And for your enjoyment
Posted on 06/03/2007 6:47:41 AM PDT by csvset
NEW YORK - A truck driver whose rig was 6 inches too tall for the Lincoln Tunnel drove its entire 1.5-mile length, peeling the trailer’s roof completely and ripping off decorative ceiling tiles.
Flashing signs and officers using a loudspeaker had warned the driver, and it was unclear why he didn’t heed them, according to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the tunnel.
“He misjudged the height of the tunnel, and once he was inside it he didn’t realize the damage he was doing,” said Roy Guzman, the safety director of the trucker’s employer, U.S.A. Logistics Carriers of McAllen, Texas.
The driver, from Texas, was charged with nine misdemeanor moving violations.
The central tube of three in the tunnel heading into Manhattan was closed for about 90 minutes after the accident early Thursday, but reopened just before the morning rush hour.
On the rare occasions when other trucks have scraped the tunnel’s ceiling, the drivers have stopped, Port Authority spokesman Steve Coleman said. Police then let air out of the trucks’ tires, so the rigs can be backed out.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
My favorite is on the west side of Colorado Springs on a railroad trestle. “Clearance 96 FEET” IIRC
HUGE SIGNS...FLASHING YELLOW LIGHTS...POLICE BULL HORN
Then I think back to when the CDL first came into effect. They had to offer VERBAL CDL testing down in Philadelphia. Previous comments well taken...no se habla, engrish.
Every driver thats been on the road in NNJ KNOWS you gotta go in one of the bridges if you are 13’6” (normal height of 95% of box trailers).
I’m just wondering if this was a dry run for something else. The trailer appeared empty. Trailers don’t go INTO Manhattan empty.....any moron over 5 could have heard the trailer peeling back...not to mention the increased load of dragging the ceiling of the tunnel.
Folks, stay the hell away from trucks..times have changed..the white knights are mostly gone. They let ANYONE drive 80K lbs. down the highway now...
Yeah, but some idiots figure that if they cleared the bridge on the way IN, then they’ll have no problem on the way BACK. That would be AFTER they’ve made their deliveries and the trailer is EMPTY, and therefore several inches TALLER.
(Yelling on purpose.)
As in, "Cantu read?"
I do recall one trip where I had to deliver a load to a factory in either New Hampshire or Vermont. They manufactured desktops for school desks. This place was out in the middle of nowhere. Lo and behold, I come across a bridge w/out any height markings. I tried the CB. No one. I walked across the bridge and there on the other side, was a height marker. I had enough clearance.
I mentioned it to the folks at the factory, they said, " Oh, the sign fell off a while back, they just haven't got around to replacing it."
Yes, but the warnings were probably in English. The guy was from the Valley, where English is, at best, the second language. "of McAllen, Texas."
I did time in a truck years back and know personally that in New York city, they falsify the heights on bridges to keep trucks out of areas.
I remember first time I went there. I was stuck in an area that had a one way, they way I came, and three bridges. All said 13’0. I was sittin looking at my map, and all of a sudden another big truck come rollin by and right on past he went under the bridge. I got on the CB and asked him how high he was. He responded with 13’-6”.
I asked about the bridge, and all of a sudden 100 truckers come back at the same time and said, “This is New York Driver, they mark the bridges low so the majority of the Trucks do not go where they cannot get ordinances past”. I could not believe it. So, I fired up and drove my truck under the bridge marked 13’-0. I had several inches to spare...
So this may seem like a stupid thing here, but, I for one can understand that it may very well be another case of the driver not being 100% at fault here...
The air springs on modern highway trucks and trailers are designed to maintain the same height, loaded or empty.
I'll also go out on a limb and guess that he thinks in meters not feet and inches.
Best Below 14'6"
Everything is bigger in Texas.
Dang. That’s tagline material...
Look at the picture again. The looters didn't get it all.
>The trailer appeared empty.<
Look again.
Modern highway trucks, huh? Well then, a couple of trucks that slammed into local bridges around here in th past few years must not have been ‘modern highway trucks’, because that is precisely what happened in both cases.
He may not have ignored the attempts, maybe didn’t see them/hear them, or misunderstood.
Had to detour off a major highway, owing to construction. Nightime, detour just started. Traffic immediately came to a complete standstill. The reason...the detour route had a large tree limb overhanging the roadway...took the roof right off a tractor trailer.
Guess it would help if I read the article...
Well, keep my post just in case you start a thread about this happenning with a bridge in New York... (Slithers away hoping not to be noticed!)
I'm sorry that is complete BS.
He certainly misjudged the height of the tunnel, which in itself is not that uncommon.
But, not to realize he was peeling off the entire roof of the trailer is nonsense.
He didn't care or was too afraid to stop
You know what caught my eye in that picture? The sign with Mayor Bloomingidiots and the other guys names on it. Every time there's an election, a new sign has to be made. It's a jobs program. What a waste of money.
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