For many of us, a late-night drive might mean the occasional pothole, wreckless motorist, roadblock or wandering animal. But for truckers, who spend endless hours on remote roads, crossing lonely deserts or dense forests, the darkness can hold far stranger and scarier surprises. At times, it may even feel less like a job and more like a horror movie waiting to unfold.
Long-haul truck drivers are the true night watchmen. Many have seen it all, from bizarre roadside rituals, to horrific accidents, haunting hitchhikers and more. Someone asked truckers online, "What is something you have witnessed driving at night that gave you chills?" and no less than 2,000 comments came rolling in.
Bored Panda has put together list of our personal favorites for you to scroll through ahead of your next long, road trip. So fasten your seatbelt, dim the dashboard lights and lock the doors. Prepare for an epic journey of tales from truckers who've had their last nerve tested while working the night shift. We also delve into some of the dangers that come with being a truck driver. You'll find that info between the images.
#1
Not something I’ve witnessed but happened to me. I was driving down Hells Pass in British Columbia in the winter when my truck started to jackknife. The cab was right up against the trailer and I was being pushed down the hill sideways.
7-10% grade. I managed to use the trailer brake to bring cab back around and bring the truck to a safe stop but still scary as hell.
7-10% grade. I managed to use the trailer brake to bring cab back around and bring the truck to a safe stop but still scary as hell.
31points
Truckers face their fair share of hazards at work. Truck driving is actually considered one of the most dangerous jobs in the United States.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, truck drivers and other transportation workers rank among the highest in fatalities of all private sector employees. 823 heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers lost their lives while working in 2023. Most of these were due to accidents or incidents on the road. 7% were the result of contact incidents, while 6% were caused by exposure to harmful substances/environments.
#2
In the 90s I lived in a logging camp in northern British Columbia. It was a big one made up of trailers and had about 300 people living there including families.
I drove a water truck on weekends when the camp was on days off. When driving on logging roads you radio your kilometer markings with the name of the road to avoid collisions. "Empty on Windfall 10" to say you were 10 clicks on the Windfall road heading away from camp and "Loaded on Windfall 10" to say you were coming back.
Anyways, being a weekend I didn't expect anyone to be hanging around except a skeleton crew. I had no idea that there was a kids birthday party up on the top end of the windfall road. Its beautiful up there with a clear landing and a pond, so why not. The family hired two clowns from a nearby town for the kids. Apparently the clowns wrapped up their show and were heading back to camp but they were not using the radio. I'm on the road in a big water truck doing 50 kh and they come bombing around a corner doing 50 kh in a clown car and we almost collide. I blasted the horn as this car with a plastic star on its roof goes whipping by with two screaming clowns inside and I could just not figure out what the heck had just happened.
I drove a water truck on weekends when the camp was on days off. When driving on logging roads you radio your kilometer markings with the name of the road to avoid collisions. "Empty on Windfall 10" to say you were 10 clicks on the Windfall road heading away from camp and "Loaded on Windfall 10" to say you were coming back.
Anyways, being a weekend I didn't expect anyone to be hanging around except a skeleton crew. I had no idea that there was a kids birthday party up on the top end of the windfall road. Its beautiful up there with a clear landing and a pond, so why not. The family hired two clowns from a nearby town for the kids. Apparently the clowns wrapped up their show and were heading back to camp but they were not using the radio. I'm on the road in a big water truck doing 50 kh and they come bombing around a corner doing 50 kh in a clown car and we almost collide. I blasted the horn as this car with a plastic star on its roof goes whipping by with two screaming clowns inside and I could just not figure out what the heck had just happened.
21points
#3
I've posted this before, but the most frightened I have been driving a truck was going over Donner Pass one night on I 80 toward Sacramento. I had stopped in Reno and checked weather reports. It was early May or late April, cant remember now, but there was still a chance of bad road conditions up there. The weather reports called for light snow flurries and the CA DOT site said chain laws were not in effect, so I went on my way.
I got up to the top and suddenly the sky just dumped a blizzard. It was almost total white out conditions and I was past the chain up areas and the rest areas with no real safe place to stop. I could just barely make out the tracks of the truck ahead of me and I slowly followed those, praying that he did not run off the road.
