Question:
witnessed a guy rip half of his trailor off in Central City, KY the other day.
he got off the WK parkway i guess, came barrelling down 431 but missed the left turn there by mcdonalds, for 431 truck route.
well, needless to say, he didnt make it under the 11' 4" clearance there by the dairy queen... the whole top half of the trailer, all the way past the middle in length, looked like the top of a sardine can.
i tried to take pics last night, but the camera was really blurry.
this morning the trailor was already moved, sorry no pics...
wonder if the guy lost his job or what

Answer:

Hey if you're gonna get fired sure as heck better make it worth it
No sense in gettin fired for just peeling alittle skin off the trailer huh?
Go for the gold and make it worth the effort

Answer:
If he tore it that far back no doubt the trailer buckled.
I hate clearance signs. Can't trust them. First time I went to L.I. I saw a sign that said 12" something. I got right of the highway. Then I sat at the top of the ramp watching truck after truck go right under the bridge while trying to figure out how to get back on. Finally made it and followed another TT to my exit. Almost all the signs were marked to low for a truck but there was more than enough clearance.
Had another one in upstate NY. Said 14" something but it looked low. Sure enough was. Almost hit the sleeper while checking the height. Had to back out.
Now if I'm off the highway looking for some place I check by going real slow and stopping if there's a doubt.
Had co-driver in NYC who was lost so he made a left and the Tri Rail or what ever they call the over head rail way was marked well above our height. So he went under it. Unfortunatly just the other side the road took a steep uphill grade. As he went up the road the trailer hit the rail bridge. Put a nice big dent just forward of the middle of a brand new Reefer trlr. Some times it's not only the bridge you have to watch.

Answer:

Stuffs you're right about that When I run into the city I always follow another t/t if I can and when I can't I'll pull up throw the 4ways on and dump into 1st gear w/ my head out the window. Ever notice that when youre headin northbound on the cross bronx when you go under those apartments all the signs say 12'2"??? but you clear a 13'6" with about 5" to spare

Answer:
Saw a guy clobber a trailer a couple of weeks ago in Chicago. He turned under a bridge that actually would clear his trailer by a few inches. But he cut the corner short and ran the trailer tandems up on the curb and that's enough to raise the trailer up too high for the bridge. Glad I don't have to explain that one to the bossman. As for me, got off on a side street looking for the customer in Middleton Ohio 2 weeks ago, since for some reason 3rd street wasn't located between 2nd and 4th as I would have expected. Found a bridge ahead that said 13', and couldn't turn around anywhere. Pulled up to it., stopped the truck and climbed up the ladder to the top of the trailer to eyeball the clearance. Turned out my 13'6" went right under with 4-5 inches to spare. Finally found the customer, then called dispatch and made them enter directions in the Qualcomm, which would have saved me lots of time to begin with.

Answer:
Burky the qualcomm dirs. are nice but I always call the cust for a good set you got to remember the qualcomm dirs came from another driver then the dispatcher or a load planner has to proof read them before they gointo the system. Just the other week I sent in dirs for a cust while being loaded I sent out the macro for dirs when they came back they didn't even resemble the ones I had just sent in. I still don't know how they got "ex State St. go 1/4mi on rt" from " ex State St make rt at 1st light go to end cust on left"

Answer:
Oh, I know there are some real limits to the Qualcomm directions. I make it a point to give good solid updates to my dispatcher whenever I find a problem. Had one that same week where the directions said to go to the first light, but the city had put in a new light on one of the earlier streets. Called in and got it updated. Lots of drivers don't bother once they find the place, but that's just laziness on their part. And if I haven't been somewhere for a year or more that I only went to once, I might need the directions again to jog my memory.

Answer:
Lots of dispatchers don't take the time to put the new information in the system but that's just laziness on the part of the dispatcher.
I always tried to get the street names and any landmarks for turns. The more information the better.
The same if you get lost. Try to get the closest major street name and landmarks such as stores, buildings etc before you call for help.

Answer:
When I call dispatch with new directions, I stay on the phone while he brings that screen up, and give him the info while he fixes it right then and there. And about 5 minutes later, I ask Qualcomm for the directions, so he knows I am checking on him. I trust him to do his job, but if I just give him directions and they get misplaced on his desk, then they don't get put in. As for navigating, lots of our customers are located along rail sidings, so one of the first things I do is look for train tracks and navigate by feel that way. It works an amazingly large percentage of the time.

Answer:
Yes. Southbound, too. But I do like that nice new pavement under the apartments! Wonder how long it'll take for them to get crappy again?
Answer:
Dang, them 14" overpasses would be hard for a medium sized dog!!!
"=inches
'=feet

Answer:
Hey guys
here's a tip almost no one thinks about:
if it's getting close, set the brakes and drop the airbags on everything
I was in jerzey last week. had an overpass marker 12'4"
and the shipper had said trucks clear the thing,
but it looked tight
so I set the brakes,
hopped out and first unhooked the cab air-ride so the got me 2"
then reached under the fifth wheel and pulled the leveling arm off the suspension and that got me 2"
and the b/c of the system on the trl.( the airbags drop when the brakes are set)
I had enough to clear the overpass
Total time to unhook and rehook all of the devices
about 2 minutes,value ,priceless
cost of a trl. roof if I didn't clear???????

Answer:
not bad if you aren't blocking a major road, i prefer to hit the 4 ways and creep up until i can get a good idea if i'll fit.

Answer:

Bullcrap. NY state doesn't post clearances on anything that's over 13'6". The few that are just over that and are posted (not officially, BTW) always say "Actual clearance". I can think of 2 in the entire state like that.
NY generally post clearances of 6" to 1' less than actual, in order to compensate for snow buildup on the road.
I Live in NY and have been driving trucks here since 1984. I have never seen a normal clearance sign marked "14' something" as you claim. But, of course, being accurate probably isn't important when you want to create a story.....
Answer:
I'm waiting for someone to hit the 13' 0" bridge in Denver, the one after Speer Blvd S/B on I-25. There is a sign that says caution low bridge 13' 0" Left Lane. I've seen quite a few trucks go under it and most of them clear it by half an inch. Although there are a lot of battle scars on that overpass.