Tractor-trailer driver charged after crash shuts down part of I-64 

Charged with reckless driving is nothing compared to what the repair bill is going to be.

Any dump truck driver that drives without making sure the bed is fully lowered on a highway should loose their cdl permanently

Driving with the trailer fully raised is the equivalent of walking out of the restroom with your pants around your ankles

They call drivers like this "steering wheel holders". Tell that male reporter, the part that pulls the semi-trailer is called a "tractor".

im always boggled how any tractor trailer driver can drive with a dump bed upright and not feel that sway and topheavy feeling behind them.

This is what happens when you never check your mirrors. This guy should never be allowed to drive anything ever again.

I’ve had my Class A CDL since 1991. From what I’ve witnessed over the last few years, on the road, I’m honestly terrified!

At this point I'm surprised he even noticed the trailer separated from the tractor.

The Allstate mayhem guy is laughing his ass off on this one!

Left the pto engaged ,was distracted hit the lever up it went didn't check mirrors whole bunch of stuff went wrong.

Amazing that the driver didn't notice it in the mirrors.

This is a Prime Example of the quality of drivers today.........Have NO IDEA what those shiny things are hanging outside the cab windows and or how to use them

I was driving a 26’ U-haul truck towing my car on a car carrier. I happened upon this wreck shortly after it happened. I must have crossed past the wreckage seconds before they closed down traffic. A quarter mile later, I noticed bob-tailed semi truck with a man standing alongside it with his cell phone to his ear. He was the driver.

I find it amazing that dump trucks still don’t have a light on the dashboard telling you if the bed is down.

His box couldn’t have been up going thru the scales. Would have hit the lights and signs. Having driven a frameless dump just like that one for 12 years. Can’t follow how that happens generally you can’t shift well when the PTO is engaged. Makes a heck of a racket when engaged at highway speeds. Always supposed to leave your switch in down position anyway. Truck doesn’t drive right with it up anyway.

I've pulled end dumbs for many years and I have never went down the road with my bed up. And I don't understand how this could even happen do they never look in their mirrors. And how do they go several miles with out it tipping over I don't know I guess I'm not seeing the big picture. I guess I need to get down to that moron level to understand it

"It wasn't me, bro!" "Your trailer is attached to the overhead sign!" "Bruh, could be anyone's."

This tells me that the driver was not paying attention to his driving? I have been a truck driver all my life and am always looking out my mirrors to see what is going on with traffic and with my unit. Sorry, hate to see a fellow driver get in trouble but he should have seen this happening. Just my opinion

If he crossed the scale, the bed was down at that point.

Proof they'll let anyone drive those rigs.

Super Trucker at it again blaming them 4 wheelers for his own mess

Should have his CDL revoked.

I've been driving for 59 years, ever since Dad taught me when I was 12. I've driven dozens of freeways, thousands of roads all over the Midwest, including in, through, and around St. Louis, MO, and all over the Detroit area. Never once have I seen a dump truck with its bed up other than when the driver was unloading it at its destination. I'm glad I haven't seen it, but now I kind of feel like I've missed out on someone's crazy ineptitude.

This is not the first time this accident happened on I-64. I was a Richmond Police Officer back in the 70's when I witnessed this freak accident. It was early in the morning and I had just left Mechanicsville Turnpike, heading west on I-64, when I came upon an accident that had just occurred. A semi-trailer dump truck, like the one in the picture, was heading east on I-64, when the PTO suddenly engaged the trailer, and it shot straight up, hitting the road sign, which at that time went across both the east and west bound lanes of I-64. There were two young guys in a Ford van that was west bound on I-64 when the sign came down across the front of their van, crushing them in their seats. They had just left MacDonald's and had two cups of coffee secured in the cup holders in their van that still had steam coming off them. I'll never forget noticing that and thinking how fragile life is and how suddenly we could lose it. The driver of the truck was grief stricken and inconsolable, even though it wasn't his fault. When you're going the speed limit on the interstate and the PTO engages, the trailer is going straight up in a hurry, He had no time to react. It just happened right before he got to that sign, and hit it, and down it came. I'm 74 now, and this caused me to relive that accident. At least no one was killed in this incident.

she said no one got hurt....wrong. how many hours did people have to sit in traffic, they had to go potty etc...all because one moron drove down the road with a dump body up. who trained this driver, who allowed him to drive knowing he was not too bright...yeah, people did get hurt... where was the State Police, surely someone on a cell should have called the VSP...or even tried to get his attention....so much wrong here...

