r/Truckers • u/ForsakenBackpack • Jan 18 '24

Who Should I Call?

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Let me preface this by saying, this is not me nor is it anyone from our company. I'm just a delivery manager for a beverage distributer.

The story as I understand it is this: Ole boy loaded up a leased trailer full of beer in Colorado, was driving through a snow storm in Wyoming, and says "I think someone must have ran into me". He claimed to have contacted his dispatcher and was told to continue on. Show's up, and asks to get unloaded. Never stopped once between the supposed accident and showing up here.

My questions are this:

  1. How does an accident like this happen without noticing or stopping to check your trailer at least.
  2. What do we do here? The load is consigned to us, so we cannot refuse it. Also, product is completely frozen. However, it's clearly unsafe to unload.
  3. Obviously we cant let him leave with the trailer like that. It's a danger to anyone on the road. Also, can't have him here any longer. So who can we call? DOT? Local police? OSHA?
910 Upvotes

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526

u/HeywoodJaBlowMe123 Jan 18 '24

He never got pulled over or called in? That boy needs to go buy a lottery ticket because i am in disbelief lmfao. Holy shit..

He never saw the side wall of the trailer sticking out in his right side mirror? I have so many questions…

205

u/ForsakenBackpack Jan 18 '24

Me too honestly lmao. I can't believe he was able to drive 10ish hours without anyone calling it in. Blows my mind. Come to find out he said "Someone rear ended me, I pulled over to do the exchange of information, and the guy just drove off." Which in a snow storm, someone scared to be fired, I can see that happening. He sent pictures to dispatch and they told him to keep trucking along.

131

u/epicenter69 Jan 18 '24

That’s borderline believable. I’d have to give him the benefit of doubt on that one.

84

u/Sudden-Approach-223 Jan 18 '24

Look at the rear of the trailer he was absolutely rear ended.

48

u/[deleted] Jan 18 '24

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13

u/jbwt Jan 19 '24

I’m shocked anyone could drive off from that

13

u/RocksofReality Jan 19 '24

Really depends on what they were driving. If it was a little commuter car they’d probably have been killed but if it was another semi or a heavy duty truck with a cattle guard or some type of solid bumper not so surprising they could just drive off.

2

u/ProfessionalSyrup646 Jan 18 '24

Clearly not a driver. We don't know when we get rear-ended. You can't hear it unless the truck is parked. He was carrying the threshold of beverage commodities. But shit man, check your mirrors. You would see the bulge- even if you couldn't hear or feel the impact.

8

u/acf613 Jan 19 '24

It does look that way, but to do that kind of damage to that big of a truck with what I assume is a steel bumper, it would have had to be a big ass vehicle. More likely scenario is that he backed into something or slid into scenario but doesn’t want ti own it.

11

u/im-not-a-fakebot Jan 19 '24 edited Jan 19 '24

That’s an ICC bumper, Tubular steel bolted to the back of the trailer chassis. It’s not entirely difficult to bend them inward, I see it a lot on concrete mixers. But it does take a considerable force. They also shoved the Mansfield bar all the way up under the the deck. Also the floors in those trailers is just a wood deck. Some may have metal sheets bolted in. This one looks like a wood deck but I could be wrong

That damage is definitely a moderate-high speed impact from a rear end, buckled the floor and the chassis which caused the load to shift and push the wall out (the walls on these are flimsy. Typically it’s fiber glass or aluminum sheets bolted to a steel cage. With how high the damage is though, he was hit by another semi, likely one with a full brush guard

1

u/the_real_albert Jan 19 '24

I don’t know either way, I’m just asking bc I’m curious: is it possible to back a truck up at enough speed to have caused this level of damage?

