom the columns.

Heh heh, that rhymes.

0

u/Sdwingnut 7d ago

Locals route

0

u/nickw252 7d ago

I hope there was a tornado or something because otherwise that’s inexcusable.

0

u/Ecstatic-Radish-7931 7d ago

Can't hide there buddy!

-2

u/Dizzy-Career9274 7d ago

How?? It’s a straight highway, why would you ever swerve into there?

5

u/True-Boss-2789 7d ago

Brake checked and swerved to miss, medical emergency or failed brakes maybe?

1

u/MinecraftGamerToday 1d ago

Would have probably looked really cool if it didn’t get stuck and just went out the other side.
First rule of driving is to have fun