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 ...
It can happen. I passed a weigh station by accident once. A call on the CB and a state trooper quickly got my attention. What an embarrassment.
As my late FIL would say, “He’s no truck driver, he’s just a damned wheelholder.”
His truck got peeled like a banana.
They could always channel trucks into a lane that determines heights and if one exceeds the limit, tire spikes automatically deflate the rig’s tires.
$400x18 is cheaper than one mile x $1 million.
I have also seen these, give impossible left turns (solid median barrier), Make no note of bridge restrictions (for truck weight), or road restrictions (no trucks on the parkway). Fortunately I was in the office reviewing the directions before driving the route.
OK buddy. That poor driver’s misfortune resulted in a good thread here, anyway.
Ouch. That had to have cost the company a few bucks.
There’s a spot on a NYC roadway where I thought sure I must have hit one of the overhead beams. A check of the cargo showed no marks. Later I noticed the same feeling, with a very low load. I can laugh about it now, but it scared the hell out of me the first time.
The tunnels are pretty smooth, or used to be anyway, but much of the pavement gives such a bad ride that King Kong could be jumping on your trailer for all you’d know.
I wasn’t clear. My comment was not about the accident that gave rise to this article.
The trucks that damaged the bridges near here were highway-type 18-wheelers, but it’s obvious from the replies I’ve gotten that they must have been equipped with leaf springs.
Just a few. LOL
That must have woke him up...
Have your eyesight checked Monday. There’s something inside the trailer.
and watch out for low overhead signs?!
naw you wouldn't make that mistake...
one time a few years ago I was listening to my scanner when a call came out that a driver that had loaded Case 580 backhoes out of Burlington Ia. had struck an overpass with the boom of one of the units.
upon further investigation they discovered that he had hit the previous overpass as well and the one in front of it and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, ultimately he had struck almost every overpass from Burlington, up to I 80 and across to Des Moines, 300 miles and no one thought to let him or the police know.
how does this happen?
ask Forrest Gump...
its the cars that travel the wrong way on freeways that confuse and scare me, and that happens ALOT!
I should have said, “looks emptied” not “is empty”. Oh well. I see you’ve had personal experience in these matters. The image of the truck struck me as funny, because the way the roof and sides were peeled back/pulled down, along with what seems like a loss of contents. Looks like it had been victimized by some very eager “shoppers”.
The truth of the matter is that this drive was probably an illegal, using bought documentation. Most sane southern drivers will not run into the north eastern area. Except for the garbage haulers!
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