Unload the tractor, drive the truck and trailer through, come back and get the tractor. On the straightaway of course. Orange cones are handy anytime when driving a truck and unloading in bad locations.
We had an incident a few years ago where an excavator sitting on top of a trailer struck a bridge over I96 here in Michigan and damaged it so much that they had to rebuild it and it impacted traffic for almost a year. After that MDOT installed a height clearance alert system where a device alerts the driver of an oversized vehicle if it breaks the beam about 1/4 mile before the bridge.
Howdy Brock! Well now... that is a predicament... lol. Just spitballing here, but some ideas: Add some amber LED strobes to your trailer - they aren't that expensive and really increase your visibility when you have to stop or park on the road. Maybe could have unloaded the tractor, moved the trailer through, then reloaded. Maybe contact the county engineers office and advise them of your concerns. Point out additional signage is needed sooner on the road - preferably at the last intersection before the bridge. Maybe make a statement at a County Commissioners meeting. If it is a State route, file a statement/complaint with the DOT. Remember... squeaky wheel gets the grease. I've had to back my 40' goose neck horse trailer almost an entire mile before because of a blocked railroad crossing, so I feel ya! Good video, thanks for sharing 🤠
Glad you got stopped in time. 2 years ago, I got a fifth wheel RV with a 13'5" clearance needed. Before that, I never even paid much attention to low overpasses. I have been surprised all the more prewarning they give drivers before the low overpass, many instances it's only 30 yards. If it's on a blind turn, it's no wonder people run into the overpasses. I'm also disappointed how many overpasses are not even marked at all with the clearance height. This year while on vacation in another state, I hit a low hanging telephone cable, not a residential service, but a 1 1/4" cable that had previously been torn part way down. It hit around the 10' height on my front cap. Sounded like a gunshot inside the cab. 1 mile up the road set a large boom crane truck with driver still inside. I'm convinced he tore that cable down. Luckily it didn't cause major damage other than a large black mark that I buffed out of the front cap.
I'm glad you made it out of that situation as safely as you could. Hard to believe that the road department hasn't done something to remedy that situation other than posted signs considering that they have equipment that they wouldn't be able to pass through such as snowplows. We have a local railroad overpass that they had to lower the road 2 1/2 feet for the same reason. Good video 👍
I've also seen height signs be wrong because the road was paved over multiple times building up the road and making the clearance much less, but the signs weren't updated.
We have the same kind of low bridge here in Central New York. they have warnings all the way back at he intersection warning about the low bridge, and signs every half mile or so all the way to the bridge, even with flashing yellow lights right over the roadway. dozens of strikes and tickets issued every year to people who strike the bridge.
People don't pay attention most of the time to anything around them, don't matter how many flashing lights, warning signs, etc. that there are, they just keep on going totally oblivious to anything around them, and the height of whatever trailer/load they have. You see several RVs every year where the AC has been ripped off due to people going under low bridges. Yeah, your RV is 9' but that AC is another 10-12 inches higher than the roof line....no worries, bridge will fix that problem for you LOL.
One thing people do is let the air out of the tires on the equipment on the trailer, worse case let some air out of the trailer tires. The problem is you gotta have an air compressor with you to re-inflate the tires. This is a great example of why you need to know the height of your trailer with your equipment on it....and most people don't give it a thought at all. I don't haul my tractor anywhere anymore...I don't have a trailer to do so anymore LOL. But even then if a bridge was low enough to hit my tractor, it would take the roof off the pickup as well LOL...I just have a sub-compact open station tractor so height clearance isn't typically an issue on something like that, and if you didn't have the cab on your tractor it wouldn't be an issue either....the cab adds a lot of height to a tractor that people don't often consider when they have to haul one somewhere.
Glad you got out of a dicey situation. Did you consider letting the air out of the tractor tires? Anyway, there’s a similar situation near my home: road that follows the winding river makes two, 12-foot underpasses beneath railroad tracks that also follow the river. At each is a 90-degree turn to duck under. Numerous fatalities over the years, typically kids drinking. As things now are, there’s plenty of signage and opportunity to turn around before each underpass, in both directions. The jurisdiction that maintains the roads (State? County?) needs to act on the hazard you describe. They probably will, after a multimillion-dollar negligence judgment that demonstrates the value of making the fix they should have made before a tragedy.
