Driving a truck on the open road is physically and mentally exhausting.
Meanwhile, the road is an unforgiving opponent you must overcome with multiple cups of coffee and a sharp deadline.
With such late drives you're sure to see things you may not be sure of. Things that may haunt your memories until you feel like you need to talk about them on the internet.
Reddit user, u/smithtiger, wanted to hear the terrifying tales when they asked:
Truckers of Reddit, what is something you have witnessed driving at night that gave you chills?
The Devil's Riding High
Giphy
I25 south of Albuquerque, there's a huge dip, straight down one side of a canyon and up the other. I'm a very safe driver, so i took the downgrade slow and crawled up the other side with my hazards on. Looking in my mirror i see headlights from another truck at the bottom, then 2 jets of flame shoot like 20 feet into the air above it. This truck runs past me doing 80 up the slope. I didn't even know it was possible to put nitrous into a semi, i know it ain't legal, but i thought the devil himself was riding up on me.
"Mooseicide"
My mom drove truck for several years with her ex boyfriend. She loves to tell the story of hitting a moose.
Guess she was tooling along middle of the night in N Ontario. Area is well known for dumb ass animals jumping out and killing people.
Anywho, she said she saw this massive beast charge right out of the ditch. Instantly she gunned the gas, and Bullwinkle plows into the edge of the trailer-where the rivets meet the edge. She hears a loud thud. Pulls over, shaken.
Her ex was sleeping in the bunk and woke up when the truck stopped.
Mom gets put, expecting to find the truck totaled. Nope. As she tells it, all she found for damage was a small blood smear and a dent on the 3 inch rivet section. Moose was splayed Bambi style a block behind. Her boyfriend was freaking out when she told him about the moose.
Pretty miraculous actually. Animal commits Mooseicide, and truck still drive able.
They ended up waiting all night for the OPP to drive by and call in animal removal.
She's pretty legendary in the trucking world for it. No one could believe they walked away.
A Foreboding Sense Of What's Coming
Truckie's daughter.
My father told a story of a time he had a horrid nightmare about wheels. He thought it was creepy but brushed it off. Less than a week later, he was on a long haul and it was very late at night. He came down a steep descent into a corner and as he rounded the corner came across a bad accident involving a large truck and it's trailers, flipped upside down. All he could see was wheels.
March Of The Tarantulas!
A tarantula migration crossing the road. Freaky.
Wtf!?? they do that?...did you run them over?
Yes they do. It was like a horror movie. I'm afraid I ran over quite a few, I certainly wasn't going to stop the car in the middle of nowhere in the middle of a bunch of tarantulas. They do that in horror movies and it never ends well.
You Might Say They Were "Of The Corn?"
Driving on a country backroad in Indiana in the wee hours of the morning. Nothing but telephone poles and cornfields all around. Then something at the edge of the corn field. Looked like two kids standing with their backs to the road looking into the corn.
Didn't move
didn't look up, nothin. Just two kids stood there staring into the cornfield at like 2am.
When You Do Everything You Can And Someone Still Messes It Up
My dad, a truck driver in the Netherlands for about 30 years now was leaving our town at 3am-ish to do the deliveries to the stores. He drives off with a colleague and a kilometre outside my town he hits the brakes because there's a horse on the road (alive). His colleague behind him stops as well and is informed about the situation over the CB radio. Two trucks which look the same (both yellow-blue Scania box trucks with an additional blue trailer) are standing still on a B-road in the middle of the night.
A guy pulls up behind them in an Audi A6 stationwagon. He, of course, did not know what was going on and after a few minutes (the horse wasn't moving) he got very annoyed with the trucks standing still so he absolutely floored it to go past them. He crashed into the horse, killing it and totaling his car. Guy went to the hospital and this all happened under the eye of my father. Pretty terrifying sh-t.
The guy ended up surviving but my dad was pretty messed up about it.
So, We're All A Little Guilty Of Being Freaky
The amount of people "driving" while staring at their phones.
Just A Little Time Off
There's another driver where I work that tells a story about driving through the desert in Arizona back in the 80's with nothing around for miles when he broke down in the middle of the night- it was an easy fix (his fuel filter was clogged- he drained it a little to free up the fuel and got the truck running about 15 minutes later), he took off down the highway when he saw a man that was out of breath on the side of the highway that was staring at him as he passed..
he said it looked like the guy had been running toward him until he got his truck running and drove away..
