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Truckers Share The Weirdest Things They’ve Ever Seen On The Road

Cameron Eittreim March 22, 2021

13: Bridge Jumper

The number of tragedies that you’ll see on the highway is numerous, so naturally, when a trucker sees something out of the ordinary it attracts their attention. “I once noticed a man standing on a bridge that I went under while on the highway. I took notice of him because he wasn’t walking. He was just standing there looking down at the highway, and I swear he was looking at me. I was not far from my destination, so it wasn’t long before I came back by that same bridge going the other direction. Sure enough, he had jumped. It messed with my head for a while.” – via Money Awaits.

Could something have been done to stop this guy from jumping off? Probably not, and most truckers will live with the guilt of seeing something like this happen. Nevertheless, there’s no shortage of strange occurrences for truckers on the road.

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12: Sleeping At The Rest Stop

When you step into a big rig, most of the popular models have a sleeper in the back. Sleeping in the front seat can turn out to be a nightmare for several reasons. “My dad told me a story about one time when he was sleeping at a truck stop. He didn’t have a sleeper, so he was in the seat. Another trucker was pulling up to spend the night, so the trucks were nose to nose. He woke up in the driver’s seat of his truck with a truck with its lights on looking like it was coming head-on. Said he almost pooped himself.” – via Money Awaits.

Obviously when truckers are tired, anywhere will do to take a rest, but this trucker had a bit of a rude awakening. This just goes to show that sleeping in the front seat isn’t always the best option for most truckers.

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11: Kids Come First

Trucking is a dangerous business and accidents can be fatal. “In high school, we had a class called career seminars, where we got to listen to people tell stories from their jobs. One day, a truck driver was telling us how he struck a car and the occupant passed away. We asked what made him decide to stay on the road, instead of swerving. “If I can see into the car, I look to see if there’s a family, children. If there’s not, I’m not gonna swerve off the road for one guy.” So naturally, I work in an office and stay away from semis.” – via Money Awaits.

This story just goes to show that while most truckers have a conscience, if you’re going to be stupid then you’ll probably get hit head-on. A family wouldn’t be making the same kind of reckless mistake.

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10: Area 51

No doubt about it, trucks make the world go around. You never know where you are going to deliver special goods to. One person told a story of his truck-driving mother delivering to Area 51. “My mom made a delivery to Area 51. She doesn’t know what she delivered and wasn’t allowed to look inside the trailer. When she got there she asked to use the bathroom and everybody got all serious and whispery. They finally agreed to take her but with an armed guard who waited with her inside the bathroom. She thought it was so cool.” – via Money Awaits.

Although Area 51 is off-limits, this trucker was granted access to make a delivery. Every once in a while you’ll see a situation like this arise. The best thing for truckers is keep your mouth shut so that the experience can happen again.

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9: A Stinky Mistake

Look, truckers aren’t always going to stop to use the restroom. That’s understandable, but when it comes to deposing of the goods some drivers prefer to litter. “I once got hit by a gallon jug of pee following a large semi on the trans-Canada. The guy realized what he did and offered to pay for a new windshield in exchange for my silence.” – via Money Awaits. Most drivers would be very angered if something like this were to happen to their vehicle.

But most drivers would also take the right cash price to not say anything about it. Truckers are under all kinds of constraints from their employer, and any kind of a ding on their record can impact the ability to make revenue.

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8: Road Rage Is Deadly

Road rage is not a funny thing no matter which way you cut it. A trucker told one strange story about an overaggressive driver. “I was making my way through Ashland, Virginia, and a frustrated driver overtakes me, and in his manic state, he swerves his car into my lane. He jerks the wheel so hard the back wheels came around and I watched this guy flip at least six times through the air. Miraculously, the driver walked away, though he was shaken up as one would imagine. His car was a ball of scrap metal torn to pieces. Every time I go through that area I now get flashbacks of that night.” – via Money Awaits.

As you can see here, even a knee-jerk reaction to something can cause an unnecessary accident. Road rage is a growing problem and as drivers become more stressed out it will only get worse. Truck drivers have to deal with the worst of this because they are on the road constantly.

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7: Mistaken Reaction In Traffic

Sometimes in the heat of the moment, truckers make a mistaken reaction to something. “A friend of my dad’s was stuck on a bridge in a traffic jam and noticed there was a couple in the car beside him that looked like they were arguing. The guy got out and jumped off the bridge… into boulders, not water.” – via Money Awaits. Domestic disputes are never a fun thing to witness and sometimes they can go wrong.