Thanks for sharing this. I have never had to even think about this but now I will. I'm going to measure how tall my tractor is, then measure how high my trailer deck is,,, do the math ahead of time so I know! My T574 is open-station,,,, so I can just lower the ROPS if I find myself in that situation
Most people who regularly haul overheight loads use L shaped measuring stick which gets past the trailer overhang, think a simple fix for most people would be to use a 2X4 laid on edge on top of the cab and overhanging the trailer edge would suffice. alternative tractor roof to trailer deck plus trailer deck to ground?😜
If you know your that close you cant risk it. An accident and maybe with another vehicle and youre screwed. Sounds like you did the the nexr best thing here good job.
Question: if you had waved all the cars around you, no cars left behind, couldn't you have lowered the ramps, driven the tractor off, moved the truck and trailer forward under the bridge and then remounted the tractor on the trailer instead of that backup and turnaround?
Definitely an option, some people will deflate the tires on the tractor for clearance, worst would be deflating the tires on the tractor as well as on the trailer to get through....the problem is you gotta have an air compressor to re-inflate the tires afterwards LOL. Unloading/reloading would definitely be quicker, and probably the safer option....but if you know your route and know the low lying bridge is there, you'd have deflated the tires for clearance before leaving your driveway and had a way to re-inflate them when you get to your destination. Most people don't think about clearance issues with a load on a trailer because they drive a little car all week and do the weekend warrior wannabe once or twice a year, so they don't have a clue what the height is on their equipment as it sits on a trailer, or on the back of a truck. Its just something many people don't even give a thought about, until they rip the top off their trailer, rip an AC off their RV, etc.
Glad you're safe Brock. I'm wondering if any of those signs lit up at night? Some sort of flashing lights wouldn't cost that much and would save someones life.
You could've maybe parked on the side road, unloaded the tractor, driven under the bridge up the road, parked in a safe place, driven the tractor under the bridge, and reloaded. It's definitely not easy, but it's possible. Go home a different route.
Got one in the town I work in but not as low happens several times a year can't believe its still in use by the RR and like this one it'd be a bitch to back up from without police assistance
@iffykidmn8170 you should have a sign before the last turn off for sure A sign once you are at the point of no return doesn’t help much. Give people the opportunity to reroute.
The failure here is that the people whose responsibility it is to put up signage failed to put up the proper type and amount of signage that would give drivers the opportunity to change their route or turn around before they got to the place Brock did. Raising the bridge is impractical because it’s a railroad and lowering the road isn’t an option because of the flooding (per signs). There needs to be some kind of phone app or website that can accurately and reliably help drivers with tall vehicles/loads easily plan routes avoiding these bridges. That should be a standard feature in Google/Apple maps. Glad you, your equipment, and the other people on the road are ok.
There are multiple gps apps that allow vehicle height/weight input for route options. I personally have used a Garmin GPS unit that had my vehicle height stored and never had issues while using it. The key is to look for a GPS unit or app designed for trucks. Garmin has a seperate line for trucks & RVs.
A spotter would have been helpful. He could marshal traffic while you backed the tractor off the trailer and pulled them both through to a safe area where you could load back up again. Would'a, could'a, should'a. Twenty-twenty hindsight.
Empty the tires and figure out how to fill them at your destination. May give you the few inches you need. Either way, now you know to find a new route. Sucks that a bridge is that low
I think he has Rim Guard in them maybe, or similar and. They fill those tires pretty hefty where I don't think he could do that, but it is a great idea otherwise. 4 inches is quite a bit though
Unload the tractor, drive the truck and trailer through, come back and get the tractor. On the straightaway of course. Orange cones are handy anytime when driving a truck and unloading in bad locations.
When you stopped at the bridge i would have unloaded the tractor. Moved through and then put the tractor back on. Glad you made it though
We had an incident a few years ago where an excavator sitting on top of a trailer struck a bridge over I96 here in Michigan and damaged it so much that they had to rebuild it and it impacted traffic for almost a year. After that MDOT installed a height clearance alert system where a device alerts the driver of an oversized vehicle if it breaks the beam about 1/4 mile before the bridge.
Howdy Brock! Well now... that is a predicament... lol. Just spitballing here, but some ideas: Add some amber LED strobes to your trailer - they aren't that expensive and really increase your visibility when you have to stop or park on the road. Maybe could have unloaded the tractor, moved the trailer through, then reloaded. Maybe contact the county engineers office and advise them of your concerns. Point out additional signage is needed sooner on the road - preferably at the last intersection before the bridge. Maybe make a statement at a County Commissioners meeting. If it is a State route, file a statement/complaint with the DOT. Remember... squeaky wheel gets the grease. I've had to back my 40' goose neck horse trailer almost an entire mile before because of a blocked railroad crossing, so I feel ya! Good video, thanks for sharing 🤠
You handled that well. Thank you for sharing.