For crying out loud look out your mirrors you can see that dump body. Some of these guys drive like they are in a vacuum. I mean I can kind of understand leaving it up for a few seconds after dumping but he was empty and tarp was rolled up

all these yrs of trucking and still no safety feature to prevent this

How in the hell did he not notice that in his mirrors

Oblivion describes most drivers.

Hard to fathom that a driver can be that unaware of his own vehicle.

Thankfully, that guy explained what happened. I was so confused.

How the hell do you forget to lower your bed? Happens all over the country. No common sense or attention to what your job is anymore

I always drive with my dump bed raised all the way up. I’ve never had any problems.

How does one not notice this! That had to create a lot of drag even B4 hitting the sign! Even just turning had to cause some sway!

pay attention, put the stupid phone down.

in Baltimore County on I-95north I saw a dump truck driver forget too put his bed down and hit the bridge at White Marsh

Not the first time I've seen it happen before better have some damn good insurance

exquisite commentary. really dialed in the obvious, especially the part about hitting the scales.

All he got was reckless driving? I currently drive tractor trailer. And I previously drove dump trailer. I don't know how the box would raise without the driver being aware of it. He should've felt it and seen it in the mirrors. He obviously wasn't paying attention. My money says he was on his phone.

Truckers not checking their mirrors

this has me laughing so damn hard right now and I’m not even baked or drunk 😂

That must have been swaying like crazy!

How can they charge him with reckless driving when they are still investigating? 🔎 ...

Dude asked her how it happened. She replies, no one got hurt!

What is he being charged with? Destruction of property and wasting people’s time.

I've seen videos of this kind of accident happening, but most of them were in countries well known for having not much in road regulations...

I’m just curious I have driven truck for years anytime my bed is raised. I have an alarm inside the truck that goes off and a light is on telling me. My bed is raised. How could he not have known his bed was lifted? Even if his truck has no alerts, does he ever look in his mirrors?

Nobody flagged the guy, blew their horn waved at him, got in front of him and slowed down. WTF is wrong with people?

It happened because the driver got complacent, pull their CDL license, there are plenty of other jobs available.

Well, MAC Trailers builds a hell of a tough trailer. 💪🤠

Whats up with these dump truck drivers , I've seen this a hundred times.

Well, he ain't got no job now.

Bye-bye 🚚 CDL😮

Drivers we got out here What a joke

One comment already addressed the use of mirrors, even in my POV I’m always paying attention to my surroundings by use of the mirrors. You can’t tell me that there is no difference in the “feel”of the ride when the bed is up like that. Wouldn’t it be catching more air which in turn would make the tow different? Can’t understand how the driver couldn’t notice..Hmmmmmmm

Either the bed was raised when he went through the scales or the controls were activated after leaving the scales either accidentally or or because of a faulty switch but that doesn’t explain why he didn’t notice it being raised. Unfortunately this happens more often than you might think

He was at a weigh station for an inspection ,some idiot pulled the lever activating the hydraulic pump that raises the dump box i bet .how he didn't notice this i cannot guess as it would have been obvious from the way the truck moved down the highway or just by looking in his mirrors .driver error 101 always look left right / front back / up down . I was a trucker for 45+ years doing long haul .the worse truckers i ever saw were all local .

The trucking company or its insurance company should have to pay for the repairs. in a perfect world the drivers caught in the backup should be able to sue for damages. Time is money.

The city/county/state should due the company, along with prosecuting potential criminal charges, to the point the company goes bankrupt.

The switch to raise the bed is in the cab. He probably hit it by mistake. Makes you wonder why its not in a secure box or with a dummy switch.

The newscaster sounds like they're auditioning for a cartoon

Very unusual for the truck to separate from the trailer I've see them go off mountains and not come apart. Glad nobody was hurt.

