June 5, 2007: Dumb truck
 

http://cellar.org/2007/dumbtruck.jpg

Axlrosen points out this item, which made some level of news the other day. The Lincoln Tunnel is 13 feet high, and this guy's rig was 13'6". But he somehow managed to ignore lights and a set of cops with bullhorns, and not only drove into the tunnel but all the way through it, destroying his own truck and ripping off decorative ceiling tiles.

full NYT story

Just goes ta show ya: build an idiot-proof program and the world will develop bigger idiots.

Seemed like a good idea at the time.

Heeee's in trooooouuuuuble!

It was a hot day, he was just after a little ventilation....

Looks like some one opened a giant can of sardines to me

The Lincoln Tunnel - World's Most Expensive Can Opener

Seen it before. It happens all the time. Our terminals usually have the trailer destruction du jour parked where we can see it as we enter. As a warning or something.

But nothing will prevent a trucker from doing stupid shit.

I've been into downtown Manhattan. Tight turns and LOTS of no truck signs. I couldn't wait to get out!

Brian

Well that's pretty useful.

Funny. You know people who think laws like "no right on red" or "no parking" don't apply to them but to think they are better than mathematical absolutes approaches a new realm of egocentricism (or, just plain stupidity.)

I was trying to get an old friend to study for his CDL, and I'm quite sure the manual covered this!

It's hard to imagine anything "decorative" inside the Lincoln Tunnel.

If they call the busted panels structural people get nervous...

i didn't know they made convertible semis!

"Well Earl rared back
Cocked his leg
Stepped down as hard as he could on the brake
And the pedal went clear to the floor
And stayed - right there on the floor
Says it's sorta like steppin' on a plum
Well from there on down it just wasn't real pretty
It was hairpin county and switchback city
One of 'em looked like a can full of worms
Another one looked like malaria germs
Right in the middle of the whole damn show
Was a real nice tunnel now wouldn't you know
Sign says clearance to the twelve foot line
But them chickens was stacked to thirteen nine
Well we shot that tunnel at a hundred an' ten
Like gas through a funnel an' eggs through a hen
An' we took that top row of chickens off
Slicker 'n the scum off a Louisiana swamp
Went down an' around an' around an' down
An' we run outta ground at the edge of town
An' bashed on into the side of a feed store
In downtown Pagosa Springs"

It looks like a roll-on-roll-off space shuttle.

While I have never dunit I know people who have. Most companies, topping out a load, or trailer is grounds for termination. I pulled flatbeds most of my time trucking.
That driver was distracted by directions, or 4 wheelers in his way.
I can't tell the company from that angle, but it is an over the road truck. That looks like a Peterbilt sleeper.

If words like Hunts Point Market makes you all giddy, You might be a CHIKEN HAULER!!!:driving: :cry:

C'mon. Four years. Spotless driving record til this. Suspend him or something for a week but let the guy keep his job. Accidents happen. And no, I'm not related.

I can understand hitting the entrance of the tunnel. But he continued to drive through. It's not a short tunnel.

i love how they include the welcome to manhattan sign

As long as you aren't a Feather Pluckin' Chicken Trucker...

Doesn't seem as if he really did that much damage to the truck itself, just the containerload of bathtubs and toilets that bore the brunt.

I think he might have been driving at the early hour with the radio turned way up and failed to notice the can opener action. Speed metal, perhaps.

Maybe his last load was six inches heavier, and he forgot that he had a lighter load.

It doesn't explain ignoring the stoplights and cops, though.

The red lights came on and the cop on the bullhorn said, "You can't go through the tunnel".
The trucker replied, "Cantu".

Welcome to the Cellar, Elysande and LennyNero.:D

I knew a guy that ripped the top from a load of lettuce. Seems they put down a few inches of overlay since last time he'd been under bridge and didn't change the signs.

My company is the same. Wreck something expensive and you're gone!

Sorry.


No excuse. There are signs banning trucks in the tunnels all the way out to I-287! If he can't get the "big picture", he doesn't belong in a truck.

It's USA Carriers.

Say what?

Once many years ago when I was on tour, we were coming out of Manhattan on our way to Atlantic City...the bus driver had never driven in the city before, and decided to take whatever tunnel it was going that way. We got down into the entrance before he realized we were too tall. He let all the air out of the suspension and went for it. He drove the whole way with the tour manager yelling in his ear about what an idiot he was while the rest of us sat in the rear lounge and stared at the ceiling of the bus, listening to the antennas on the roof going "whack-whack-whack"...it was right out of a WWII submarine movie, ya know, when they are being depth charged and they are all looking at the ceiling waiting for something to happen.

Brian, Real men pull flat beds.
If you talk on a road king, listen on a audio king, and sleep with a Thermo-king. You might be a chiken hauler

Thanks for the welcome...I'm a long time lurker. Dunno why it says just one post, I'm positive I've posted before...

But, just to add to this even more, I work at a truck & bus repair company in Brooklyn, and one of the largest heavy duty tow outfits in NYC is just down the block from me (Mike's Heavy Duty Towing) and I see at least two peeled back van trailers and straight trucks a week come back to their yard every single week. Most of the time it is inattentive out of town drivers, but I've heard several stories of roads in NYC where clearances are totally different from the signs posted, and in those cases, the city foots the insane bill that usually accompanies a peelback job (typically around 20-30 THOUSAND dollars for the recovery, unload, transfer, reload onto a new trailer, and the tow.) Strangely enough, one location has had many accidents, many city payouts, and yet they still havent changed the clearance sign...

-Dan

Somebody's getting kickbacks.

I guess back in early 70s I hauled as many chickens out and garbage back as anyone. No money, but we eat well. If ya like chicken.

So do you think he lost his job? And who is going to pay for all of those lights he ripped off the ceiling?

Sell all that scrap aluminum to pay for the lights.

Wouldn't have happened with Quick Action Automatically Rising Bollards (tm)

I rest my case.

A good friend of mine is a trucker. Recently one of his coworkers, a right pain in the ass, had to put his money were his mouth is. The guy bad to take a long haul that wasn't really worth the money to the company to a new site in NYC. He did the same thing this guy did. Different tunnel on the route north but the same thing. Adding insult to injury it was a brand new trailer on its first run. Oh, did I mention this guy was also a manager at the company and the guy that rode people the hardest for minor screw-ups? Karma is a bitch and she has your cell number!

Ya'll heard about the trucker who got stuck under a bridge?
As the snickering trooper came walking up he asks
"What's the matter, truck too tall?"
The trucker replied,
"Shoot, no. I'm just delivering this bridge!
Where do you want it?"

That city limits sign... How ridiculas that they have to replace them every time another bureaucrat is enthroned!!

Only two sets, one on display and one waiting for repainting the names. Not a strain for a city with a multi-billion dollar yearly budget.