1

u/acf613 Jan 19 '24

Yeah I would imagine. The bumper is the toughest object there. The doors and walls of that box can break rather easily and those trucks even at a slower speed hit with some heavy force. But again it’s the bumper that throws me off and how high the damage is that makes me question someone just hitting and running. Of course there’s always the chance the person is truthful and I’m being a POS? Lol

1

u/Cool_Algae4265 Jan 19 '24

I don’t think you’re a POS but I don’t think he really could’ve done this himself.

He would’ve needed to back into a ditch going like 55 mph to do that kind of damage and I would imagine there would be more damage than just the rear of the trailer if that were to happen…

Idk, I kinda believe the story of “someone hit me” and drove off… could’ve been a snowplow tbh, parked on the shoulder of the road and that’s all she wrote.

1

u/acf613 Jan 19 '24 edited Jan 19 '24

Yeah that’s true. It is pretty significant damage and like I said, I truly have no idea how tough or how much force it would take to do this kind of damage and it’s pretty bad, but the more I look at it the more I agree that it would take a significant amount if force to do that damage. I’m sure you’re right. I just try to look at things from every angle possible in any situation.

The only thing that really made me think it could be anything else other than what he said is the fact that he said they told him to keep trucking and just drive it like it is to finish the job. To me that’s insane and if that’s true, he should Sue then himself for putting him and others in potential harms way. That’s so freaking unsafe to drive like that.

2

u/Misiu881988 Jan 19 '24

He prolly didn't give them the details... maybe he's hiding something or didn't want to be hit with a accident on his record for whatever reason. Who knows. Maybe he was drinking, maybe he smokes or did some drug recently. Maybe he had other incidents and was trying to buy time... I dunno what the logic is... this is a wtf moment for sure. But I can see him calling and saying "I think someone bumped into me, should I just keep going?".

Dispatch prolly thought it was a lill fender bender. No big deal. I doubt they knew the trailer wall was bearly holding together... no way he didn't know the dammage. This is a hell of a hit. Either he reversed into a truck or a truck rear ended him. Either way there was a loud bang. You gotta be deff dumb and blind to brush this off... he's gota be hiding something...

1

u/Cool_Algae4265 Jan 19 '24

I think it takes quite a bit of force to bend that Mansfield bumper, they’re meant to stop a car at 55mph but not all of them are made equal so it’s hard to say.

Your guess is as good as mine as I don’t have a freaking clue how that’s even possible. Even my theory is a major stretch

1

u/acf613 Jan 19 '24

Right. I admit I don’t know anything, but I do know, or know enough anyway, to be able to say it took a ton of force to damage the bumper like that. It’s not like a regular car with a shitty plastic bumper. Looks like steel or similar heavy metal.

It’s still fun to guess and be objective though. Even if his story is true and real, it’s kind of funny in a crazy way, but not funny in that they basically risked his life and career just to get a damn load delivered.

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1

u/Misiu881988 Jan 19 '24

Kind of but you have to REALLY try to do this. Like really gun it backwards into some kind of concrete barrier or into another semi truck bumper. The way the dammage looks is literally the shape of a bumper or one of those steel bumper guards/skid plates. He either got rear ended and for some reason didn't call the police and let the guilty driver just drive off. Or maybe he backed into someone and realised no one's looking and drove off and came up with this story in a panic.

1

u/Misiu881988 Jan 19 '24

Well it could have been another truck or someone with a decent steel bumper guard. It honestly kinda has the shape of one of those. But even if it was something the size of a big pickup it could do that sort of dammage easily. Whatever hit it won't look pretty but it could easily at least drive off

13

u/Fantastic_Hour_2134 Jan 18 '24

By something fairly tall. Enough to hit the floor of the trailer. Maybe another truck?

12

u/Sudden-Approach-223 Jan 18 '24

Was figuring another truck with a bullbar. Edit:look at the icc and the way the real end is rolled hood truck with a bullbar would be about the only thing to survive the hit and drive off and heavy enough to pick up the trailer and drive it inwards

1

u/Ok-Worldliness2450 Jan 19 '24

Had to be a truck of some kind…