You thought today was Friday when it fact it is “wacky mishap day”! Didn’t get the memo? Neither did we, but the weirdo news keeps flowing into the BS news bunker today! A 35-year old truck driver lost the handle on his rig and drove it straight into a frozen Minnesota river this morning. Luckily he was not injured but his rig is surely screwed as the big diesel must have swallowed up a few large lung loads of ice water before expiring. Happily the river is a shallow one, so the the truck maintained semi-submersible status. If we drove another one in there we could recreate the Civil War battle between the Monitor and the Merrimack with rigs!
Police got to the scene this morning, posted photos on Twitter (seriously) and set about their accident investigation. Amazingly, the truck actually slid across 100-200 yards of ice before breaking through and impersonating a Russian ice breaker circling the North Pole. The ice breakers have thus far been more successful as far as distance goes, but you cannot argue with the big rig’s style in this case.
We do not know what the cargo in the trailer is but we hope it is supposed to be wet and frozen, if not, look for the contents on the discount rack of your local Target. The driver is OK, that’s all that really matters. Here’s some helicopter video of the scene, which is pretty surreal!
might want to leave that one off your resume
Can you imagine the thoughts going through his head as he was going farther out and then broke the ice. I’m sure heneeded new shorts after that.
CODE BROWN!
I drive trucks like these for a living. Two years ago, a team truck (two drivers) had an accident on an icy road in Northern Ontario Canada and wound up falling off a bridge and onto a frozen river. It happened in the small hours of the morning. The driver who was off duty and sleeping in the bunk was ejected through the sunroof and wound up in the water, the under ice currents quickly overwhelmed her and she was swept under the ice, downstream and was not seen again. Ever.
The driver who was on duty at the time survived with cuts and scratches, life saved by wearing his seat belt.
The company hired search teams and a helicopter, but to no avail.
Winter is our most dangerous time of year. We work the hardest and make the least per hour, because we get paid by the mile, and the going can be slow in the Canadian Rockies this time of year. My wife and I do 9000 miles in nine days, then go home for five, repeat.
Have a look: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DCEkVO_BYc