What’s the stupidest thing you’ve ever done/seen done

First trip out Solo after getting my CDL, forgot to put gas cap on after fueling. Not even 20 miles later came across chicken coop and got a golden invite to the inspection barn. Of course, I realized the reason why when I got down from the cab and saw my diesel sloshing around and spilling over.
~Always double-check my gas caps after fueling

Pulled into a truck stop late one night somewhere out East [which means zero parking], and find a spot second to last at the end of a row. I did not notice the damaged front end of the truck in the row in front of the spot. I make my maneuvers and end up pulling the recently tied up front end of that truck off again. Joe Truckdriver jumps out of his cab and I pull the brakes and jump out as well. Long story shorter- after the guy tries to claim that I did "new" damage and he has to call safety, he relents and lets me go.
~If there's an open spot in a jam-packed lot, be very weary

~Forgetting to properly secure the hood after PTIs and that weird visual effect of first noticing as the wind is making the dashboard appear like a wave slowly rising up.

~Listening to a sheister, Chicago-area, fly-by-night outfit owner who says "just run it" on a tractor with a significant air leak. Running out of air pressure just backing up to offload, parking or at stop lights.

Found a dirt lot to take a 30-min break right off the highway with trucks parked. There was a small pool of water/mud directly in front of the parked trucks, so I assume it's not that deep. I make my moves to begin backing into a spot and after some unexpected jostles and jolts of the entire cab, another driver waves me to a halt. I pull the brake and step out onto the side steps to see a set of my drive tires floating almost 1 ft in the air above the pool of mud. After trying to pull forward to no avail, I learn about the differential lock switch and the offroad switch as well.
~Just because other trucks made it, doesn't mean yours will & Not everyone waving at a CMV is just saying "hello"

Reading this forum helped me avoid so many more issues, like not driving onto landscaping or soft shoulders, etc.

 

That guy is a super trucker. Smoothest driver ever. Imagine how much his productivity goes up without securing loads.

 

Probably the stupidest thing I've seen was a husband wife team attempting to slide the trailer tandems on a snow/ice covered lot. Not that they were trying to do it there on a slick surface... They were using the trailer/trolly brake and there was a massive air leak with a loud hissing noise at the rear of the trailer . The trailer brakes couldn't even lock up the wheels on that slippery surface. I just stopped for a shower and they were still there when I came out.

The stupidest thing I've done was probably trying to pull out after hooking up to a trailer. It wouldn't budge. Went back and looked at the trailer brakes, found nothing wrong and tried again. Jumped back out and noticed the landing gear was still down.

 

Well the list is pretty much endless.

Going against any of my Father's advice coincides with everything in the top 50.

 

In a hurry to fill my trailer I neglected to pretrip under the hood, as previous driver neglected to latch hood, I pull up to the rack and hood rolls opens...oops. Finished my pre there.

 

Dumbest thing I saw happen was when i-80 closed due to blizzard and I was sitting at a Love's in Nebraska. I got there the night before, just as the bad weather moved in. Next day, trucks trickled in as they found alternate routes around the i-80 closure.

Road was closed all day. The plows were working clearing up the Love's parking lot, however after the lot filled up, they only got around to pushing all the snow into a huge pile along the front of a row of parked trucks. Some people started to get antsy and one guy decided to try and leave, even though the highway was still closed.

Here comes a good Samaritan trying to pull the guy loose from the pile. In the process of unsuccessful attempts to pull the truck free with items not rated for pulling 80,000lbs from a snow pile, it looked like the struck truck burned out his clutch. Someone eventually came and borrowed the guy towing straps, however it was too late by then.

Moral of the story
~Wait until you are sure of highway openings before trying to get back on the interstate. A good indication of the highway being open is the truck stop clearing the lot of snow preventing trucks from leaving.

 

London, Ontario
Summer 2012 I think
Headed towards Detroit in center lane moderate traffic

Dude in front of me stops. Couldn’t get over in time so I stopped also. Dude got out of car, opened trunk and grabbed a beer out of a cooler(Budweiser). Got back in car and took off

I wish I had a dash cam, I would have been YouTube royalty

 

My days in Detroit entailed the "no cop, no stop" policy at red lights after dark as well as the cruising and boozing. In a city of 70% abandoned factories and homes and roaming packs of wild dogs, nothing is out of bounds.

 

Grew up on farm never broke a peice of machinery. This was my bad day, hooked up to a trailer leavimg parking lot wasnt paying attention blank mind no excuses there were boulders on the drive way was watxhing trailer like i saod no excuses ran ove one boulder cracked radiator and smashed oil pan.

 

Turned down a dirt road decline trying to make a u turn. Instead ended up in someone's bacc yard