[jonp]

Thursday night I was woken up about 0330 by the feeling that everyone hates to have. It was the feeling of my truck rocking back and forth with a crunching noise. Only means one thing: someone was hitting my rig. I opened my curtains and sure enough a guy was pulling out of the slot next to me going right and the backend of his trailer swung out and was going down my passenger fender. I hollered on the cb but he kept going. From the 2mph he was going I figured he had no idea he hit me so I threw on my pants and boots and followed him to the fuel pumps where he stopped. Told him he hit me and at first he didnt believe it but I showed him the white paint on the back corner of his trailer and then we walked to my truck and there was the headlight piece on the ground with the fender all scraped up. He apologized, we called the cops and got it all taken care of. \he admitted to doing it, signed the form talking responsibility for it and that was that.

The thing is - he was being guided out of the slot by another driver because it was very tight. The other driver was watching the passenger blindside for him and never paid attention to the trailer swing on his drivers side. That guy saw the truck hit me and instead of waiting around to be a witness got in his truck and took off. I wondered as i was walking to the fuel pumps to get the guy why a truck was going out the entrance in 5th gear.

Anyone else been hit in a truckstop?

[GMAN]

I have been hit twice at a truck stop. It was the same truck, different truck stops and the second time was 6 weeks from the first time. In more than 35 years since I first started driving this is the first (and second) time that I have had anyone hit my truck. The first time was at a Flying J near Merced, California. A guy backed in next to my truck pulled out and pulled my hood off along with my front bumper. Total damage came to about $7,200. He moved to the back of the truck stop and pulled in. Fortunately, another trucker saw him. We found the guy and he first denied hitting me. Once I pointed out that my paint was on his white trailer and his white paint was on what was left of my hood he finally admitted it and later his company paid up. On my first trip out of the body shop I again went to California. On my way back I stopped at the Flying J in Joplin, Missouri to get something to drink. As I was pulling around the parking lot a guy backs out of a parking spot and runs into the other side of my truck doing almost the identical damage to my truck except this time it was on the passenger side. There was no need for him to deny hitting me as there were plenty of witnesses and my truck was blocking his from going anywhere. Total damage was just over $6,800. I had a difficult time settling with his insurance company. Hopefully, this is the last time that anyone will hit my truck.

[Sabine]

At the TA in Breezewood, PA, several years ago, before Idle Aire, when the parking spots still faced the truck stop building. We were parked in the morning, after delivering and had till the next day before we had to reload.

Nicely tucked in, late at night, truck not running, just a pretty night, all snuggled up to my sweetie, I got woke up by the truck just a rolling and shaking. Peak out of the curtain to see Werner pulling out, apparently forgetting about the trailer he was hooked up to.

Got up, and now remember the snuggling part, kinda naked, started the truck, and sat, still naked waiting for the air to build up, which conveniently had leaked out after being parked all day.

Yelling at my honey, who slept like the dead, that I need a shirt, anything, which he just couldn't comprehend. Finally got the air built up, got a shirt and chased Werner down, thank God only to the Fuel Island.

Hubby finally got what happened and put some clothes on himself, while I slunk into the sleeper, to solve my clothing problems.

Of course, Werner just didn't think he hit us, never mind the overwhelming evidence. Finally got things cleared up. Of course it took a year to collect all the money from them. They paid for the parts, but not the labor and paint. It took me writing a bunch of increasingly angry letters to anyone in that company whose name I could find to finally collect.


Another time, at a Love's in Arkansas, I saw a driver hit someone else, he did it right in front of me. So, I found the driver of the trailer he hit, and this guy who was driving the bumper truck started to threaten me. Big black man, well over six feet tall, to my 5 foot 6. Inside the truck stop, called me all the names in the book for white beeoch, and then some I never heard, because.....he did not hit that trailer, no matter what I thought I saw. It all worked out, but that guy scared me.

[VitoCorleone99]

At the Pilot on the west side of Atlanta a few days ago. After doing my business in the john, I came out to find a little convention of onlookers forming around the front of my truck.

Witnesses? Yep, two. Useful witnesses? Nope, none. One guy saw that the driver was a black fella. I don't know how often many of you are in Atlanta, but yeah, there are a few black fellas. The other guy said that the truck was a US Xpress truck. I don't know how often many of you are in Atlanta, but yeah, there are a few US Xpress trucks. Nobody got any numbers or anything like that, so I had a standard hit and run kind of deal.

Fortunately the bumper wasn't pushed all the way against the tire so I was able to drive the last few miles to my drop and then down to a Kenworth dealer. Unfortunately I lost my pre-planned load picking up the following morning and wound up with a lousy week.

