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

Cameron Eittreim March 22, 2021

21: Real-Life Mario Kart Banana Accident

In the Mario Kart racing video games, players often see the banana peel used as a weapon. But there’s at least one example where a trucker almost hit an actual field of bananas head-on. “I was a young truck driver tooling down a long hill near Scranton, hauling 30,000 pounds of bananas. Missed a sign that I should have read to shift to a lower gear when I lost my breaks and flew down the hill. I sideswiped 19 parked cars, clipped 13 telephone poles, hit two houses, bruised 8 trees, and crashed, spilling the 30,000 lbs of bananas all over the road.” – via Money Awaits

Trucking driving is a risky proposition because you are transporting such a heavy-weight trailer. Even the smallest road hazard could be catastrophic for an inexperienced truck driver. Likewise, a 30,000-pound haul of bananas hitting the road is just as bad. You never know what type of hazards will be on the road and it’s more important for a trucker to pay attention.

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20: A Deadly Blizzard Aftermath

Snow and icy conditions are enough to cause major weather damage, and one trucker saw a disturbing sight after a storm. “As I drive, I start to notice these large dark rock-like shapes sticking out of the snow just off the shoulder of the road. Tons of them, like one every 10-15 feet. “Strange,” I thought absently. I’d never been on that road so who knows what they could be. After a few minutes, I spotted one that was not-so-buried in the snow and the realization sank slowly into me.

They were cows. I drove past probably 40 corpses just off the side of the road, literally just past the shoulder. Made me very sad to think they all froze to death, wandering blindly in the snowstorm.” – via Money Awaits. This just goes to show you that even after a significant storm has passed, driving conditions can be quite dangerous following a storm.

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19: Why Some Truckers Prefer To Go Solo

Here we had a trucker who was working on a team rig and got a nasty surprise. “The driver here turned to me and said, ‘Hey can you pull over for a sec? I need to ward off the snake people.’ This is where my brain didn’t quite process this, and I said, “What?” He repeated the same line and here’s where my Spidey Sense told me if this guy didn’t ward off his snake people, I was going to have a bigger problem than this guy’s cookie getting flipped. So I pulled over and he got out. Now here comes the weird part. He did this dance in front of my headlights.”

While it’s not uncommon for semi-truck drivers to be paired up in a team, this time it turned out very awkward. Needless to say, the driver who was featured in this story has been driving solo ever since.

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18: Don’t Steal From A Trucker

Being a truck driver means that you are going to be transporting big and expensive loads. Sometimes theft can happen that will derail the whole trip, here is one that went wrong. “My dad drove a long haul for years. One company he worked for had a yard right in the city. During the night, a sketchy person tried to steal material from a stack in the yard and pulled the wrong piece. Stack came down and decapitated him. They found his body the next morning.”

What this story goes to show you is that stealing from a truck driver is never a good idea. For a lot of truckers, this is their family’s livelihood and that load could mean the difference between a week’s worth of pay and nothing.

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17: The Silent Passenger

Driving a long haul in a semi-truck can be a daunting task and the driver is alone for most of the trip. Take a look at what this driver did to remedy the situation. “One of the guys at the company I work at got into a lot of trouble because he had a blowup doll in the passenger seat, buckled in and everything.” The use of a blowup doll might seem a bit strange, but having some sort of company in that huge cabin can be welcoming.

We look back at the truck driver who decided to adopt the kitten as a riding buddy. Any type of companionship is welcomed when you are on a drive for the long haul. but a blow-up doll might be a bit extreme so a pet is clearly a much better option.

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16: Ghost In The Road

Driving for long periods can lead to hallucinations, especially if you’re driving across the county. “I remember hearing my friend yelling my name and waking up to find myself off in the grass with a cowboy on a horse right in front of me, roping a calf. He roped, dallied off, and turned to face me, and just as I hit him he disappeared. It was a hallucination. Scared me so bad I was wide awake the rest of the trip.” – via Money Awaits.

While some drivers haven’t seen something as extreme as a ghost, hallucinations are very possible. It helps to have a partner along for the ride if you are going to be making an eight-hour-long voyage.

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15: Don’t Get Caught By a Con-Artist

Driving from town to town for hundreds of miles is sure to lead you to some strange locations. The smaller towns are known for having some shady characters, as was the case with this story. “I stop at an offramp to stretch out and take a breather. A little girl from some direction I couldn’t figure out giggles and says, “Hi, mister!” My initial reaction was, “What on earth is a little kid doing out here at this time?” So I talk back and say hello. She then responds with, “My mommy says you’ll be ok, don’t worry!” Now utterly confused, I ask her what she means. No response. Then suddenly, I feel like somebody is standing next to me, but it doesn’t feel negative or bad. Just feels like somebody is right there next to me.

“Since it doesn’t have a negative vibe to it, I just finish my break and leave. Later on down the road, I realize that I forgot to fuel up at my last stop when the warning light came on. I scramble to look at my GPS and find the nearest truck stop. I find one and set the course. As I roll up to the truck stop, my truck starts sputtering and I barely make it to the fuel line before the truck starts dying. I ran out of fuel right as I got on the fuel line. It wasn’t until I was fueling up that it occurred to me what happened at my last stop.” This story goes to show that you can’t trust anyone on the road.

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14: Goat Riding In Style

Livestock haulers are a dime a dozen on the roads, but every once in a while, you see something unique. “I stopped for a refill on my coffee in Quebec. Backed into a spot, and in front of me was a livestock hauler. Well, they had stopped and opened the back, and out came one goat. A 53-foot trailer was hired to transport one goat for 600 miles. The goat was really cute, and they had taken him out to play with him. Yes, I got to play with him as well.” – via Money Awaits.

As you can see this goat was riding in style, and if an animal is special to the owner there is no end to the lengths that they will go. There is no doubt that taking care of your animals is important and this goat certainly had the best ride on the freeway. Depending on the application, livestock haulers come in a variety of sizes and shapes.

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

21: Real-Life Mario Kart Banana Accident

20: A Deadly Blizzard Aftermath

19: Why Some Truckers Prefer To Go Solo

18: Don’t Steal From A Trucker

17: The Silent Passenger

16: Ghost In The Road

15: Don’t Get Caught By a Con-Artist

14: Goat Riding In Style

13: Bridge Jumper

12: Sleeping At The Rest Stop

11: Kids Come First

10: Area 51

9: A Stinky Mistake

8: Road Rage Is Deadly

7: Mistaken Reaction In Traffic

6: Pets As Company

5: The Perks of Being a Trucker

4: Infamous Mob Run-In

3: Another Ghostly Encounter

2: Interesting Priorities

1: Secret Lives

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