We can only hope that in this case the person who jumped survived but judging by the boulders comment that probably wasn’t the case. If you see a potentially dangerous situation the best thing to do is to call the authorities on the spot.

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6: Pets As Company

Truckers get lonely, and what better friend than a cat for the long ride? A story of multiple drivers having cats in their trucks proved it. “I worked in a toll booth in the summers during college and you’d be surprised how many cats I saw in the cab of trucks. Some guys had those little cat hammocks hanging from the ceiling and everything.” These examples just go to show that dogs are not man’s only best friend. Cats are fairly easy to take care of and self-sufficient, making them the perfect companion for a long ride.

Likewise, the tight quarters of the cabin would be difficult to keep a large dog in, especially for long periods. We’re sure that there are truckers who travel with their dogs, but for the most part, a cat is a more practical pet.

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5: The Perks of Being a Trucker

There are many perks to being a truck driver, with great pay being at the top of the list. But this was a perk of a different variety. “Once, I delivered a load of plastic bags, and apparently, there was an extra pallet on the truck. I asked dispatch what to do with it, he says “get rid of it.” I’m stupid, so I say the receiver doesn’t want it. Dispatch says not my problem, get rid of the bags yourself. So I had plastic bags from 1995 to 2008, even after giving cases away to family and friends.” – via Money Awaits.

The truck driver who was featured in this story found some very good perks to the job. While things like this don’t always happen, most drivers tend to find some good fortune at one point or another.

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4: Infamous Mob Run-In

Back in the day, the Mafia was very heavily into the trucking industry and this negatively affected the business. One person told of his truck-driver grandpa hauling a load during prohibition that put him in contact with one of the world’s most famous mobsters. “During prohibition, while making a big delivery to Chicago, my grandpa got stopped by a bunch of gangsters in the city. Held him at gunpoint while they made sure he wasn’t hauling anything. When they confirmed it was just produced, he was allowed to go on his way. Turns out they were Al Capone’s men.” via Money Awaits.

Naturally, the mafia had a tight grip on all facets of business around this period, but trucking was especially impacted. It’s interesting to see how things have come full circle in the last couple of decades. Crime is on the rebound and truckers have to be especially careful in this new world.

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3: Another Ghostly Encounter

Truckers often claim they have come into some kind of paranormal occurrence. One trucker revealed this happened during a run to Arizona. “There’s a dog food distribution plant in Flagstaff, AZ. They require you to drop your trailer doors open. It is always windy in Flagstaff. At night, in their dimly lit parking lot, all I heard was the evil howl of the wind passing over the open trailers. It was similar to the noise that you make when blowing over a soda bottle, except a thousand times louder as the chilling wild wind blows through you. I’m not very religious, I’m not very superstitious, but for the 15 minutes I was dropping and hooking, my heart was pounding and I was looking over my shoulder.” via Money Awaits.

Arizona is especially susceptible to ghostly encounters and there is a lot of history in and around Flagstaff. It’s interesting to see how this driver reacted to the encounter and you have to think about how you would react if faced with the same thing.

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2: Interesting Priorities

If you were in a crash then you’d want to seek medical attention right away, but that wasn’t the case here. “Once at a truck stop, I saw this guy flip over his car on the road. He got out of it and came to us all bleeding. At first, he offered us money to take him to the next city, but we said he needed to go to the hospital. He started asking us for money for a cab or a bus, and we were taken aback. First, he offered us cash and now he was asking us scary stuff, and this was during the night. He was really in a hurry.” – via Money Awaits.

Either the victim was in a state of shock, or there was a crime that had been committed. Nevertheless, a weird set of circumstances for sure. Generally, you’d want to get to the hospital as soon as you could, especially with a bad injury.

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1: Secret Lives

Spending the amount of time on the road that they do, truckers are known for having a double life. “My dad was a trucker. He was a good man, but I didn’t know him. The first time I ever met him was on a long-haul road trip across the US that my mom arranged so I could get to know him. The bizarre thing was, he was a world-famous arm wrestling champion. We bonded throughout the trip, as he competed in regional competitions in preparation for the World Championships in Las Vegas.” – via Money Awaits.

Here we have a tail of someone that never knew his father was a trucker. This was a notable story and just an example of how straining the truck driving profession can be. Nevertheless, an interesting story to say the least.

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