High Winds Blow Over 7 Semis in Tennessee River Bridge

Additional video from one of the trucks that got blown over! The truck was STOPPED ON THE BRIDGE when it happened!
Tractor trailer tossed like a toy by high wind in dash cam clip

 

Paying attention to the weather is a huge part of the game. This one shouldn't have snuck up on anyone. It was a tropical storm and they had posted wind advisories for high profile vehicles traveling east west highways.
I was in Nashville headed for Chicago that morning and leadfooted it out of there. It caught me in N Indiana that evening. I cracked the side vent of my sleeper open to get some fresh air and what little hair I have left was blowing laying in the bunk. Lol

 

Once had a hurricane where Im going with dispatch.

Already stuck with load on my 5th wheel. I was not going that way... so... burnt 15 hours in one day killing my recap and then sat. Needed to repower it. Let some other poor chump take it on through. I could care less as long I am not the only one going that way.

Oh dispatch raged. You have hours they said, you have good ontime record they said. What is the problem with you all of a sudden hunh? what? What? wtf? etc.

They made me sit 4 days. Thats ok I was running hard a while and used the time to play tourist with a rental car. Had such a blast.

 

Did everybody notice all the trucks snoozing on their side were equipped with trailer skirts. The law of unintended consequences always rears up.

 

More surface area to push on ...

 

I've heard the skirts actually help because they keep some of the wind from getting underneath the trailer and lifting it. I'm not sure.

I just started pulling boxes a couple of weeks ago, running Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico. It's always windy here, and half my miles are deadhead. What I noticed is that every one of the trailers that were turned over had their tandems all the way forward.

Old hands have been telling me to put the tandems all the way back in the wind when empty. I can't figure out why I'd want less weight on the trailer tandems, but then again, all of these were all the way forward. It's a physics problem I wish someone would put to the test and videotape.