He said if he had been there a few more minutes the guy would've been able to walk up on him with his head in the engine bay. He said the look on the guys face gave him chills and telling the story you could see it still creeped him out.
"Don't worry about it."
Not me but a friend, saw a naked kid walking at night on a long stretch of empty stretch of highway 41 south of where it meets highway 285, in New Mexico.
He picked the kid up and called it in to local law enforcement. The kid wouldn't speak. A State trooper showed up, and according to my friend, acted like it was no big deal, like he had seen it all before. My friend asked the officer to hold up, and what was going on. The officer said, "don't worry about it", and just turned and walked away, loading the kid into his vehicle.
He tried to find a newspaper articles about it in papers from nearby cities but never found any anything. He looked and couldn't find anything in any missing persons filings.
He told this story with a haunting simplicity and air of dread.
G'day Mate...
A friend who is a truck driver told me this one. He was driving through the edge of some bushland on his way back to Perth, Western Australia when he hit a kangaroo. He stopped the truck, grabbed his knife (in case he needed to dispatch it), his flashlight, and got out. He went over to the kangaroo. It needed to be dispatched, as it was alive and in immense pain, but he got this weird feeling that he was being watched.
He flashed his light around and saw dozens of pairs of red eyes watching him. The whole mob of kangaroos was just standing there watching him kill one of their mates (kangaroos have red eyeshine). He quickly dispatched the kangaroo, bolted back to his truck, and took off. He said it was the creepiest thing he had ever seen on the road.
Send In The Clowns
Giphy
In the 90s, I lived in a logging camp in northern British Columbia. It was a big one made up of trailers and had about 300 people living there including families.
I drove a water truck on weekends when the camp was on days off. When driving on logging roads you radio your kilometer markings with the name of the road to avoid collisions. "Empty on Windfall 10" to say you were 10 clicks on the Windfall road heading away from camp and "Loaded on Windfall 10" to say you were coming back.
Anyways, being a weekend I didn't expect anyone to be hanging around except a skeleton crew. I had no idea that there was a kids birthday party up on the top end of the windfall road. Its beautiful up there with a clear landing and a pond, so why not. The family hired two clowns from a nearby town for the kids. Apparently the clowns wrapped up their show and were heading back to camp but they were not using the radio.
I'm on the road in a big water truck doing 50 kh and they come bombing around a corner doing 50 kh in a clown car and we almost collide. I blasted the horn as this car with a plastic star on its roof goes whipping by with two screaming clowns inside and I could just not figure out what had just happened.
A Different Kind Of Haunting
It was the night before Thanksgiving a few years ago. A woman was crossing a busy highway and got hit by a car. Police were there but paramedics had not made it yet. The sight of her family holding her lifeless body with blood everywhere while cry hysterically is something I will not forget.
What Were The Drunk Stories?
Where do you want me to start! I'll stick with a story from when I was straight and sober...
Coming back from Kununurra (very northern town in Western Australia) to Perth one night. Seen no one else on the road for hours, but every now and then, on a long straight, I could see a set of tail lights in the distance. All of a sudden, there's the tail lights, attached to a trailer that's stopped dead in the middle of the road. I slammed on the brakes and swerved around it, and that's when i realised that the truck, towing 3 trailers had run off the road into the only large tree for miles. If not for how this ended, I'd laugh my arse off at the irony.
I pulled forwards, off the road, and jumped out. My co-driver (who'd been asleep, but got thrown out of the bunk when I slammed on the brakes) was already calling emergency services. As I got to the back of my 3rd trailer, wisps of smoke started from under the cab of the Volvo wrapped around the tree. I raced back, grabbed a fire extinguisher and was running towards the wreck when I heard a groan from the ditch, about 10 metres in front of the wreck. The driver had been thrown clean through the windscreen, and while he was an absolute mess, at least he was alive. The Volvo was, by now, in flames. But that just gave me some light to inspect old mate for injuries.
And then I heard the sound that, even now, tears me to the core. A thin, high pitched squeal, gradually progressing into the most soul piercing scream I've ever heard. His co-driver had also been asleep in the bunk. And with the truck wrapped around the tree, he was stuck. And I hadn't thought to fight the fire. And now some poor man was burning to death, trapped in a steel coffin, while I just collapsed. Impotent and broken.
