Amazing Trucking Stories
When I was child, we traveled frequently. I can remember one trip we were driving and, as usual, I was staring out the window. It looked like a storm was brewing. I rubbed my eyes; something wasn't right. Storm clouds aren't green.
I watched the funnel come down and attack a farm. I listened to my parents discuss whether they should keep driving on the road, cut across a field, or get out and hide. The road turned away from the tornado, and we took off as fast as my father dared drive. We easily outran it.
This memory surfaced as we shared stories about things truckers have claimed they've seen while driving. We posted on social media and asked for more. We thought, why not share some with you?
There was one trucker who saw another one try to drive across some train tracks. Although it is routinely done without incident, for some reason this time, it jackknifed. Worse, it got stuck. Even more worse, a train approached. The drivers got out and waved. Thankfully, they got the train's attention, and it manged to stop in time.
Similarly, and having heard stories like that one, someone drove across train tracks, not expecting anything. There were no lights, no bells, nothing to indicate a train was nearby. As the driver crossed the tracks, he saw something out of the corner of his eye. A train! He gunned it, screaming "like a little girl" and made it across the tracks safely. He glanced back, not believing it, and realized he drove by a train yard. The train was parked.
A female trucker was driving through a pine tree area when she thought she saw leaves blowing across the street. "That doesn't make sense," she thought. As her truck reached the "leaves," it began sliding around -- on tarantula guts. Hundreds of tarantulas had been crossing, and she ended up driving over them. She made it to safety, completely grossed out.
Two truckers agreed to meet. One got there before the other, and decided to take a nap. He woke up to the sound of barking. The barking got louder as it approached him. He got up, ready to chase the dog off, only to find it was a man! The man was barking and foaming at the mouth. The driver slowly turned his truck on and drove off. The man chased him for a while, still barking.
One trucker (we don't know his name, but he should have something cool, like Zookeeper or The Animal) likes to put large stuffed animals in the passenger seat -- with the seat belt buckled, of course. People have claimed to have seen a dog, gorilla, and aliens.
A new trucker was transporting a load full of containers of whipped cream. He glanced at his planned route and noticed that he could save time by taking a different route through the mountains. When he arrived at his destination, he opened the back to find that the altitude changes had caused the lids to fly off the containers, and whipped cream was everywhere.
Some time ago, a trucker decided to use pills to stay awake and allow him to drive longer. They did a number on his brain, including giving him the amazing ability to see large bunnies hopping across the road. He was quite distracted by them for some time, but eventually noticed the lights flashing behind him. He pulled over and was prepared to deal with the police officers when he realized the coloring wasn't right. He got out to look and found that the lights in the town he drove through were too low, and he had snagged every single one in his path and was dragging them behind him.
This one is my own personal story, and not something amazing a trucker saw, but an amazing trucker I saw. Quick backstory: I was living with my family, having experienced something traumatic and ending up pregnant from it. I had to appear in court to testify against the man who did it, but my family (of 8) had a wedding across the country to attend and it was much more expensive to wait a day for me, so they flew ahead. I was to join them the next day. I called the day before and arranged a taxi to take me and my baby to the airport. I verified that they accepted Visa, but they said they couldn't take it in advance, and I would pay when I reached my destination. When my driver picked us up in the morning, I again verified he took Visa. Again, he said yes. We loaded me, my baby, his carseat, our suitcase, the diaper bag, and the stroller in and took off. Halfway to the airport he asks how I'm paying. I remind him that I am using my Visa. He pulls over immediately and tells me to get out, he can't take me any farther. They don't take Visa this early, he says. I protest, as I had checked twice. He shrugged and drove off, leaving us there. I reached a gas station, lugging all of our things, and began using a payphone to call for a different cab. It was a small area, and it turns out that the different companies were actually owned by the same one, and they insisted they couldn't take Visa so early. After everything I had been through, I broke down and cried. I just sat there in the gas station, curled up around my baby, and cried. Someone approached me and I assumed he wanted to use the phone, so I scooted away. He asked if I was okay. I blurted out the situation. His face looked conflicted and then he said he would give me a ride to the airport. I confess, I panicked, after the issue that had led to my son, I hesitated to be near anyone male, especially not alone. He didn't know that part of my story, but he must have known something. He was very calm and explained that he could get into a lot of trouble, even lose his job if he was caught. He offered to give me something to brain him with if he went off any exit but the airport. Not knowing what else to do, I agreed. He said I had to keep the baby on the floor, as there was nowhere else for him to be in the tiny cab, made smaller by all of our things. I figured in such a large vehicle, we were safer than any others, so I wasn't worried about getting into an accident. He drove me as close to the airport as he was allowed and made me swear to never mention it so he wouldn't lose his job. (Considering the age of my son now, I think it's safe to share this story.) This trucker was the first male to earn back a little trust and point me toward a path of healing. Thank you, wherever you are. (If you happen to read this)
What have you seen while out and about? We love to hear your stories! These are only a small fraction of what we've seen and heard, so if you want to see another blog dedicated to this, let us know!
