lines looked low af but shouldn't this guy have an escort?
Posted by gengarjuice69@reddit | Truckers | View on Reddit | 87 comments
Posted by gengarjuice69@reddit | Truckers | View on Reddit | 87 comments
LetterheadIcy1744@reddit
Whatever’s behind me isn’t my problem
tortoisechimp@reddit
Goddammit! Yikes.
Some_Victory_5499@reddit
If he's short enough to go underneath bridges it's not his fault
Outlaw11091@reddit
Permit load.
Most states have the route detailed in with the permit.
This means deviating from it in any way can result in HUGE fines. Even when things don't go horribly.
So, either the trucker just took a half a million dollars off his paycheck or someone installed a wire a few inches too low.
Alarming-Inspector86@reddit
He didn't catch the power line the low wires are comms lines. The comms have to be minimum 16 feet off the center or highest part of the road. They commonly are installed slack and not high enough or more likely the poles pulled towards the road over time and dropped the lines even lower. Source I'm a lineman who has to fix shit like this all the time
Emergency_Ad1152@reddit
Hey man, so no matter what state, all lines should be 16 ft? Cause sometimes I’m 14’6ish and clench my cheeks thinking I’m about to hit some lines out in the country.
Broad-Ad-1015@reddit
This only applies to main roads that cmvs can go down and if the wires are under I believe 15ft by law there is supposed to be signs saying low hanging wires now residential roads can be what ever the fuck they want at least in my state but go to north Carolina and go through a town a lot of them have their stop lights on low hanging wires and their telephone wires are hung low af as well
Alarming-Inspector86@reddit
I can't say every state but all the textbooks and book work I did as an apprentice all wire are required to be 16 feet above a road when installed. Now poles shift and can dump slack across the road happens all the time. It is ultimately your responsibility if something doesn't look or feel right stop and look. Definitely be careful in rural areas
LastMongoose7448@reddit
My dad was an electrical lineman for 30 years, and he bitched about the comms guys almost daily.
Alarming-Inspector86@reddit
We have a saying that goes fuck the comm guys. The actual Verizon and Comcast guys are usually good dudes who take pride in the work they do and without them our lives would be very different. But it's the sub contractors they use that just throw shit up on a pole and hope it sticks long enough for them to drive away
JakeJascob@reddit
City utility worker here. Fuck contractors. They pay someone who doesn't know what they're doing twice as much to break my shit then have me fix it.
Admittedly I work in plumbing but the point still stands, strongly. As proof we once laided a brand new 24 inch water main down a road as we were laying it contracted comm guys were coming it behind us to put in fiber cable. Their fiber cable cross the water main at 3 points, guess how many times they hit it. The pipe didn't change depth nor did it's position on the road change, the contractors are actually just that incompetent.
candlegun@reddit
How about Spectrum?? I had spectrum come out to troubleshoot internet. The guy says he's gotta replace the line running from across the street from the main pole so that meant dispatching another guy to provide traffic control. So he gets everything done only to realize he cut my neighbor's line instead. He had to dispatch a different guy to come back for traffic control and do it all over again.
Before leaving he says fyi, I'm gonna have them send a cherry picker here on Monday; there's about 12ft of the old line hanging down off the main comms right in the middle of the lane.
That was over 6 months ago. The cherry picker never came.
LastMongoose7448@reddit
When I was a kid it was GTE, and my aunt worked at GTE, so that’s probably why my dad talked as much shit as he did about those guys.
L-user101@reddit
As a GC, since I was a kid, cable guys are the ones with the most excuses to not execute their scope. I literally just ran a fish tape for an AT&T guy through a tight attic. I actually volunteered because it had to be done and I was like, I know you probably won’t “fit” up there so I will do the grunt work. He turned out to be a great guy though, so not bashing him
Outlaw11091@reddit
I know this, but just grouped it all together. I understand the distinction is important and changed the language I used.
deadpat03@reddit
Looks like the pile was recently put in on the camera side or replaced. Maybe they ran a new line down the road.
speedbumpdoom@reddit
It's honestly crazy how often this stuff happens. I've seen countless situations involving farm equipment hitting communication and power lines while roading the equipment between fields. Everyone has to get involved often... law enforcement, county, utilities provider, insurance, attorneys, private investigators, equipment manufacturers and dealers... a lot of people are involved with the investigation to determine what percentage who has to pay. Even when you are 100 percent right, it's still a nightmare to go through.
I don't understand why we aren't running more of the communication and power lines underground... especially when it crosses a road.
Outlaw11091@reddit
Because everything is ran by people who WANT to run things...not necessarily by people who know HOW to run things.
Sometimes you get lucky and the person that knows how also wants to run things, but not often.
thisFishSmellsAboutD@reddit
Driver was surprised but not shocked.