The worst thing about it, the wind was blowing, making the snow swirl violently in my vision. That caused me to experience this weird vertigo, I have only experienced like that, that one time. I began to feel like my body was losing which way was up.
Fortunately it dd not last very long. I got down to a lower elevation and it suddenly became heavy rain. I was never so happy to see a rain storm on a mountain that I can remember.
I got up to the top and suddenly the sky just dumped a blizzard. It was almost total white out conditions and I was past the chain up areas and the rest areas with no real safe place to stop. I could just barely make out the tracks of the truck ahead of me and I slowly followed those, praying that he did not run off the road.
The worst thing about it, the wind was blowing, making the snow swirl violently in my vision. That caused me to experience this weird vertigo, I have only experienced like that, that one time. I began to feel like my body was losing which way was up.
Fortunately it dd not last very long. I got down to a lower elevation and it suddenly became heavy rain. I was never so happy to see a rain storm on a mountain that I can remember.
Report
21points
Apart from fatal accidents or incidents, truckers are also at risk of various injuries while driving, unloading, preparing or inspecting their vehicles. These include strains and sprains, fractures, cuts and lacerations, ergonomic injuries (soreness and pain) and multiple traumatic injuries.
"Many truckers have to double as field mechanics," explains the safeopedia site. "When their rig runs into some minor trouble and there’s no truck mechanic for miles, it’s often up to them to diagnose the issue and get the truck up and running again."
#4
My dad used to drive for a commercial grocery store back in the day, this was probably around 1975-80. The route he drove took him past a hospital for the mentally ill. Apparently the place wasn't known for its security because my dad said he would pass people walking on the road in varying levels of nudity. He said he would see about one or two escaped patients a week and eventually it became a pretty normal thing. He told me the creepiest part is sometimes they would look at the headlights the way a deer or wild animal would and he was terrified that one day they would just run out in front of the truck. They never did though... just stared and watched him drive by.
Report
18points
#5
That happened a long time ago to my grandfather’s friend. That friend was an experienced trucker and was kinda training a younger one, taking him to where he went.
So, it’s mid-winter and they are driving through a snow desert stretching for as far as eye can see. It’s middle of nowhere and there was not a soul for literally hundreds of kilometers around.
I should’ve clarified that story is taking place in the Soviet Union somewhere near Omsk back in the 60s. This means there was practically no traffic whatsoever, because car ownership was very limited at the time. A trucker could drive for hundreds of miles without seeing a single car.
While they were driving an immense blizzard hit them reducing the visibility to 1 meter max. They kept on driving until they went off the road and got stuck in the snow. Again with no passing cars, their situation was desperate. There was little food, no heating, no other supplies and the blizzard could potentially continue for days.
After 6 hours of, what I imagine was a very uneasy waiting, the fear and panic took the better of the young and inexperienced fellow. He insisted they should walk along the road and try to find help. Keep in mind, there were no towns or cities for hundreds of miles around. The older fellow tells him to calm down and wait.
The lad, however was extremely nervous and they began to argue. It escalated and the younger one grabbed a wrench. My grandfather’s friend had a knife in his hand, but decided not to risk it. His partner got out of the truck, barely even opening the door and stumbled away, knee deep in snow.
My grandfather’s mate waited there for another day and in the morning he was rescued by the military, who were sent to look for them guessing that they got stuck in the snow most likely. He and a group of soldiers left the truck there and continued along the road since the help came from the truckers’ starting point (point A). The other fellow went towards their destination (point B). In a few kilometers my grandfather’s friend saw a small black object, barely visible in the sea of white. His heart stopped because he was guessing what this was.
He yelled at the soldiers to stop the car. Upon inspection, buried in the snow was his young partner. The black object was his cap which could easily have been missed so deep was he buried in the snow. The body was sat upright frozen and rigid as stone. The trucker told my grandfather that the cold has perfectly captured the expression of profound despair and horror on the young and boyish face of the lad. That fellow blamed himself for the rest of his life for not stopping him, for failing to convince him to stay.
Please pardon my English. Just wanted to share this one.
So, it’s mid-winter and they are driving through a snow desert stretching for as far as eye can see. It’s middle of nowhere and there was not a soul for literally hundreds of kilometers around.