I was a witness to one almost identical to the original post in this thread not too long ago in Tennessee. I was having trouble sleeping so I was chilling out and smoking a cigar. A guy came out of a spot across from me and cut it hard to his right, completely wrecking the side of a Swiftie with his tail swing. That's a bummer of a wake-up call at 4am.

[dodgeboy90501]

It happened to me twice, the first one was at the Oklahoma T/A. It was at night and I was sleeping when I felt my truck rock back and forth, I got up and looked out the curtian to notice a Schnieder was backing in and had hit my driver side fender, the thing that got me, he had his partner guiding him back. The second time I was at the Petro in Corning, Ca. I went in to take a shower and get something to eat upon coming back the truck to find that half my bumper had been ripped off. After a little investigation, I found out who did it. Everything was taken care of after that.

[BobBski]

Only been hit once. Las Vegas TA, was getting stuff together for a weekend on the town and all the sudden my truck bounced enough to knock me off my feet and onto the bunk. The driver hit me square on the right front headlight with his trailer while backing into the empty slot beside him. He then proceeded to drive off but was stopped by a couple other drivers before I caught up to him. Ruined a nice time off in Vegas.

[BigWheels]

Truckstop--no; Sears dock--yes.

A few weeks ago I was doing paperwork after picking up some pallets. The local driver next to me pulled out and turned too early and crunched my passenger mirror. I had to hit the air horn to get the guy to stop. He didn't think he hit anything ("I thought I swung wide enough to miss you.") but fessed up when I showed him the mirror. Thankfully, the mirror didn't break and I was able to bend it back into place. No harm, no foul.

Can't imagine waking up out of a dead sleep at a truck stop in the wee hours of the morning and be bouncing all around. And then it's not like you can just start leaning on your air horn to alert the driver that he just hit you!

[Colin]

Busy Friday night in North Platte, backing into a spot at the Flying J on the exit row.

I managed to get most of the rig into the spot but had 8 or 10 feet left sticking out beyond the noses in the rest of the row due to being kattywompus in the spot. I stopped to wait for the trucks to pas who were waiting behind me before pulling up and get straightened out.

As I waited for room to pull up, one truck decided to make a second lane between me and the trucks waiting to leave. He apparently was going to loop around for a hopefully empty spot. As he passed by, there was plenty of room, but he drifted towards me and caught my grill with the last 20 feet of his trailer. Very slight damage, but he stopped. As I sat dumbfounded listening to the cb chatter ("Did you just see that guy hit the JB truck?"), he took off. BAM. IIRC, I saw no markings on the trailer for identification.

The state troopers caught him a few miles away and escorted his ass back to fill out the paperwork. Nothing ever happened to my job for it, they never repaired the grill.

Other incident is quick. Parked at the J in South Indy getting close to bedtime, chatting on the phone. I felt a slight bump. Hopped out to find a driverless 10 wheel (2 axle for you people in PA, but there are clearly 3 axles...) dump truck up against the trailer bumper. WTF? Driver sitting in his seat in the next spot saw the whole thing. Apparently, the dump truck driver parked, set the brakes (witness heard the springs set) and went inside. A couple minutes later, bam, the truck hits my trailer. No damage, so I sent the guy on his way. :thumbsup:

[Uturn2001]

Only got hit once. Was at the TA in Mt Vernon, IL doing my pre-trip and washing my windows and mirrors while I was at it, at about 4 am. I had just stepped down off the running board on the drivers side when my truck started sliding towards the truck parked next to me. Not wanting to get squished I dove under the trailer and when I came out there was a Werner truck backing away from my rig. He didn't swing wide enough coming around the corner and caught my hood with his trailer, though to be fair all the curb nappers made it very hard for anyone to make that turn. Thinking he was going to run I grabbed a pen out of my pocket and started writing down all his truck info but before I could even get the truck number down he was out of the truck with all his info and his phone talking to the police.

He stuck around and helped clean up the mess, bungee up my bumper and everything and apologized a hundred times.

What really sucked and why I will always remember that day was it was the day my youngest was born. I had planned on picking up a load in St Louis and dropping it in the yard there and dead heading home but because of the damage I ended up having to take the load and truck to the KC terminal and then go home.

[Windwalker]

What I considered to be nearly unbelievable was at the Petro just south of MI in Fremont, IN. An O/O with a bobtail backed into the front of a J B Hunt while the driver and his wife were inside taking a shower. No, he didn't drive off. I even blew my air-horn before he hit, and he didn't stop. I have no idea just what he was thinking of. Fortunately, all he did was scrap a little paint. Didn't dent anything. But, it's a bit easier to understand backing into something that is behind your trailer... How don't you see it with a bobtail?