“Still Get Nightmares”: 61 Truckers Open Up About Places They Genuinely Fear

Had a friend who was a trucker for awhile. According to him, the sketchiest runs he ever had to make was restocking a Dollar General in a tiny town which was deeeeeeep in the Appalachians. Apparently every time he stopped there and started unloading, half the town would just gather around and stare at him. Said it felt like something out of Deliverance.

Australian here and not a truckie but anywhere ~300km from the coast gets pretty wild. Nobody around forever, narrow as roads, kangaroos. Those get big, sit on the side of the road watching you approach, then, just as you pass decide to jump in front of you.

The stretch of I-80 in Wyoming. It’s very desolate and the weather is awful. Especially the wind. The speed limit is 80 mph (I think?). Accidents are frequent and bad.

CompetitiveHabit3701:

I-80 through Wyoming. the wind alone has blown trucks completely over. not an exaggeration, there are sections that get shut down multiple times a year because rigs are just tipped on the side of the road.

knefr:

I’ve driven across I80 both directions from the west coast to Ohio about 10 times. I80 through Wyoming is my least favorite part of the whole drive. Seen it in total white out conditions -40f with 50mph winds, and seen it 105*. And I’ve been through when it’s hot as hell when a thunderstorm blows in and the temp drops probably 60* in minutes. And it really does look like the moon - just flat gravel in every direction. There are a few pretty parts. 

In western Wyoming there’s a section where the speed limit goes 80-55-35 really suddenly and at the 35 sign there’s always a dozen police cars sitting there with a bunch of people pulled over. Just a really unforgiving place. Spooky honestly. Always happy to see that Utah or Nebraska sign (yes I80 through Wyoming will make you happy to see Nebraska). 

Colorado (I-70 through the Rockies) – steep grades + tight curves.

One mistake and it’s over.

Bolivia. Ten or so years ago they tested the blood alcohol level of bus drivers starting their long distance journeys. I think close to fifty percent were legally drunk. They believe alcohol helps keep you awake.

Then of course there are the Bolivian mountain highways themselves….

GrimaceThundercock:

Kyrgyzstan was even worse for me.

There are street vendors along major routes selling, amongst other things, vodka. It was extremely common for the driver to take a couple shots every hour.

One time our driver decided he was gonna rest so he had a passenger take the wheel. Driver then proceeded to drink an entire pint of vodka.

Passenger gets lost. Stupid drunk driver takes back over. I didn't have a seatbelt. It was not chill.

Any old guys remember US-20 between Rockford, IL and Dubuque, IA. There was a sign warning you when you started traveling the road and a sign somewhere near Galena that congratulated you for surviving.

unknown:

No shoulders, small lanes and windy blind turns with a lot of truck traffic.

Has to be India surely. By a long way. They amount of fatalities on those roads is crazy!

Honestly surprised not to see Eisenhower Tunnel on this list...

kingbrasky:

That can be so sketchy. You never know what's gonna hit you on the other side of the tunnel. One time in the winter we went in westbound with great weather and came out into nasty sleet and had to white-knuckle it down while engine-braking like no other.

Then there's the million dollar highway by Ouray...I want no part of that except in perfect summer weather. And even then its no picnic.

A few weeks ago I was in Virginia and my trucker GPS took me through Highway 8. Absolutely terrible. Curves, narrow lanes. I was so irritated. I’m like whoever approved this route for a 53 foot trailer deserves to eat a big bag of [feces].

Almost all of these are American comments. Ah well, big country. My cousin's dad trucks across Europe, hates rural roads in eastern countries like Bulgaria and Poland.

Most people here are referencing highways that are well travelled, have cell service, and in many cases, are expressways that happen to be in geographically challenging areas.

The sketchiest paved highway I ever drove, has to be British Columbia 37. Over 350 miles of no cell service, even the largest “town” on the highway doesn’t have cell service. It is not well travelled either as most commercial and passenger traffic uses highway 97 instead. The only traffic there is mining industry traffic, and the occasional tourist. The route is also VERY poorly maintained in the winter (which is when i drove on it). Frost heaves, packed ice, steep grades, frigid temperatures, everything there is against you. If you get stuck or broken down, you have to rely heavily on passing traffic to stop and help, assuming they will come by in a timely fashion.

