Question:
I learned a little bit about turning an 18 wheeler around last week!
Around 0530 last week I was looking for my consignee, I had good directions and even broke out the lap top the night before to "get the lay of the land!"
Heading off into the dark morning, after some driving I realized that somehow I had missed the turn.
No problem, find a place to get turned around before I really get into trouble, ie. low bridges, neighbor hood streets, or dead ends are some of the things that come to mind!
Spotting a small manufacturing business, with a sign stating "shipping/receiving" and seeing another big rig backed up to the docks, I pulled in. There was much room going around the back so I stopped, got out, and walked around back to look the situation over. It looked good, gravel lot, tire tracks where others had turned before me, I went back to the truck to turn around.
I made my turn around the building, hugged close to the building, spotted some more of those tracks and followed them around. Here's where it got ugly!
Pretty well into my turn, all of a sudden I feel the tractor kind of get pulled forward, then started to loose traction at the duals. OH OH!! This stuff is soft! I have about 44,000 in the wagon, I engage the power divider, duals are just spinning.
I open the door and look outside, what I thought was gravel is grass, which just happens to be about the same shade as the gravel that I drove off from!
I try to rock the truck back and forth (lesson learned from being stuck in snow in Minnesota winters) not really gunning it just trying to find some momentum one way or the other!
Get out and look the situation over. Steers are sunk in to just below the bottom of the rims, as are the drives. Trailer tandems are still out there on that gravel! Rig is setting at about 45 degrees, and now I realize, no way can I get out of this on my own!
Pizzed at myself for tearing up someones property, and now not able to make my appointment, I still have an hour and a half to be there, but come on! No way!
Fire off a note on the Quallcom explaining it!
Once daylight broke took out the accident cam and took all kinds of pics, sure safety or who ever will want to see what happened.
About this time a guy from this business comes out, I ask him who I need to talk to about tearing up the grass. He told me he was the guy, and not to worry about it, seems it has happenend before. This makes me feel just a little bit better, but still feel like a fool!
So, 2 hours later a big-rig tow truck shows up hooks on and pulls me out, but not before he also got just a little stuck!
Wrote out the com check, pulled the mud out from between the duals, and the holes in the rims, looked the rig over for any obvious damge, drove a mile down the road to said missed turn and made delivery, just a little late, but no damage to truck or freight, same can't be said for the turf, or my bruised ego, of which the safety gal said "would heal!"
Looking back I did most things right. I didn't try to lie or cover up what had happened, to my company or the owner of the property I was on.
I used G.O.A.L. not enough though, had I walked the entire area I wanted to turn in I would have seen all was not gravel, second, and most ironic, I would have walked another 50 yards along the side of the building and would have known that all I had to do was go around it and get back on the road anyway!
See, I know I could have went around the building, because this is where the other trucks were coming from! I heard them as I was cowering in the back of my sleeper, not wanting them to see the idiot who was stuck in the grass!
Live and learn, next time I'll be sure to look at the whole picture! Oh, and read my directions, see I had written down "turn right at first light" but I was to caught up in trying to find the street sign with the street name on it, to turn at, which when I left, I noticed had been knocked down by another truck before me, not by me!
It looked like a good place to turn around!

Answer:
I can sympathize, Try pulling doubles. I pulled in a truckstop the orher nite for a cup of coffee. Pulled thru the pumps and parked. Asked at the fuel desk if it was OK to go thru and around back of bldng. Told "no problem" there's an exit on the other side. As I rounded the bldng. and started down the aisle I hear a voice on the CB say, "hey doubles, it's blocked". Some considerate driver parked and went to bed blocking the drive. I was lucky and had hugged the left side and was able to circle without breaking the set and re hooking.

Answer:
Bandit,
Can I say this without getting yelled at. I like how you posted that, I even got a chuckle out of the way you made your experience look. I can sympathize with you also, weird things happen!! The only thing that was hurt in your situation was your ego, just be glad nothing else happened. I guess sometimes we all have our days, you just gotta suck it up right?
I'm truly glad I am not the only one that makes booboo's. Glad that you also can share your experience and not act like a "Mr Macho, I don't do anything wrong," kind of person. Guess there are real people out there and noone is perfect.
Sweet Whiskey

Answer:
I have never gotten a truck stuck, really. But yesterday someone backed my truck right into a fresly laid pile of sand that was spread out to fill holes in the parking lot. Why they used sand I have no idea. It to them must have looked the same as the hard ground around it. Luckily for them the only problem was the truck sank enough to lower the front bumper guard so the right side was drug and pulled loose. Their fortunate because that would have made me mad if it was worse.