Trip planning is very important. I drive oversize vehicles all the time. And I know my exact height and I always plan my route accordingly.
THANK YOU ‼️ MY OLD MAN DROVE FOR A LIVING AND HE AS WELL DID THE SAME THING. HE HAD MAPS AND ROAD ATLAS ALONG WITH GETTIN ON THE CB.
Fun!😊
Glad made it safely Brok . You and the tractor .
Glad you got stopped in time. 2 years ago, I got a fifth wheel RV with a 13'5" clearance needed. Before that, I never even paid much attention to low overpasses. I have been surprised all the more prewarning they give drivers before the low overpass, many instances it's only 30 yards. If it's on a blind turn, it's no wonder people run into the overpasses. I'm also disappointed how many overpasses are not even marked at all with the clearance height. This year while on vacation in another state, I hit a low hanging telephone cable, not a residential service, but a 1 1/4" cable that had previously been torn part way down. It hit around the 10' height on my front cap. Sounded like a gunshot inside the cab. 1 mile up the road set a large boom crane truck with driver still inside. I'm convinced he tore that cable down. Luckily it didn't cause major damage other than a large black mark that I buffed out of the front cap.
Wow, glad everything turned out alright. Here, they post a warning sign as soon as you turn onto a road, even if the hazard is miles away.
You did good, take a deep breath, luckily all is safe.
I'm glad you made it out of that situation as safely as you could. Hard to believe that the road department hasn't done something to remedy that situation other than posted signs considering that they have equipment that they wouldn't be able to pass through such as snowplows. We have a local railroad overpass that they had to lower the road 2 1/2 feet for the same reason. Good video 👍
Brock, thanks for sharing. As a former bus driver that scares me to think about the situation you described.
I've also seen height signs be wrong because the road was paved over multiple times building up the road and making the clearance much less, but the signs weren't updated.
We have the same kind of low bridge here in Central New York. they have warnings all the way back at he intersection warning about the low bridge, and signs every half mile or so all the way to the bridge, even with flashing yellow lights right over the roadway. dozens of strikes and tickets issued every year to people who strike the bridge.
People don't pay attention most of the time to anything around them, don't matter how many flashing lights, warning signs, etc. that there are, they just keep on going totally oblivious to anything around them, and the height of whatever trailer/load they have. You see several RVs every year where the AC has been ripped off due to people going under low bridges. Yeah, your RV is 9' but that AC is another 10-12 inches higher than the roof line....no worries, bridge will fix that problem for you LOL.
Brock about had the first convertible top tractor.
One thing people do is let the air out of the tires on the equipment on the trailer, worse case let some air out of the trailer tires. The problem is you gotta have an air compressor with you to re-inflate the tires.
This is a great example of why you need to know the height of your trailer with your equipment on it....and most people don't give it a thought at all.
I don't haul my tractor anywhere anymore...I don't have a trailer to do so anymore LOL. But even then if a bridge was low enough to hit my tractor, it would take the roof off the pickup as well LOL...I just have a sub-compact open station tractor so height clearance isn't typically an issue on something like that, and if you didn't have the cab on your tractor it wouldn't be an issue either....the cab adds a lot of height to a tractor that people don't often consider when they have to haul one somewhere.
Now you know the height of the Tractor on the trailer.
Glad you got out of a dicey situation. Did you consider letting the air out of the tractor tires? Anyway, there’s a similar situation near my home: road that follows the winding river makes two, 12-foot underpasses beneath railroad tracks that also follow the river. At each is a 90-degree turn to duck under. Numerous fatalities over the years, typically kids drinking. As things now are, there’s plenty of signage and opportunity to turn around before each underpass, in both directions. The jurisdiction that maintains the roads (State? County?) needs to act on the hazard you describe. They probably will, after a multimillion-dollar negligence judgment that demonstrates the value of making the fix they should have made before a tragedy.
Thanks for sharing this. I have never had to even think about this but now I will. I'm going to measure how tall my tractor is, then measure how high my trailer deck is,,, do the math ahead of time so I know!
