6 Semi-Trucks rollover in 40 seconds

Actually it was 9, but 3 were off camera.

[masaharumorimoto]

Newfoundland has a highway that goes up the west coast thru a place called Wreckhouse, just north of Port Aux-Basque, they routinely stop traffic with a light set up just for the wind... it was called Wreckhouse in old times because homes would just blow away in the windy season so people didn't bother until modern rebar concrete and even still there's stretches that are uninhabitable lol.

[kazzellinempanger]

This is why we used to have that line of trees planted on both sides of the highway. The first truck that fell over was just beyond the line of trees; those trees used to be on both sides of the highway, all the way up and down, when I was a kid.

Winds like this were a contributing factor to the Great Depression and the lack of crops--blow away the topsoil, blow away the seeds. Trees were planted on both sides of the highway to help break up the wind gusts, but as they've died (or younger farm owners cut them down because they don't know why there's a line of trees on their property), they haven't been replaced, and this is the result.

Those tree lines benefitted both the farms and the cars/trucks on the road during windy days, so I really wish they'd get replanted.

[thisisme]

Kudos to all truck drivers! Without them we COULD NOT survive in the United States of America. 👍 Stay safe out there!

[Jolly_Green]

As a trucker, this is a serious concern of ours. (Especially if we're light) I run up and down I-77 in NC, VA, and WV every night. I'll never forget climbing Fancy Gap and seeing 3 trucks laid over one right behind the other. When I passed by them, the wind hit me like a brick wall. I'm always heavy, so I don't usually worry about the wind, but that scared me. (One of the trucks was a box truck, and he was hanging over the guard rail to what is a long drop off on the mountain.)

[oldgrayhairs]

WARNING!!! And if you ever see a tractor trailer tip over on to its right side, due to high winds, don’t stop next to a tractor trailer that’s still upright, that’s to your left during high winds, when the wind is coming at you from your left. The next truck to tip over could be the one on your left. Duh! Watch the video again. Look at where cars stopped (4-wheelers) and what was to their left. It’s called situational awareness people. Yo! You could be crushed in the next few seconds. Watch what you’re doing! That was a great video for situational awareness while driving in bad weather conditions. Good job!

[KojiGaming]

As a trucker whose route takes him over I-80 from Salt Lake City to Denver via Wyoming just about every week - it can get really sketchy but their first mistake was hitting the brakes. Just like blowing a steer tire, hitting the brakes will allow more lateral force to be exerted along the combination, be it refrigerated or dryvan. Our dryvans weigh 11, 700lbs light and my Freightliner weighs about 20, 000lbs. So that's 31, 700lbs, roughly speaking. I routinely stay upright at 68MPH in 45MPH wind gusts with 35MPH constant. It just takes knowing your equipment and having a very watchful eye. But it is risky, as one rogue 70MPH gust would send an empty truck like mine into the ditch. 60MPH will blow an inexperienced driver with an empty trailer over every time, 50 gets scary as hell and pushes you around like you're a child's toy along for the ride. 45MPH gusts are the highest I will ever go again empty, 95MPH gusts are the highest I've ever driven through but I was loaded to 85, 000lbs with permits and I'd feel comfortable doing it again.

A word to the wise: If the wind is pushing your car around, it is most certainly going to push us around too! Stop pacing by our tandems and our cabs, you could be crushed in the event of a blowover or medical emergency suffered by the driver! Or... You know... Decapitated by a tire blowout.

[sergeantrandomusmc]

Used to live in the Los Angeles area many years ago. “Santa Anna winds” - one year clocked gusts over 110MPH. Not a tornado, steady winds with gusts coming from the same direction for hours. Knocked over parked fully loaded gravel trucks and what not. Pretty much anything taller than a Honda that wasn’t under a bridge was in the ditch or rolled on its side. Absolutely insane.

[RR-qfre]

Im a trucker and I’ve been in real near misses with high winds but no that trucker knew exactly what was going on and was for sure bracing for it. There’s absolutely nothing you can do there. You know if your trailer is empty you’re gonna be the first one to go.

[strikerq]

I am a trucker and I routinely run into high winds through mid west states, texas, oklahoma, new mexico, arizona, nevada, utah, kansas, colorado, indiana, Illinois, etc and I slide my tandems all the way to the rear when I am empty and start getting wind gust, 13 years on the road and luckily I have not been blown over while empty, and most of my loads, about 90% are under 10, 000lbs and I haul explosives.

[gingerlduty]

My Dad and his partner were nearly killed by a strong gust of wind many years ago. Now, as a school bus driver, I completely understand how it happened.

[tombriggs]

We’ve had huge trains blown over in Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas and I am sure there are others . We get trucks blown over several times a year along I 80 . Interesting, but nothing new .

[cthunter]

This happens literally everyday in Cheyenne and all through Wyoming and Colorado.

[bigdog]

Several years ago the same thing happened around Cheyenne, Wyoming where several trucks were blown over. Always a concern for truckers on windy days especially if you trailer is empty.

[daha]

Happens just about every year in Salt Lake city. Went through there last year or year before (empty mind you), and over 40 trucks layed over that day. I was luckily beside a heavy hauler, and asked if he'd match my speed to get through the area, thankful he did.

[Dortchskii]

Fun fact I was doing OTR truck driving training in UT on my 2nd or 3rd load ever; when they had a wind event like this at the beginning of September of 2020. Some 12 or more trucks were blown over in the short 15 miles we were on i-15. Fortunately we missed the worst of it. it was super stressful, but a great learning experience for me.
Coincidentally less than a week later we were in Pullyallup Washington and could see the smoke from the California wildfire. We had to head south on I-5 toward Los Angelos.
The smoke got thick enough that you couldn’t see the sun anymore. The daytime was essentially an all day dusk/dawn. My first 2 weeks was quite the experience. The rest of my training was a little bit less eventful than that.

Wind has a huge effect on trucks amd is one of the many reasons we encourage cars not to stick near our sides. We can be blown over by a strong gust and land on someone, or a tire may blow out, which can cause severe injuries or even kill someone. Which we don’t want to happen. Safety is our number one goal.

[SatrnOne]

There's a spot, Washoe Valley, in between Reno and Carson City, where the wind gets so bad they close highway 395 to trucks and divert them through a side road that skirts the base of the mountains to the west.

These truckers might have been caught unawares, but they absolutely knew what was happening.

[williamalldaffer]

This happens every year in Wyoming, Nebraska and I80 east and west. High winds with light loads and reefer or dry vans.

[TheCorvairGuy]

Easier to get blown over going too slow or stopped. Moving forward at speed causes turbulence along the trailer not allowing as much of the lateral wind force to leverage the trailer over. Notice the guy that stopped was the first one to be blown over. Forward inertia and turbulence actually counter somewhat the effects of a side wind. But it's intuitive to stop if you're afraid of the wind.

[musselmanmedia]

Might be the wildest headline I've read in a while 😳

[Jman]

This happens all the time in windy conditions with empty or lightly loaded trucks. It doesn't happen everyday, but when you get straightline wind, semis that are not heavily loaded or empty, can blow over. This is one of many reasons that you avoid staying side by side with semi trucks.