Two different answers. Houston has the worst traffic for truck drivers in the nation, multiple points are top ten worst in the country. Atlanta is the other one filling up the list.

Second answer is I80 from Iowa west to the Rockies at least. If you don’t have cargo weighing you down the winds can blow you over no problem. I’ve had carriers call to offer free freight to avoid that empty run.

Sketchy areas, Cleveland and Detroit have to be up there. But I absolutely HATE driving my truck on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. It’s narrow and curvy and there aren’t a lot of places you can park for a break.

Wolf Creek Pass.

Quadrature_Strat:

I hit Wolf Creek once at 11PM in a driving snow storm (hardly snowing at all at the bottom). I was in an F250, unloaded, with big tires, so I was just picking my way up at 30 MPH. Out of the snow, we suddenly see lights flashing all over the place. There's an 18 wheeler (with chains) spinning its tires but basically standing still. They have a snow plow chained to it, and the snow plow is trying to pull the 18 wheeler up, and it too is spinning it's tires. There's this poor cop outside his car behind this disaster with his light on. I pull up beside him and roll down my window. "Anything I can do here?" He says, "No, we do this every night. Just pull around."

Stopped in northern Idaho for gas on a roadtrip. Creepy "sundown town" vibes if you are not white.....

Interstate 70 in western Indiana.

Ggeunther:

I don't know how anyone can drive that stretch of I 70 often. We just came over it yesterday, and it is almost beyond description.

-The road surface is HORRIBLE. The state road crews have obviously forgotten this road is still there. It hasn't seen a new coat of surface since the 60's.

-Once outside Indy, the road returns to two lanes, both of which are completely filled with truckers trying to make a living. They are being thwarted by throngs of drivers who have no business driving at any speed over a fast walk. They will tailgate for miles, looking to cut off the drivers to gain 100 yards of distance. They will park in the fast lane for hours, or until they decide at 50 feet from an exit ramp that they need to pee or get fuel.

-For a road that has such a bad surface, there is a crazy amount of construction on this road. I think they decide which area is the smoothest, and then decide to cut some holes in it, fill those holes with some terrible patch, that will be a smooth as a washboard in a few days.

-The state knows this is a problem, as most of the politicians don't live in Indy, and have to leave by highway, I assume.

-The state police patrol this area incessantly, looking for brave souls who are willing to destroy their autos, by driving over the speed limit on what is basically a gravel road. They wouldn't think of calling in a pothole the size of a compact car, or removing a 'gator' when a retread disintegrates on these wagon ruts, but they will certainly sit in the middle of the highway, slowing traffic and causing the car drivers to stand on their brakes. This causes a back up for a dozen miles.

by the way, this road condition exists on both sides of Indy, east and west, on I 70. It is a disgrace.

The South had the worst drivers in my experience. Its a mix of crazy hyper aggressive drivers and ultra slow ultra hesitant drivers. Thats a catastrophic mix.

I am a local driver who generally drives Alabama, Georgia & Mississippi area. Nearly everyday there are major wrecks.

Im originally from Illinois been here 11 years next month.

Genuinely never seen so many daylight dry condition single car wrecks in my life. Actually got stuck behind one of those ultra hesitant drivers Tues morning rush hour, they got onto I65 doing 15 mph, which made it incredibly unsafe for me to merge at same speed, as car whizzed by doing 60 to 70 mph.

Easy St Louis, Illinois

Used to work as a delivery driver for Fleet Pride in St Louis, MO and had to drive through Easy St. Louis everyday and it felt like I was in a post apocalyptic world. Sad reality for those living over there.

I80 east of Reno, NV. They built the largest industrial park in the world, but didn’t widen the highway. Traffic is a joke. Everyone drives like an idiot. I have never seen so many people pass on a shoulder. In the winter, I80 west of Reno over the Sierras. I don’t know how anyone from the Donner party survived a winter up there.

I’ve always heard nightmare stuff about the Barstow/Needles area.

madsci:

Barstow's a weird place. It's one of those cities that can only exist because it's a major crossroads, but it's a crossroads in the middle of nowhere. Not many people go to Barstow for the sake of being in Barstow.

I've actually spent three weekends in Barstow, but only because of an annual search and rescue symposium.