I had a run-in with a logging truck about ten years ago, coming out of Montgomery, AL on 85 Northbound. Emergency service call for a network server that was hard down. Rush hour, major merge interchange. A shard of pine came off his trailer and hit the road; the car behind him hit it while it was still half-airborne and sent it back in the air. In what seemed like a few tenths of a second, I tapped my brakes when I saw this.....
harpoon coming directly at me. It was about eight feet long and as big around as my forearm. It speared my front bumper dead-on, then went over the top of my car. I had too much else on my mind at the time, but when I got to where I was going, I checked my bumper and there was six inches of the tip embedded in it. It speared me, broke off, and went God knows where after that. It didn't take too much thinking on the timing and physics of it to realize I came to within a whisker of getting impaled into my own driver's seat. That's when my heart started to race. Even my claim adjuster commented on how thin the line was between what
did happen and what
could have happened. To this day, I have an almost irrational phobia about driving behind any rig with an open trailer, I don't care what load they're carrying. I just jog left, hit the gas and go like hell until I see his front grille in my rearview mirror.
God's hand was on my shoulder that day.
That’s bad. But I’m really tired of the ‘git r dun’ types that haul things in their pickups and bumper hitch trailers: poorly secured or unsecured cargo coming off as they go down the road.
One day going around Columbia, TN on US43, a couple of NICE ford pickups passed me. Their boxes full of split and neatly stacked firewood. One BIG problem: they chose to haul with the tailgates down so they could haul that much more (no net, no straps). At a traffic light I saw them pull away, the second one leaving about 4 or 5 pieces on the road. Idiots.
Agree to open bed! Freaks me out to follow these truck loads...not due to drivers... due to not trusting they were loaded and secured properly.
I have to bless those truckers I was able to follow driving up through Washington toward Tacoma in blinding rain. Roadway not lighted and other traffic was going along at more than 80 mph in this flooded roadway! Insane.
I watch the truck drivers, you can tell who is trustworthy as you travel alongside them. Agree with another freeper who said these trained drivers are better drivers. Many are, but some are not....just drive defensively and be aware of what is going on around you.