PowerUpTheLighthouse@reddit
Electric drum roll
PowerUpTheLighthouse@reddit
Ba dum tzzzzzzzt ⚡️🥁
thisFishSmellsAboutD@reddit
My very startled dogs want to know why I snorted loudly
rhubes@reddit
https://maps.app.goo.gl/sRhn6n6NjckPEsq89?g_st=ac
Looking at the map, I have it linked to the wires they hit. Those are pretty low.
Disclaimer. I'm not a lineman, and I don't drive a truck. This post just randomly came across my feed.
Outlaw11091@reddit
See, this makes it seem much more like driver fault because I would've stopped at the low lines to gauge the distance. Then called the authorities to have someone come out and lift the wire.
dissectingAAA@reddit
Going back to 2015, you can see the lines had a lot less slack too.
Jazzlike_Plan7349@reddit
Why stop tho wtf that's against trucker code. Mfer we didn't see shit we didn't know that's why i didn't stop
Tyra804@reddit
I would’ve kept going and act like I didn’t hear anything, truck drivers aren’t protected. They’re definitely going to find a way to milk his pockets.
heathenfloydsson@reddit
I was fired for catching a comm line. In a 13' clearance bucket truxk. Make it make sense.
Retkicks@reddit
KLX coiled tubing rig. Used to have them on our pads every once in a while. Cool dudes. Sucks that this happened to this guy, probably not his fault.
12InchPickle@reddit
Given how slow he was going. You’d think he would realize the impending doom. But those wires look low.
jericho458slr@reddit
You can’t see shit driving, come on now. I used to deal with low lines like this in Iraq by pointing my .50 down and shrinking in the cab. But the driver can’t see shit unless they are hyper aware. Even then, it looks like he was already creeping through nice and slow. I feel bad for him tho.
Halfgecko@reddit
Y'know, I never considered how a roof gunner would handle low cables before.
Pata11@reddit
Armoured vehicles usually have in front of where the gunner or driver would stick their heads out. Basically a pole with a hook at the end that cuts the cable before it can do any damage. On this M10 booker you can see it just above the main gun. Here is a good example on a Patria.
jericho458slr@reddit
In my day we had to weld pipes onto our vehicles so my head didn’t get cut off from piano wire when we drove under an overpass. Sigh. Good times, 2003. We also had no armor on our vehicles, made IED’s more interesting.
badmechanic12345@reddit
Most of those are 16' 2"-16' 6" depending on the unit and if they lowered the mast on the unit low enough. More than likely not, but this looks like they are off route but if it's texas, new mexico or Oklahoma they will give you a shit route to go through town like this
rhubes@reddit
https://maps.app.goo.gl/sRhn6n6NjckPEsq89?g_st=ac
Grapevine Texas!
mikeblas@reddit
That looks super low. And the pole is tilted toward the road, lowering the lines just a bit more.
rhubes@reddit
I love to look around little areas I know I'm never going to visit. I couldn't help but notice just a bit further on up the road, keeping poles upright doesn't seem to be a thing around there.
https://ibb.co/HLjJXJNh
WIbigdog@reddit
Welcome to the south. What is "infrastructure"?
StumblinPA@reddit
Oof
Pizzalicker69@reddit
That’s a big oll coil unit.
throwawaypickle777@reddit
The coms line should have had a drop pole. Slack increases over distance (it has to so the line can expand/contract with heat cycle, and that line going across the road went across a parking lot before connecting to the building
CanuckInATruck@reddit
If he's over 13'6", it's not by much.
DivineRend@reddit
Comms lines are required to be 16ft up. So this is on the city, unless he's off route (probably not)
SchrodingersShitBox@reddit
For context, there was an insane windstorm the previous day 60-80mph winds and the wires in question had suffered damage thereby not being at the expected height.
AdventurousLawyer646@reddit
👆🏿 My guy! The one who makes it make sense. There's always one. Thanks bruh your who I look for in the comments. Now WHERE was this?
SchrodingersShitBox@reddit
It was close to me here in Texas if I remember right. I’m near the Permian basin in midland Odessa Texas. We’ve had about 2 weeks of insane wind storms and that was last week when trucks were being flipped like toys in the wind. That coil tubing unit was going through town to service a well within city limits, most of these towns have adopted truck bypass routes to avoid situations like this but I have had to convoy equipment into residential neighborhoods to service older wells that were drilled years before housing was built around them
dawn_quixote@reddit
So I looked up this Braum's Icecream and it appears to be in the DFW area (Grapevine). https://maps.app.goo.gl/SYoZrdQ9JPyfApxW6?g_st=ac
SchrodingersShitBox@reddit
There’s 5 of them in a 10 minute radius of my house in Lubbock. It’s basically got the market saturation of McDonald’s in these parts
AdventurousLawyer646@reddit
Yea glad I wasn't out that way at the time last week I saw the videos. Got me rethinking moving to fort worth lol
SchrodingersShitBox@reddit
lol, it’s not like it used to be. I’m hanging it up and moving back to DFW in august. Got my son raised and thru college and I need to focus on me now
dawn_quixote@reddit
Here it is!
https://maps.app.goo.gl/SYoZrdQ9JPyfApxW6?g_st=ac
JColeTheWheelMan@reddit
I was 17.5' yesterday. Too high for fuel stations. But I've run that route before so I know all the power lines have been cleared out.
