What is the dumbest thing you've done while trucking?

These are dumb, not too funny...

I'd just spent all day tailgating a nursery load at 2 drops in Ft. Collins and was looking forward to getting some rest. (a nursery load is potted plants/flowers, etc.) Dispatch at my new company sent me an "emergency" beer load to be live-loaded in N. Denver and delivered to Billings, 6 am, and I was already "late"; they were waiting after-hours on me. In those days every drop was logged as 15 minutes on Line 4, so I had plenty of hours, I'd only covered 2 miles that day.

Well, exhausted as I was, I took that load, and made the appointment. In the process I averaged 67 mph S/N across WY in a 65 mph truck, kept track of the time I hit the borders with "Driver's Daily Log". http://www.driversdailylog.com/

That took a whole lot of stupid, and by the time I reached Billings I was so stupid I had to keep reminding myself to breathe.

I have no end of stories of the dumb things I did. Another time, different carrier, I tried to limp WB across 90 in WY with a clogged fuel filter. I had my wrench, they just didn't provide a filter, and I wasn't smart enough to have one of my own. (Yes, I knew I could have just removed it.)

The truck was alternately fine and unable to top 20 mph. I'd pull off on the shoulder and wait 10 minutes, fire it up, go a mile, then lose power. Instead of stopping in Buffalo, I decided to be a hero and try to make it to Denver. It was a Sunday, I figured if I could find a filter in Buffalo it wouldn't be until Monday, and I was still rolling, so I went S.

I'm chugging along on the shoulder, black smoke billowing from the stack, and this grain hauler comes by, stops in the R lane about a half mile beyond me, then starts backing up. He backed all the way back to me, then set his brakes, lowered the R window and asked if he could help. He couldn't, but that maneuver was one of the damnedest things I ever saw.

I didn't make it to Denver, or even Casper. I found some sandwich shop, exactly where I don't remember, with enough room to park. I made a couple phone calls and had a new filter in ~ 3 hours, from, of all places, Buffalo. IIRC that filter cost the company $200. Someday I'm going to look that trip up.

 

Dumbest thing I ever did was try and stop the dolly and I dropped it on my hand broke my pinky finger that was a painful trucking experience

 

That reminded me the time I worked for Central Transport and their great duct tape rusted out equipment. I just got to work and was ready to hook to my load at the dock but the goon before me dropped the trailer too high. The crank handle didn't want to budge with all the weight on it and the trailer on a slight incline. So I stuck the handle in low gear and fought about half dozen turns not realizing it was still in a bind. Then I slipped trying to crank more and that handle unspun like a wind up toy and whacked me in the nose about a half dozen times. I saw stars for a second and then got my composure. I stood up and there was my boss on the dock peeking around the corner of the trailer. I'll never forget the look on his face. What I didn't realize the handle busted my nose and my face was all bloodied. Are you alright?... I was more embarrassed than anything.

 

On my very last day when I pulled the dump trailer, I took off, it was winter, and I had a wheel on the trailer froze. I noticed it right away, but no place to turn around, and no shoulders on the road. Finally, got turned around, couldn't have been more than 2 miles. Got back to the yard, both tires had flat spots down to the cords. I felt terrible, and offered to pay for the tires out of my last check, but the boss was a great guy, and wouldn't hear of it. Ever since that day, for the next 33 years, I always made sure my wheels were turning from the get go.

 

Hi Condo, that story reminds me when I pulled railroad trailers out of Chicago.I had 22.5's on my truck, and I swear everybody else must have had big rubber, because the trailers were ALWAYS dropped too high. I kept a spare handle with me, because sometimes there would be no handle, and the gearboxes on those wagons were so wore out, the low gear would be stripped, and of course, high gear was out of the question loaded. I also kept a couple of short 4X4's with me to back over with the tractor to hook up. If that didn't do it, I'd stack the 4X4's on the frame rail, disconnect the air ride rod, and pump the bags up so I could turn the handle. Talk about "gettin it done".

 

Couple of weeks ago, I'm picking up in CT. Upon leaving, all I had to do to get back on the interstate was go straight through the only traffic light between the customer and the I. Even my GPS told me to do this.

What does Captain Al Z. Heimer do?

Turn right. Under the interstate and offf into the CT who-knows-what. Fortunately, GPS did save me this time and I was only about two miles in the red. But geez...wake up, idiot!

 

OH, another time, when I had my '72 Pete, when it was really cold out, the 5th wheel wouldn't latch on the 1st try, and I knew this, and always checked it by giving a little tug to make sure. (still do that to this day, if I drove ,that is). Well, this one very cold morning, I overslept, was in a hurry(kiss of death for a trucker)backed under the wagon(empty, thank goodness)didn't check it, hooked up the lines, dollied up, hopped back in, made it about 5 feet, BAM, trailer comes off and hits the ground about as high as my tail lights, lines stretched. Looked around, to make sure no one saw me( felt pretty stupid)cranked up the trailer as far as I could before running out of strength, got in the truck, and mashed that pin hard. Moral of story, always check your 5th wheel!

 

At my first job I hooked to a loaded trailer took off out of the yard to go to a delivery. Made it all the way down to my stop off loaded and was heading home for the day when I took a left hand turn and heard a very loud boom. I looked in my mirror and my trailer had came unhitched and landed on the frame, luckily enough I stopped in time to catch It before it came all the way off the truck. Got out started putting the gear down when the state trooper that was following me walked up and asked how long I was going to be blocking traffic. He was kind enough not to give me a ticket but had the look on his face of what a idiot. Then another time I was turning in a tight parking lot and realized I wasn't going to clear a car on my driver side so I swung out a little wider only to hit the awning of the tire shop as the owner pulled up. I proceeded to put my head on the steering wheel, cuss at myself and enjoy all the pet names the owner was giving me. Those are probably two of my best wtf moments

 

Now this has/will happen to pretty much everyone. Backing up into a parking spot looking at nothing besides your mirrors. You hit your brakes but they don't seem to even slow you down, so in a panic you repeatedly smash them dumping almost all the air out of it. Finally stop glaring at your mirrors to realize it's just the truck beside you pulling out of his parking spot and making it look as if your still rolling back lolol.

 

It's happened at traffic lights too.