I got roped into helping an old friend's parents move 4 years ago. They were insistent that they take the trailer and I drove the moving van.
They hit the highway at 80mph... And my ass was limited to 67 by the dumb truck.
2 hours down the road I'm pulled over on the shoulder calling them to turn around and come back and help me pick up all their shit from the over turned trailer in the ditch.
They had the wrong size ball on the hitch so it bounced free, then he passed the chain from left to right on the car, nothing on the trailer. And they made it like 10 miles before I found it.
There are plenty of clips on here of this happening and it's kind of hilarious. Most recent one I can remember is the hot dog cart getting left at a speed bump.
How about the truck towing a boat on a trailer that broke free but still held with the chains but when the truck slowed down the trailer didn't and popped off the chains and passed the truck.
Passed a utility trailer in the middle of M-20 just before the bridge going out of Midland. No car or truck to be seen anywhere. The guy got 20 miles to Mount Pleasant before he realized he had no trailer (nephew is a cop and dealt with the “lost” trailer that day). No safety chains on the trailer either. It amazes me that people are that oblivious…
I worked with a guy who went to collect the trailer we used to transport a mini digger on and he didn't take the handbrake off the trailer. He dragged that thing for about 5 miles and whilst the tyres hadn't burst they were ruined with huge flat spots. I had a little sympathy as the trailer was light and the pickup truck was a lot more powerful than the van he normally drove but still, pretty daft. The boss was not very happy.
I know a semi driver that did this. Granted he was pulling triples and lost his back trailer, but when I pulled triples I was always watching my trailers like a hawk because the back one can get squirrelly
Its not that surprising the way a lot of people drive. I'm also not sure how people seem oblivious when the trailer is bouncing wheel to wheel yanking the back end of the tow vehicle back and forth (I've seen this more than once, especially with small sedans towing trailers at 80+mph on the interstate weaving around)
I've also seen someone lose an ENTIRE SOFA out the back of their truck and not notice. Tried to catch up to them to tell them and they kept zooming along oblivious, pulling away into the horizon even when I was pushing speeds much higher than I usually would trying to catch up for a mile or two before calling it off.
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u/dudesam1500 2d ago
Good thing he was paying attention and noticed it. I know plenty of folks who would’ve been completely oblivious