I should’ve clarified that story is taking place in the Soviet Union somewhere near Omsk back in the 60s. This means there was practically no traffic whatsoever, because car ownership was very limited at the time. A trucker could drive for hundreds of miles without seeing a single car.
While they were driving an immense blizzard hit them reducing the visibility to 1 meter max. They kept on driving until they went off the road and got stuck in the snow. Again with no passing cars, their situation was desperate. There was little food, no heating, no other supplies and the blizzard could potentially continue for days.
After 6 hours of, what I imagine was a very uneasy waiting, the fear and panic took the better of the young and inexperienced fellow. He insisted they should walk along the road and try to find help. Keep in mind, there were no towns or cities for hundreds of miles around. The older fellow tells him to calm down and wait.
The lad, however was extremely nervous and they began to argue. It escalated and the younger one grabbed a wrench. My grandfather’s friend had a knife in his hand, but decided not to risk it. His partner got out of the truck, barely even opening the door and stumbled away, knee deep in snow.
My grandfather’s mate waited there for another day and in the morning he was rescued by the military, who were sent to look for them guessing that they got stuck in the snow most likely. He and a group of soldiers left the truck there and continued along the road since the help came from the truckers’ starting point (point A). The other fellow went towards their destination (point B). In a few kilometers my grandfather’s friend saw a small black object, barely visible in the sea of white. His heart stopped because he was guessing what this was.
He yelled at the soldiers to stop the car. Upon inspection, buried in the snow was his young partner. The black object was his cap which could easily have been missed so deep was he buried in the snow. The body was sat upright frozen and rigid as stone. The trucker told my grandfather that the cold has perfectly captured the expression of profound despair and horror on the young and boyish face of the lad. That fellow blamed himself for the rest of his life for not stopping him, for failing to convince him to stay.
Please pardon my English. Just wanted to share this one.
Report
14points
#6
A friend who is a truck driver told me this one. He was driving through the edge of some bushland on his way back to Perth, Western Australia when he hit a kangaroo. He stopped the truck, grabbed his knife (in case he needed to dispatch it), his flashlight, and got out. He went over to the kangaroo. It needed to be dispatched, as it was alive and in immense pain, but he got this weird feeling that he was being watched. He flashed his light around and saw dozens of pairs of red eyes watching him. The whole mob of kangaroos was just standing there watching him end the life of one of their mates (kangaroos have red eyeshine). He quickly dispatched the kangaroo, bolted back to his truck, and took off. He said it was the creepiest thing he had ever seen on the road.
Report
12points
When truck drivers are fixing their vehicles, they're not only at risk of getting hit by cars speeding past them. But also of falling and slipping, or even being injured while bending down, or getting in uncomfortable positions, in order to get under the truck or reach different components of the vehicle.
And if you think about how massive the trucks are, it's no surprise that getting in and out of one can also pose a safety hazard. "The doors aren’t close to the ground,” notes safeopedia.com. "And although there is a step to assist the driver, it doesn’t entirely eliminate the risk. Climbing into the cab or getting down from it can still result in an injurious fall."
#7
My dad is a trucker and one night as he was taking a nap he woke up and saw someone looking through the front window watching him. He was on a bed in the back and got startled. Then he noticed the window was open a little bit because it was in the middle of summer in australia and saw this strangers hand reach for the keys to unlock the car. My dad yelled at him and scared him away and drove home immediately.
Report
11points
#8
My buddy is a trucker. He was stopped at this rest stop somewhere in Ohio. He was outside of his truck checking something near the rear trailer wheels. A car pulled upside him and the driver rolled his window down. The driver was a middle aged male and creepily asked my buddy if he wanted to have a good time. My buddy responded “nah, leave me alone”. The guy driving the car sped off. Around 2 hours later, my buddy went back outside to check something near the rear wheels again. As he was bent down, he heard this car approaching quickly. It was the same man he encountered earlier. The man attempted to hit my friend with his car (at probably 25mph) but was unsuccessful as my friend jumped under the trailer. The driver of the car stopped about 30 ft from the trailer and put his car in reverse. As he began to back up, my buddy grabbed his tire iron and threw it at the car. The tire iron smashed through the rear window of the car. The driver sped off immediately. My buddy didn’t get a plate number or great description of the vehicle or guy as it all happened at night. He was upset that he lost his tire iron though.