Answer:
Yell at you? No way!
Just had a real bad experience, and thought I would share it with others, who may be able to draw upon it should something similar happen.
We all have missed a turn and had to head the truck the other way before, this was the first time I ever had any real trouble that I was unable to get myself out of.
The biggest thing is to keep a cool head and think it thru, and like I said don't try to make up some dumb lie to get out of!
I stopped by that pawn shop you told me about yesterday, guess what? The guy behind the counter said they no longer work on c.b.'s... as of Monday! Oh well, I did get the mic replaced and it seems to have solved the problem!
Happy truckn' and keep on keepn' on!

Answer:
BEEN THERE! DONE THAT!
My directions said turn right after the RR tracks. As I continued, I notice that the address I was looking for was of the building before the RR tracks. No problem, up the road I spy a lot full of trailers with plenty of open space to turn around in. So I head for the lot, nice smooth dirt lot. Buried up to the axles. Like you, I quickly realize that I was not gong to be able to do anything about this on my own. No sense in continuing. Called for a wrecker.
The owner (edited) me out several times wanting know why trucks keep entering and tearing up his lot. He just spent $20,000 paving and prepping it for blacktop. After the third time down the “why” road, I finally asked him if he ever thought about posting a sign, no trespassing, no trucks, soft lot, etc? He walked of muttering to himself. I did give him my companies number and all my info. I also let my company know what happened.
When I took pictures, I also took pictures from down the street showing the lack of any "no trucks" signs as well as pictures from the cab showing the lot where I came in.
Live and learn.
-J

Answer:
I've never gotten stuck like that yet, but I have been given wrong directions and ended up in places where a truck should never have gone.
That's why I use a micro-cassette tape recorder and my speaker for the hands free on my cell phone.
I get directions directly from the shipping / receiveing manager.
I ask them for landmarks just before each turn, any low bridges, wires etc........that I need to be aware of.
Since I've started taping directions, I've only gotten lost twice. And that was because I was given WRONG directions from the idiot on the other end of the phone.

Answer:
That sort of situation is one of the most stressful things in trucking. Missing turns then the hunt starts for a safe place to turn around. As far as getting stuck having pulled end dump, getting stuck can be a daily event working some job sights and tends to make a person very annoyed, but never have to pay to get pulled out always machinery there to pull ya out, had truck with single locking axle first part of year and was always stuck, boss had put another truck on steal haul that had all wheel locking axles, tried half the summer to explain why that was foolish, not the brightest bunch I worked for am probly going to work for another group this season, if I decide to return to local from OTR.

Answer:
I know what ya mean on construction, I used to haul rebar, so the first few deliveries the site was a swampy mess. I haul furniture now, and if you think it's bad missing a wharehouse, try looking for a rent a center where your only directions say to exit, turn left, on right hand side....kinda stressfull in the big city, especially getting lost where a large car and 53 foot aren't usually expected, let alone getting proper directions back to the highway..stoopid low bridges

Answer:
Bandit58: Been there done that-----got the T-shirt. Before Roehl, I used to make farm deliveries. On Iowa dirt roads and up in rural MN roads, and other neat places in the Great Midwest!
I got b*****d at the other day, in Ohio, I could'nt make the corner into the consignee, because of a large power pole on the corner, so I went down the street to a Trailmobile dealer and went in their lot to turn around. Thought I breached the security at Fort Knox!!!!! Security guard came out and jumped all over me about using their yard for a turnaround.

Answer:
Bandit, you certainly aren't alone. Kudos regarding your attitude (and your sense of humor!). This industry sure can use more folks who will take responsibility for their actions and not lie, pass the buck or otherwise attempt a cover-up.
I've been around trucks since 1976 but just yesterday in Bastrop, LA got my trailer wheels stuck making a tight left turn. Bad directions; 1st block in old residential neighborhood. Realized I was in trouble and had no real choice. City workers, wrecker driver, local cop, even my boss were laid back about the whole affair. I was the only one upset (at myself).

Answer:
A moderator needs to filter the avatar pictures. Hoss's avatar could be used in the back lot to get rid of the rats and cockroaches!!! Now I am going to have nightmares all night.

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hehehe.....
Shiat! Just wait til ya see Buzzdogs' pic.


Answer:
Never been that stuck....Dont take offense but ...... dont want to go there and dont need any more T-shirts......Reallly sorry about your luck....Great guess what happened to me story tho

Answer:

That is funny. I got that stuck once though... In my damned driveway! It snowed a whole bunch and the plows blocked me in. I figured I could lock in the power dividers and bust out though. Nope, not in a Roehl truck! We have open diffs, that power divider is almost useless! I slid off the driveway into the grass and spent the next six hours digging myself out. 3 hours worth of shoveling the snow that was originally blocking me and three hours digging the truck out of the dirt it sunk into. I didn't even try to rock it out, I didn't want to risk damaging their truck, and since it was my property I could dig as big a trench as I needed to in order to get out.