I still drive trucks now. It's my life. It's cost me several relationships and a marriage, but I don't know anything else that I can do. I love the life, I love the freedom, and I always know that I can lose everything in the blink of an eye. But I never again, and never will, drive as a two-up team. I could never live with killing a workmate because I f-cked up.
George Takei's Halloween Costume Contest 2019
Of course, most of the time, it was “just a phase". And looking back, those phases are regrettable, to say the least. Here are some prime examples of that.
SirGergoyFriendman asked:
What was your biggest/most regrettable "It's not a phase, mom. It's my life." that, in fact, turned out to be just a phase and not your life?
The enthusiasm of a young person can lead to some unexpected changes that parents are just not ready for.
Hi, Wheeljack!
I was VERY into The Transformers when I was a wee lad in the 1980s. One day, I decided to change my name to the name of my favorite Autobot. My name was lame, and I wanted an awesome Transformer name. And I was VERY insistent that my parents only call me by my new name. Calling me by my 'old' name would cause a big fat tantrum on my part.
So for the better part of a week, my poor parents had to call me Wheeljack.
Very 2008.
Ariana Grande Shrug GIFGiphyMy cat-ear phase. I wore cat ears every single day. Everywhere. I had like 20 pairs of them. Now everyone thinks I'm a furry.
I find that very cute and wouldn't have thought you'd be furry. Even if you'd had cat mittens. I think my suspicions would have started if you moved a bit like a cat, displayed catlike grooming habits or got a cat mask.
Not gonna lie, that car sounds cool.
I went to a car show once as a teen, and the only newer car there was some chick's PT cruiser. It was hot glittery pink, and at the time I was obsessed. I insisted that one day I would have a hot pink car, with pink seats, pink dash, pink carpets, etc. I was pretty heavily goth at the time, so my parents just rolled their eyes.
These phases can often lead to some very strange fashion choices.
That’s commitment.
When I was a teenager (early 00s), I was waiting for my mother to pick me up and was wearing one of those sh!tty sports wristwatches. It was itching me so I took it off for a second, but then she arrived and because I was struggling to get it back on my wrist, I looped it around the equally sh!tty chain I had around my neck in a rush to get out the door.
My mom asked me about it in the car, and I told her this was my new style and I planned to wear it like that every day. She rolled her eyes.
I wore that watch on a chain around my neck every single day for 3 years or so. There are even professional family photos where I'm wearing it because I refused to take it off.
One day, the chain broke and I lost the watch. I was in high school at that point anyway and it was a major lady repellent, so... phase over.
Not everyone can be Eminem.
slim shady eminem GIFGiphyBaggy pants, being a rapper someday and being a professional skater.
When I was about 14 and Eminem was starting to blow up I bought myself a keyboard with a synthesizer. It cost like $200 which was all the money I had saved up. It finally came (this was way before amazon prime and such) and I tried rapping.
My sister told me "you're effing horrible" and I gave up right then and there.
This should be a sin.
I used to button the top buttons of polo shirts.
I must say, this is probably the worst one I've read.
Looking back at our regrettable choices, all we can do is cringe.
An optimistic look at bad tattoos.
check me out season 3 GIF by PortlandiaGiphyBeing a tattooer. Regrettable because of those poor people who have my awful doodles on their bodies.
Take heart! My favorite tattoo is the one I drunkenly got my buddy to do in his living room one year during March Madness! It's dumb and frankly mediocre? But such a good story and has such good associations I smile every time I see it.
RIP Fredro’s.
My friend and I decided we were going to open a bar in Jamaica with exotic snakes in glass cages in the walls at each booth. We convinced ourselves it would be amazing for at least two years in college. It was going to be called Fredro's.
My entire family made fun of me for it. Once we got out of college, we realized it was not feasible and joined the office grind. We're also two white guys with no ties to Jamaica.
Talk about cringey.
I wore a top hat with an anime pin on it for around a year. Met one of my current best friends while wearing it, idk how he could bear to speak to me after that.
My weirdest phase was probably when I insisted on wearing knee-high rainbow socks to school every day. But honestly, I don't regret it. I rocked those socks, and I wish I still have a pair.