10points
#9
Where do you want me to start! I'll stick with a story from when I was straight and sober...
Coming back from Kununurra (very northern town in Western Australia) to Perth one night. Seen no one else on the road for hours, but every now and then, on a long straight, I could see a set of tail lights in the distance. All of a sudden, there's the tail lights, attached to a trailer that's stopped in the middle of the road. I slammed on the brakes and swerved around it, and that's when i realised that the truck, towing 3 trailers had run off the road into the only large tree for miles.
I pulled forwards, off the road, and jumped out. My co-driver (who'd been asleep, but got thrown out of the bunk when I slammed on the brakes) was already calling emergency services. As I got to the back of my 3rd trailer, wisps of smoke started from under the cab of the Volvo wrapped around the tree. I raced back, grabbed a fire extinguisher and was running towards the wreck when I heard a groan from the ditch, about 10 metres in front of the wreck. The driver had been thrown clean through the windscreen, and while he was an absolute mess, at least he was alive. The Volvo was, by now, in flames. But that just gave me some light to inspect old mate for injuries.
And then I heard the sound that, even now, tears me to the core. A thin, high pitched squeal, gradually progressing into the most soul piercing scream I've ever heard. His co-driver had also been asleep in the bunk. And with the truck wrapped around the tree, he was stuck. And I hadn't thought to fight the fire. And now some poor dude was burning, trapped in a steel coffin, while I just collapsed. Impotent and broken.
I still drive trucks now. It's my life. It's cost me several relationships and a marriage, but I don't know anything else that I can do. I love the life, I love the freedom, and I always know that I can lose everything in the blink of an eye. But I never again, and never will, drive as a two-up team.
Coming back from Kununurra (very northern town in Western Australia) to Perth one night. Seen no one else on the road for hours, but every now and then, on a long straight, I could see a set of tail lights in the distance. All of a sudden, there's the tail lights, attached to a trailer that's stopped in the middle of the road. I slammed on the brakes and swerved around it, and that's when i realised that the truck, towing 3 trailers had run off the road into the only large tree for miles.
I pulled forwards, off the road, and jumped out. My co-driver (who'd been asleep, but got thrown out of the bunk when I slammed on the brakes) was already calling emergency services. As I got to the back of my 3rd trailer, wisps of smoke started from under the cab of the Volvo wrapped around the tree. I raced back, grabbed a fire extinguisher and was running towards the wreck when I heard a groan from the ditch, about 10 metres in front of the wreck. The driver had been thrown clean through the windscreen, and while he was an absolute mess, at least he was alive. The Volvo was, by now, in flames. But that just gave me some light to inspect old mate for injuries.
And then I heard the sound that, even now, tears me to the core. A thin, high pitched squeal, gradually progressing into the most soul piercing scream I've ever heard. His co-driver had also been asleep in the bunk. And with the truck wrapped around the tree, he was stuck. And I hadn't thought to fight the fire. And now some poor dude was burning, trapped in a steel coffin, while I just collapsed. Impotent and broken.
I still drive trucks now. It's my life. It's cost me several relationships and a marriage, but I don't know anything else that I can do. I love the life, I love the freedom, and I always know that I can lose everything in the blink of an eye. But I never again, and never will, drive as a two-up team.
9points
Another surprising danger for some truck drivers was highlighted this year: the failure to be able to speak fluent English while working in America.
As per news reports, an executive order came into effect on June 25 2025. It states that drivers who “cannot read and speak the English language sufficiently to communicate with the safety official to respond to official inquiries and directions in accordance with FMCSA enforcement guidance” will be placed out of service.
#10
When I was only new to the truck driving game I had a job driving all over continental Europe (I’m Irish) I was sitting in a restaurant and on the French side of the Mount Blanc tunnel and heard a couple of old boys tell a story about a rookie who lost control of his truck on the way down the mountain. He rang his mother and told her what was happening just before he crashed off the side.
Report
9points
#11
When I was about 12 our family vehicle broke down on the side of the highway.
The two adults asked me and my ten-year-old cousin to go walking and find a payphone because one was heavily pregnant and the other was disabled.
We walked for about 2 mi when a trucker pulled over and asked what we were doing. We explained the situation, and he said to get in the truck and he would take us to Walmart.
He was an older black man with a gray beard and a heavy foreign accent.