Getmeaporopls@reddit
I'm always scared of this shit happening to me. I drive a garbage truck, and we all drive in neighborhoods that have LOW wires, and the mirrors always make it seem like we are inches from catching wires. But whenever I get out and look there's at least a foot most of the time.
FlobiusHole@reddit
I just had two days of our annual mining safety refresher course. This exact type of thing kills miners and various truck drivers every year.
jp712345@reddit
rip CDL
tyotr92@reddit
To be fair that’s not a real truck driver he’s a coil tube operator just going too or from location a lot of operators who have a cdl haven’t drove otr. So a lot of these type of mistakes are common.. luckily it wasn’t a voltage line!
AnythingOptimal2564@reddit
Buddy of mine did this with a picker truck with the boom up. Went down main street of a small town, I'm sure that was expensive for our company.
LoopDoGG79@reddit
Last week a accidentally knocked over a small, decorative light pole, it was about 9 or 10 ft tall. No one hurt nor any property damage. I still felt real dumb and horrible. I couldn't imagine how he felt after knocking a pole onto a building
ContributionSad6244@reddit
Yeah he probably should have escort but also wires over a Main Street or highway usually 14 ft
Rache_Now@reddit
Only if he was over 13.6
hambonecharlie@reddit
Someone effed up. Is this a 3rd world country?
RayAlmighty13@reddit
Lol!!!! OOPSY!!!
Jamo3306@reddit
Nope. If those lines are UNDER 13'6, it's the city who's out of compliance.
OilfieldStacker@reddit
KLX from the top rope!!!!
JD4101@reddit
Might need an electrician I doubt a prostitute is going to fix that.
NoConflict3231@reddit
Is this one of those situations where you're supposed to bunny hop or something? What does one do in this situation to exit the cab and get to safety
acs0311@reddit
Comms lines are the bane of my existence. They are never as high as they’re supposed to be. I’ll be on a permit route where the state does not require a high pole front escort but there will be at least one low hanging comm wire in every freaking town. You just hope they bounce over the load.
Successful-Salt-5240@reddit
LMAO. Is that north Dakota. Seems to be were all the dummy's in the oilfields are at.
rhubes@reddit
Texas. I put some links to the location in the post.
CakewalkNOLA@reddit
Backpage got shut down years ago. He didn't know where to find an escort
Abucfan21@reddit
If the truck is 13'6", that load is over fifteen feet tall.
Dude just said "WTF" and sent it.
chaoss402@reddit
That truck is nowhere near 13'6".
Abucfan21@reddit
Yeah, looks like I need a new reading glass prescription.....
Any_Shopping1633@reddit
Cables should be much higher than 15 ft.
ChillyWillie1974@reddit
Our reel trailers are usually around 5.1 meters, 16.7 feet.
KMFDM9@reddit
Obviously, those lines were installed incorrectly. Otherwise, why would our dear brother trucker dare to risk life and limb. Unless, of course, he was wearing a track suit and flip-flops at the moment of impact. Of course, now such infractions might immediately dictate a vacation in Guantanamo Bay. And rightfully so...
MostlyUseful@reddit
Every oversize load I pull has escorts in some states, and none in others. Just depends
Indentured-peasant@reddit
Better than a bridge. Always find the positives.
numbersev@reddit
Those aren't powerlines, they're telecommunication cables which are set the lowest height. By law, the electrical lines have to be higher than the telecom ones. The highest voltage ones go at the very top. What happened is he snagged the telecom lines and it ripped out the poles and sounded like it blew a transformer.
Pause the video at 0:09 seconds and you can see the lowest are 2 lines are telecommunications. The highest 3 are electrical.
Clairemarie97@reddit
Ngl that Braums has me wanting a burger
Suge_White_619@reddit
Heavy haul with a 10 axle trailer, I'm pretty sure it's mandatory. But he was probably sitting waiting for his permits, and was told to move because he was on a live road, and ended up screwing the pooch.
Express-Society-164@reddit
Why tf are those power lines so damn low??
Electrical_Ad_9668@reddit
That cab is not 13'6", it's a day cab, possibly compact sleeper, but it's definitely not a double bunk. Driver wouldn't be able to even stand up inside. Those lines were stupid low.
9millidood@reddit
That’s a big oopsie
Any_Shopping1633@reddit
RUH OH!
OkStorage3731@reddit
Good old Coil Tubing unit. That's a conventional a masted unit is even taller