A semi-truck sheared the top off its trailer as it went under a CSX Overpass on I-40 in Nashville.
Tennessean and Redditor /u/Outrageous-File-3877 posted up shocking dashcam to the /r/IdiotsInCars subreddit from Nashville from earlier this week (Oct 10, 2024) showing an unprepared semi driver shear the top off his trailer as he made his way under an I-40 CSX Overpass.
Check out his dashcam footage below.
[OC] just a little off the top
byu/Outrageous-File-3877 inIdiotsInCars
The incident happened on Interstate 40 near the I-24 split in South Nashville (Exact location on Google Maps linked here.)
As his dashcam footage shows, /u/Outrageous-File-3877 is driving in the middle lane as he approaches the CSX Overpass.
Coming up on his left in the fast lane is a semi-truck driver towing a yellow trailer with an oversized load banner draped on the bottom bumper.
We see the trailer hit the top of the first two overpasses, shaving a bit off the top as a sprinkling of wood showers down upon drivers nearby.
The last overpass proved too low as a good chunk of the trailer was sheared off sending chunks and shards of wood raining down onto the interstate.
“The driver ended up stopping about half a mile down the road.”
This is not the first time a semi-truck’s load has hit this particular overpass as of late.
According to The Tennessean, a semi-truck hit the same overpass five months ago (May 12, 2024) causing traffic to be diverted as the resulting trailer debris necessitated an offloading of the full load.
It’s not clear what the minimum clearance for this overpass is but, according to the Tennessee Department of Transportation, this overpass not being listed on their list of vertical clearances most likely means the minimum clearance is at least 14′-6″.
“1 Bridge 2 Bridge 3 Bridge Fired!,” /u/WhatsMyNameAgain1701 commented.
“2 outta 3 ain’t bad – Meatloaf,” /u/Randall_Flagg5 humorously commented.
“It’s like the onion of poor spatial awareness. One layer, another, and a third…and he keeps on driving, still!” /u/SjalabailsWoWs added.
As /u/RunsWithPremise, someone who purports to deal with oversize hauling regularly, this is a result of poor route planning, the State DOT is partially at fault.
“First, your route is predetermined by the state DOT. You submit your route for permitting and they tell you where you can and cannot go based upon your height, width, and length. If this driver was on his permitted route, in some capacity, it is not his fault.”
/u/RunsWithPremise links to a local, crowd-sourced route planner that maps out obstacles beyond minimum clearances that oversized haulers might face.
As oversized loads are particularly expensive, this is an oversight in minimum clearances that’ll cost an arm and a leg to make all involved parties whole.