As we climbed into his truck, he told us we should never ever ever get in the truck with a strange man because it's extremely dangerous, but we did it anyway and he took us to Walmart and we called somebody to come help us.
The two adults asked me and my ten-year-old cousin to go walking and find a payphone because one was heavily pregnant and the other was disabled.
We walked for about 2 mi when a trucker pulled over and asked what we were doing. We explained the situation, and he said to get in the truck and he would take us to Walmart.
He was an older black man with a gray beard and a heavy foreign accent.
As we climbed into his truck, he told us we should never ever ever get in the truck with a strange man because it's extremely dangerous, but we did it anyway and he took us to Walmart and we called somebody to come help us.
Report
8points
#12
There’s another driver where I work that tells a story about driving through the desert in Arizona back in the 80’s with nothing around for miles when he broke down in the middle of the night- it was an easy fix (his fuel filter was clogged- he drained it a little to free up the fuel and got the truck running about 15 minutes later), he took off down the highway when he saw a man that was out of breath on the side of the highway that was staring at him as he passed.. he said it looked like the guy had been running toward him until he got his truck running and drove away.. He said if he had been there a few more minutes the guy would’ve been able to walk up on him with his head in the engine bay. He said the look on the guys face gave him chills and telling the story you could see it still creeped him out.
Report
8points
The move came after a series of fatal incidents involving non-English-speaking long distance truck drivers.
Safety and Health Magazine reports that in 2019, a truck driver passed multiple signs warning of steep grades and dangerous curves while approaching speeds of 100 mph. The driver collided with multiple vehicles in a crash that resulted in four people losing their lives, and several injuries.
#13
Not night time but close enough:
My dad is a truck driver who regularly makes trips to a nearby major city. This city is known as one of the most dangerous cities in the country so my dad takes special precautions. One of them being he always leaves several car lengths in front of him at a red light so he can get out if needed.
One day around 5am he was sitting at a red light and someone hit him so hard that his truck moved forward several feet and it knocked the hat off of his head. He looked in the rearview mirror and saw someone run up to the back of his trailer and faint. He decided he should stay put and wait for the police to show up.
turns out a Cadillac had hit him from behind going 110 mph. Both men in the front seat were completely decapitated. You could see the spot on the trailer where their heads hit. The driver was still drunk and high from the night before.
My dad was put on leave for several weeks and endlessly questioned. For some reason the police thought it was suspicious that he had left space between him and the next car. He felt really guilty about it for a long time but we told him had he not been there they would of hit the cars in front of him. I was a kid when this happened and he never let me ride along with him again.
Edit: Sorry I should've been a bit more clear. The trailer sits higher than the car so when they hit it they went partially underneath the trailer and the bottom of the trailer decapitated them. A bystander that ran over to help fainted when he saw them.
My dad is a truck driver who regularly makes trips to a nearby major city. This city is known as one of the most dangerous cities in the country so my dad takes special precautions. One of them being he always leaves several car lengths in front of him at a red light so he can get out if needed.
One day around 5am he was sitting at a red light and someone hit him so hard that his truck moved forward several feet and it knocked the hat off of his head. He looked in the rearview mirror and saw someone run up to the back of his trailer and faint. He decided he should stay put and wait for the police to show up.
turns out a Cadillac had hit him from behind going 110 mph. Both men in the front seat were completely decapitated. You could see the spot on the trailer where their heads hit. The driver was still drunk and high from the night before.
My dad was put on leave for several weeks and endlessly questioned. For some reason the police thought it was suspicious that he had left space between him and the next car. He felt really guilty about it for a long time but we told him had he not been there they would of hit the cars in front of him. I was a kid when this happened and he never let me ride along with him again.
Edit: Sorry I should've been a bit more clear. The trailer sits higher than the car so when they hit it they went partially underneath the trailer and the bottom of the trailer decapitated them. A bystander that ran over to help fainted when he saw them.
Report
8points
#14
Not me but my dad has been a lorry driver all his life, he said the creepiest thing he ever saw was when he used to deliver the animal food to farms, early hours of the morning driving down a country road just a man standing there in a suit on the side of road, just stood there staring as he drove past.
Report
8points
#15
My father in law said he was hauling a truck load of furbies when they started talking to each other. He said they didnt stop talking the whole time he drove halfway across America.
