Big truck gets stuck in Zion tunnel; driver blames GPS

OK, OK, Y'All... It was a goof. Which, as some posters have iterated, happens. Just be aware: Karma remembers EVERYTHING... Especially those of you who're laughing and pointing at the poor schlub!

But that's just me.

FYI: This is exactly the reason I GoogleStreetView anything and everything that isn't Interstate Standard. Saved me from a nightmare situation in Pennsylvania Dutch Country on a picturesque rural road! (We did, eventually, traverse it in the toad.) From the Wikipedia page :
"Interstate Higway Standards":

"Vertical clearance: Minimum vertical clearance under overhead structures (including over the paved shoulders) of 16 feet (4.9 m) in rural areas and 14 feet (4.3 m) in urban areas, with allowance for extra layers of pavement. Through urban areas at least one routing should have 16-foot (4.9 m) clearances. Sign supports and pedestrian overpasses must be at least 17 feet (5.2 m) above the road, except on urban routes with lesser clearance, where they should be at least 1 foot (30 cm) higher than other objects."

In essence, watch out for urban areas where clearances are 14' (if YOU are taller than that)... and adhere to my sig line. :B

Golden_HVAC wrote:
The funny thing is that he should have been able to back up, and move closer to the center, and keep going! I drove a 12' tall Country Coach through the tunnel around 2010, and it fit just fine! I was going down the middle with the lanes closed except my direction.

I hope they did not do to much damage. I wonder if they used a pavement grinding machine, if they could grind away about 3' of the mountain, then lay down a new layer of 12" blacktop, and have a new lower finished floor to the tunnel!

It should not be as expensive as blocking traffic for another 2 years!

Fred.

Ya but his was several hours after the tunnel controllers quit for the day. This, no big rigs after that time, 2-way traffic.

The truckers road atlas marks all semi routes bright orange and it also has a table for each state showing height restriction locations for all truck routes. I always check this atlas before trying a new route. And I would never be without my 7" GPS going down the road. There have been a few times when I had a very strong urge to duck just before a low bridge but the truck atlas has never let me down yet.

Hey it Christmas. He just screwed up. It happens to all of us.

Rand-McNally publishes a trucker's atlas annually. And there's always the Mountain Directory East and Mountain directory West books. They are now selling EBooks with the same information.
But neither one will help if you don't read them.
I'm more concerned about the demise of Streets and Trips. I use it to plan my trips. But I don't buy a new version every year. Probably why Microsoft is going to stop publishing it. I bet somebody will pick it up, at least in EBook form.

In my professional life I knew a guy with a CDL who drove semis coast to coast, but he was functionally illiterate -- literally could not read road signs. He compensated by memorizing all the turns on his 2500 mile route! It wasn't stupidity, but it sure was a reading disability. Scary and inspiring at the same time.

Drbolasky wrote:
"The driver stated that he was new to the area, that his GPS led him on this route, and that he followed another vehicle through the entrance station without noticing the signs, the statement said. "

I have a hard time with this kind of rationalization. The driver is supposed to be a professional, which means you plan ahead; there are plenty of resources available to those that drive for a living. GPS is no substitute for planning. Didn't notice the signs? Then he doesn't belong behind the wheel.

Mathematically speaking half of all drivers on the road are below average and that includes the so-called professional drivers. Certainly the one who drove his 18-wheeler up the back of my RV a few years ago was in the bottom half of the professionals. And he did it in broad daylight without the help of a GPS and in his home territory to boot!

You can't trust just the GPS. We use the new model Rand that has our height entered. It is not suppose to allow us to route anywhere there is a bridge 13'5" or less.

On one occasion this year, in the state of Washington, it allowed us on a route below our height restriction. It was a RR overpass in a city while routing us to a CG. It has warned us on many other routes because I have tested it when not pulling fiver.

This is why I always check for low clearance issues using my Truckers Atlas the night before heading out. I got lazy a couple of times and almost paid the price.

Yup, rollnhome, you can't fix stupid !

"The driver stated that he was new to the area, that his GPS led him on this route, and that he followed another vehicle through the entrance station without noticing the signs, the statement said. "

I have a hard time with this kind of rationalization. The driver is supposed to be a professional, which means you plan ahead; there are plenty of resources available to those that drive for a living. GPS is no substitute for planning. Didn't notice the signs? Then he doesn't belong behind the wheel.