My T574 is open-station,,,, so I can just lower the ROPS if I find myself in that situation
Most people who regularly haul overheight loads use L shaped measuring stick which gets past the trailer overhang, think a simple fix for most people would be to use a 2X4 laid on edge on top of the cab and overhanging the trailer edge would suffice. alternative tractor roof to trailer deck plus trailer deck to ground?😜
Winner Rd. Bridge off Independence Ave. in Kansas City, MO been hit more than 100 times since I been aware of it for 60 years.
I’ve seen that bridge hit before, I’ve lived in the area 35 years
If you know your that close you cant risk it. An accident and maybe with another vehicle and youre screwed. Sounds like you did the the nexr best thing here good job.
Question: if you had waved all the cars around you, no cars left behind, couldn't you have lowered the ramps, driven the tractor off, moved the truck and trailer forward under the bridge and then remounted the tractor on the trailer instead of that backup and turnaround?
REALLY!! I agree and 4 cars backed up and no one could see the predicament he was in.
I was thinking the same thing
@@tim1299 People don't care, its all about them, and them only, the hell with anyone else, they're in a hurry to get to starbucks mentality.
Definitely an option, some people will deflate the tires on the tractor for clearance, worst would be deflating the tires on the tractor as well as on the trailer to get through....the problem is you gotta have an air compressor to re-inflate the tires afterwards LOL.
Unloading/reloading would definitely be quicker, and probably the safer option....but if you know your route and know the low lying bridge is there, you'd have deflated the tires for clearance before leaving your driveway and had a way to re-inflate them when you get to your destination.
Most people don't think about clearance issues with a load on a trailer because they drive a little car all week and do the weekend warrior wannabe once or twice a year, so they don't have a clue what the height is on their equipment as it sits on a trailer, or on the back of a truck. Its just something many people don't even give a thought about, until they rip the top off their trailer, rip an AC off their RV, etc.
Glad you're safe Brock. I'm wondering if any of those signs lit up at night? Some sort of flashing lights wouldn't cost that much and would save someones life.
You could've maybe parked on the side road, unloaded the tractor, driven under the bridge up the road, parked in a safe place, driven the tractor under the bridge, and reloaded. It's definitely not easy, but it's possible. Go home a different route.
Morning
Good day sir! 🤠
Let air out of Tractor tires first, then maybe trailer tires. Check for clearance.
About the only thing you can do if you can't backup or turn around.
Got one in the town I work in but not as low happens several times a year can't believe its still in use by the RR and like this one it'd be a bitch to back up from without police assistance
Yea that needs some flashing warning lights qnd maybe even some rumble strips.
It needs more signs and warnings about the bridge
How many more signs? 2-4-6 starting a 1/4-1/2-2 mile back or?.
@iffykidmn8170 you should have a sign before the last turn off for sure
A sign once you are at the point of no return doesn’t help much. Give people the opportunity to reroute.
The failure here is that the people whose responsibility it is to put up signage failed to put up the proper type and amount of signage that would give drivers the opportunity to change their route or turn around before they got to the place Brock did.
Raising the bridge is impractical because it’s a railroad and lowering the road isn’t an option because of the flooding (per signs).
There needs to be some kind of phone app or website that can accurately and reliably help drivers with tall vehicles/loads easily plan routes avoiding these bridges. That should be a standard feature in Google/Apple maps.
Glad you, your equipment, and the other people on the road are ok.
There are multiple gps apps that allow vehicle height/weight input for route options. I personally have used a Garmin GPS unit that had my vehicle height stored and never had issues while using it. The key is to look for a GPS unit or app designed for trucks. Garmin has a seperate line for trucks & RVs.
A spotter would have been helpful. He could marshal traffic while you backed the tractor off the trailer and pulled them both through to a safe area where you could load back up again. Would'a, could'a, should'a. Twenty-twenty hindsight.
Just unload and drive under!
yes it is
518th and loving it
Empty the tires and figure out how to fill them at your destination. May give you the few inches you need. Either way, now you know to find a new route. Sucks that a bridge is that low
I think he has Rim Guard in them maybe, or similar and. They fill those tires pretty hefty where I don't think he could do that, but it is a great idea otherwise.
4 inches is quite a bit though
@ Great point!
9'7" wow
They could lower the road they done that around the us
Pucker level: 11
Maybe you could have taken the tractor off if you couldn’t turn around.
Crazy
First
Damn you beat me
Buy a VENTRAC.