Report
7points
In January this year, another collision claimed lives in West Virginia, after "a driver fleeing another accident.... required an interpreter for the post-crash investigation.”
“Allowing drivers who cannot read stop signs or understand police officers’ instructions to operate [an] 80,000-pound big rig threatens the safety of every American on our roadways,” said Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy earlier this year.
#16
I25 south of Albuquerque, there's a huge dip, straight down one side of a canyon and up the other. I'm a very safe driver, so i took the downgrade slow and crawled up the other side with my hazards on. Looking in my mirror i see headlights from another truck at the bottom, then 2 jets of flame shoot like 20 feet into the air above it. This truck runs past me doing 80 up the slope. I didn't even know it was possible to put nitrous into a semi, i know it ain't legal, but i thought the devil himself was riding up on me.
Report
6points
#17
My mother is a long haul trucker, her husband as well. I actually went on the road with them for about 3 months when I was in my early teens. It was a really neat experience. Pissing in bottles, watching my mother read a book while she was driving, watching my step-father shave while he was driving.
I remember one night my step-father and I were sleeping in the back bunks and I remember hearing over the PA someone yelling to be careful that there was a big rig going South-bound in the North-bound lane. My step-father woke up to tell my mother to be careful and he just started screaming at her. Turns out it was her who was asleep and driving down the wrong lane on the freeway.
I remember one night my step-father and I were sleeping in the back bunks and I remember hearing over the PA someone yelling to be careful that there was a big rig going South-bound in the North-bound lane. My step-father woke up to tell my mother to be careful and he just started screaming at her. Turns out it was her who was asleep and driving down the wrong lane on the freeway.
Report
6points
#18
My dad, a truck driver in the Netherlands for about 30 years now was leaving our town at 3am-ish to do the deliveries to the stores. He drives off with a colleague and a kilometre outside my town he hits the brakes because there's a horse on the road (alive). His colleague behind him stops as well and is informed about the situation over the CB radio. Two trucks which look the same (both yellow-blue Scania box trucks with an additional blue trailer) are standing still on a B-road in the middle of the night.
A guy pulls up behind them in an Audi A6 stationwagon. He, of course, did not know what was going on and after a few minutes (the horse wasn't moving) he got very annoyed with the trucks standing still so he absolutely floored it to go past them. He crashed into the horse, k*****g it and totaling his car. Guy went to the hospital and this all happened under the eye of my father. Pretty terrifying s**t.
The guy ended up surviving but my dad was pretty messed up about it.
A guy pulls up behind them in an Audi A6 stationwagon. He, of course, did not know what was going on and after a few minutes (the horse wasn't moving) he got very annoyed with the trucks standing still so he absolutely floored it to go past them. He crashed into the horse, k*****g it and totaling his car. Guy went to the hospital and this all happened under the eye of my father. Pretty terrifying s**t.
The guy ended up surviving but my dad was pretty messed up about it.
Report
5points
#19
My dad was a short haul trucker for most of his adult years. He retired because of how many people he saw driving distracted. Not just texting, either. He saw people doing their makeup, watching movies, reading news papers. He even saw someone eating a plate of pancakes once. While he was never in an accident he witnessed accidents, aftermaths of accidents, and spoke with a lot of colleagues about their experiences after a semi would become involved with a smaller vehicle due to the car's driver not paying attention. An 18 wheeled big-rig can't stop fast enough to save the life of the 18yo who decides he needs to send this dank meme to his buddy.
Report
5points
#20
I used to drive buses and I did what we called the first sign on shifts that started between 3-4am. One morning with a work mate at the depot we go out into the yard to start our buses up then I hear him scream and then see him come bolting out of his bus, scared the heck out of me me as to what was happening so I tentatively go and investigate.
Turns out there was a homeless man asleep in his bus and when he started the bus it woke him up but the homeless guy did not say a word and just walked down the bus to get out scaring my co-worker when he was right on top of him. We used to have a good laugh about it after the fact but at the time it was scary to experience.
Turns out there was a homeless man asleep in his bus and when he started the bus it woke him up but the homeless guy did not say a word and just walked down the bus to get out scaring my co-worker when he was right on top of him. We used to have a good laugh about it after the fact but at the time it was scary to experience.
Report
5points