"Here's your sign" .

Driver: "What had happened was..."

all dump trucks are equipped with audio+visual warnings of elevated or raised dump beds, any driver who runs with that elevated is a complete deliberate asshole !

You know... a dump valve [returning hotline to sump] preventing control manifold from pressuring up could stop the ram from telescoping out if pump system accidentally is energized. This should include a flow alarm to prevent incidents during normal [non-transit] use where dump valve should never be open.

You should ALWAYS be checking your mirrors every 2 to 3 seconds. It's in the CDL license manual and test not to mention it's just instinct of truck driving. Yes, he should NEVER be allowed to drive a tractor trailer again!!!

The truck manufacturer should have a safety alarm in the cab, alerting the driver that the body is raised. Or that company could install them themselves after market. Either way, the driver should have looked in his mirrors at some point and noticed that.

No other drivers tried to flag the trucker as they passed him? People don't care until it affects them, pathetic!

NC towing company probably charged a million dollars for the clean up

Charged i hope he don't have a license anymore

Them signs are not cheap, always pay attention, even if you got troubles you are dealing with, that are distracting you, cause now you got even bigger problems. I'm guessing that sign costs about 75k to replace, insurance will pay for it?

“Your Honor, I plead ‘Not Guilty’ because green Martian aliens were about to kidnap me by lifting the truck into the sky; fortunately, that sign caught me like a fly in a spider’s web.”

why dont they have a speed sensor and bed sensor tied to kill the engine ?

Got taken out of stupidity

This is not an accident it's plane stupidity on behalf of the truck driver

He was still hung over from his usual drunk the night before ??

Who the fuck was driving that truck Mr. Magoo😂

How can you NOT know that the dump is up… You have to look at you mirrors at some point😮

Momma always say " stupid is as stupid does" 😂😂

I feel for that insurance adjuster on Monday!

I can tell you exactly how it happened, driver left PTO engaged and then hit the up lever that is located on the floor mostly by the drivers door. Very easy to set or hit it if you are not careful. Boneheaded Trucker.

watching trucks barely clear the bottom of highway signs on a road trip is a core memory… didn’t work out this time though 😂

Truck driver: is it just me or does my truck feel lighter than usual 🤔

First time I've ever seen a swift truck leave the scene of an accident without being the cause of the accident 😂😂😂😂😂

Hancock threw him into it

There's easily enough technology in the world to stop trucks from moving with the bed in the air.

I don't know Boss. I was smoking a cigarette. The cab filled up full of Smoke. Then Smoke got in my eyes and I couldn't see. Next thing I know.... BOOM, I hit something. 😂😂😂😂

What's to investigate? Clueless Mr Magoo didnt notice the dump bed fully extended in the upright position going interstate speeds. Im sure some drivers honked or otherwise tried to get his attention.

Why isn’t there a kill switch that stops the vehicle if the bed is up over a certain speed and time limit?

It's a miracle it didn't roll with only one axle on the ground and all that in the air. Mustsa been one of those retarded automatic transmission trucks pulling that very expensive Mac trailer; Theres no way you wouldn't know the PTO was engaged if it was a manual transmission, It's harder to shift when the PTO is engaged. Unless it was some clueless driver who doesn't have a feel for the equipment or stays on the phone with only 30% attention on the job at hand. This is an abomination! Looks like a really nice trailer too!!!

A very similar thing happened on Interstate 470 earlier this year in Ohio

The driver knew exactly what he was doing, apparently he hated the company trying to put them out of business. This is 100% on purpose! This was not negligence or forgetfulness, this was on purpose!

One must wonder of the "Wind Drag" created by the up-right trailer.....

PTO must of been engaged- how can you not see it in your mirror or even feel the difference in balance.

I don’t think you can find another truck driving job with a reckless driving charge on your license.

Sheer ignorance, negligence, and stupidity. No excuse for this.

The sign was too dam low.

Why no safety default where truck wont go if its up, unless u hit a bypass switch? Wtf. This happens way too much.

The Virginia Dot needs to be sent back to school if they have no idea how a dump bed operates