In this week’s roundup of trucker-related news items from around the country, we find the usual unusual collection of only-on-the-road incidents: a life-saving surgery (in the sleeper berth), a couple of less-serious accident reports that have gone viral, and one writer’s fond remembrance of the good ol’ days of brawls on the loading dock.
HOBSON’S CHOICE: Fortunately, few of us are faced with these circumstances: A trucker was pinned in his cab following a terrible accident on I-90 in Idaho, and first responders determined that the only way to save him was to amputate a leg.
A three-person medical team climbed in, with the surgeon having to lie down inside the cab to operate.
“We were in pretty close quarters,” said the doctor at a follow-up press conference. “The driver’s seat had been pushed back into what used to be the sleeping compartment and that’s where he was.”
The driver was reported to be in fair condition at a local hospital. See the KREM2 report below:
VERY PUNNY: Apparently, news writers around the country couldn’t resist reporting on what otherwise was a minor truck accident in Indianapolis last week.
“A truck driver lost all his marbles on I-465 and it caused a bit of a traffic headache Saturday morning,” the lede from Fox 59 in Indy, was the opening line that spread far and wide.
The punchline is that the driver did, indeed, lose his marbles—some 38,000 pounds’ worth, as originally relayed the Indiana State Police.
TOO SWEET: Also going viral is Dodge County Sheriff Dale Schmidt’s Facebook post concerning the mysterious case of the spilled Skittles. A deputy came across Hundreds of thousands of Skittles were spilled on a county highway.
“While we don't know who did this, it is certainly clear that it may be difficult to "Taste the Rainbow" in its entirety with one color that likely fell off the truck!” the post says.
Turns out, the Skittles—which didn’t pass a quality assurance check—were intended to be feed for cattle. as they did not make the cut for packaging at the company. Curiously, however, the candymaker isn’t sure how this particular batch ended up where it did, according to the Toronto Star.
FOND MEMORY: Here’s a neat post by a writer who goes by the pen name Biff America, in which he recalls his high school summers working on the loading dock, and a trucker he got to know. Specifically, he details an incident in which another truck hit the one they were unloading, and the ensuing confrontation with the guys from the other rig.
“There was a lot of posturing as both guys again denied their guilt, stood close and towered over Charley and me in a threatening manner,” he writes. “I was too afraid to say anything and was glad I still had freight hooks hanging over my shoulder.”
Oh, the good ol’ days…