To all the people out there cringing over their past selves, remember that you were just a kid, and to be easy on yourselves. After all, we've all been there
Yet, too often, manufacturers who oversell their products fail to deliver what is promised and are inevitably left with angry customers who want their money back.
Whether the merchandise was defective or ridiculously overpriced, strangers online shared some of their worst purchases when Redditor BooksMcGee asked:
"What is the worst product you ever paid money for?"
Short Life Span
"This NERF gun that's supposed to shoot tennis balls for your dog. I bought it cause I thought you could load 3 at a time and shoot them far, but it's just one and it's super loud and the gun broke after like 4 shots (reading reviews later, this was a common issue)."
Lame Pets
"There were these toys called squiggles when I was a kid and the commercials made it seem like the toy was alive. It looked like you would get this crazy little fuzzy worms as pets that would follow you around an so sick tricks and listen to your every command. It was really just a piece of fluffy string tied to another piece of string with googly eyes on it. People may say that it was supposed to be a magic trick but they should also explain that to a 5 year old who really wanted a pet."
Card Value
"Not their fault, but I paid $70 for a Yugioh card hours before it was limited to one copy. Probably dropped to $20 by the end of the day."
These purchases were bad for your bum.
"A bicycle that literally fell apart before I made it out of the parking lot."
Not Worth Sitting On
"Joybird brand couch. Was so terrible, we returned it. Still hard to believe, we returned a freaking couch."
Going Nowhere Fast
"A 2000 VW Beetle (used)."
"Biggest piece of sh*t that literally had to have just about everything replaced before 100k miles and would still break down every time you left the driveway to the point where the tow-truck driver knew us on a first-name basis."
Expensive Lemon
"An Oldsmobile Achieva from one of those buy here pay here places. I should have known better, but I was young and thought I was getting a good deal. I had the thing for about 5 months, I drove it for maybe 3 weeks. The rest of the time it was either in the shop, or in my driveway waiting until pay day so I could afford to fix whatever broke on it this week. Eventually told the dealer just take it, I'm not paying for it any more. He said nope, and I will make sure your credit is ruined. I said well you sold me a lemon, do you really want to go this route? He came and took it. Never reported anything to credit. I heard he got sued by several other people who sold sh**ty cars too and eventually went out of business."
"Always amazes me when I see them driving around still, I can only assume there's enthusiasts who just love repairing horribly designed cars."
– zerbey
These Redditors were not convinced what they ingested was edible.
Bad Cereal
"A box of plain Cheerios. Thought they were honey nut, poured a bowl, was very disappointed."
"If I wanted to taste cardboard, I'd just eat the box."
– gor8884
Space Pizza
"A burnt frozen pizza at the air and space museum cafe in DC. I Don't wish that experience on anyone. There are some amazing restaurants in DC, don't settle."
– Alseids
The following electronics just gave off a bad charge.
"Asus Transformer Pad TF700"
"This was one of those early 'high end' Android tablets that was grossly underpowered, and it showed. Thing was slow as sh!t in no time flat. Rookie mistake investing into shiny new tech while they were still working all the bugs out. Think I paid somewhere in the neighborhood of $350-400 for it..."
– Luke5119
Bad Apple
"macbook pro 2018 13" touchbar. 2 years old and dead (battery). they're asking $300-$400 to change the battery. malfunctioning keyboard with double presses and missing presses. that's a lot of money for bad design."
Chilly Reception
"Past winter my old room heater broke down and I had to buy a new one. Went to a store nearby and somehow got convinced to buy a very costly heating device.. It's also my fault, since there were some sligthly cheaper options around, but nope. I wanted the expensive one thinking it will make my small room a volcano with little to no effort/cost (that's also what the seller told me). Long story short the device wasn't doing ANYTHING. No significant temperature changes, too much space, a weird noise, and was doubling my previous device in utility cost. I still gloom over those 80 euros.."
Some of my disappointing purchases was clothing, but only because I purchased them online. Unless they are a brand I'm familiar with, I'm usually fine with buying new jeans off of their websites.
But when it comes to graphic tees only available on specialty shops, an M-size shirt is not necessarily the same size as those found in other reputable stores.
I bought a medium sized T-shirt from a boutique store online because I loved the look of the design. But when it arrived, the supposed medium fit me like an XL.
At least I gained a fierce cleaning rag from this impulsive purchase.