What Would You Do In This Situation?

You're driving in unfamiliar territory and come to a low bridge? Oh no, now what? How do you get out of this nightmare? I have a bridge near my house that is 12'5, i see drivers go under the center of the bridge slowly with hazzards on and make it no problem. Is that common practice? Does the grand mcnally truckers gps sense those low bridges?

Here is a video of one guy unable to make it under a bridge, trying to swing a U Turn and failing miserably! Again, what would you do in this situation? https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OJ8WKscGo8I

Well I would first creep up to it and see what kind of clearance you're looking at. It's possible that the sign is marked wrong, which happens a lot in NY. Or if your only off by an inch or so I've heard of guys dropping the air suspension and letting out air in the trailer tires to get under it. And if all else fails and there's no way to turn around you may have to call the PD and have them get you an escort to help you get turned around. Biggest thing though is never trust the GPS fully. Always use multiple scources for information. Maps, Google, etc.

A good road atlas will have the truck routes and generally keep you out of trouble. The new truck gps models allow you to input width, height and weight so it calculates the best legal route but isn't always accurate. Usually your dispatch will send directions also so there's 3 sorts of info that should keep you safe on your run.

Now here's a caveat. Chicago in particular is doing a ton of road work. Some of the bridges that used to be 13'6" are now 13. Quite a few accidents and even some lawsuits going on because of damages.

I had it happen to me once.. In shunctey ny I was going to the shipper going by the gps it was 2 am came accross a bridge the sign was behind some branches with leaves on them I spotted the sign and it said 12'6 So I pulled over got out of the truck and saw a side road 100 yards back looked at the road (down the road and up in the air) knew i could fit so I backed up down the side ride road and turned around.... What I should have done was look at the directions on the call Qumm and followed them instead of the gps. I learned a lession that day . Always follow the directions your company gives you.

Btw Dominick Did you see in the video you posted that there is a side road on the left side that you could have probably used instead of killing that Truck

I went under two bridges in Chicago that stated - 13'7" EXACTLY - held my breath, ducked, and went r e a l s l o w l y.

Is the bridge a main street where you can exit? you can always exit the highway and then get back on the other side of the bridge.

For the video... hmmm... That guy was caught up with a bad day. I would relax, get out, ask a couple good Samaritans if they want to make a couple bucks have them block traffic while I back out to an area where I can either detour or U Turn Safely. I wouldn't sacrifice the rig or trailer though. If noone wants to make a couple bucks Ill just block traffic till someone calls the cops on me and they'll do it for free. noone wants anyone to hurt the truck or the bridge or the grass or somebody...