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“One Mistake And It’s Over”: 61 Truckers Share Terrifying Roads That Made Them Question Their Career Choices
For many of us, day-to-day driving is a pretty uneventful experience. Sometimes, it can even be relaxing or exciting. And thankfully, it’s not often that it actually feels scary.
But when you work as a truck driver, sitting behind the wheel is a whole different story. The job comes with long, exhausting hours on the road, late-night drives with no one around, heavy winds, steep routes, and intense traffic to get through in a vehicle that size. It’s a lot to handle.
So when one Redditor asked truckers to share the most terrifying places they’ve ever driven through, they had plenty of stories to tell. Find them below and see just how nerve-racking life on the road can get.
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#1
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.
Catlady6000 1 hour ago
I've lived in small, isolated towns where this would be peak entertainment. There's just nothing else there, cable and wifi very unreliable. TV antenna almost picks up a station.
RELATED:
#2
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).
Gingersnap In Iowa 1 hour ago
I drove from California home to Iowa on I-80. I hit a deer. It was at night and the interstate was only one lane so there was no where to pull over. I had to drive to the next exit which was in Nebraska. The car was dented but drivable. I had recently quit smoking and was afraid of back sliding bc I usually smoked while driving but I didn't!
#3
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.
#4
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.
#5
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].
Scott Rackley 55 minutes ago
I've seen GPS lead a rig to Hwy 129 at Deal's Gap, also known as the Dragon. Driver actually tried it. Blocked it for most of the morning. The Tennessee troopers were pissed, along with all the motorcycle riders.
#6
Stopped in northern Idaho for gas on a roadtrip. Creepy "sundown town" vibes if you are not white.....
#8
Colorado (I-70 through the Rockies) – steep grades + tight curves.
One mistake and it’s over.
#9
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.
Scott Rackley 49 minutes ago (edited)
Sounds like the deer in Tennessee, oddly suícidal bunch. It's never just one either.
#10
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.
#11
Has to be India surely. By a long way. They amount of fatalities on those roads is crazy!
Russell Bowman 22 minutes ago
The Indian Bedford truck drivers on the Silk road, and others, like to drive at night with their lights off ... to "save their battery." Turning on their lights at the last minute when you approach.
#12
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.
#13
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.
#14
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."
#15
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.
#16
WV-250. I was a young rookie and thought “using the map” was a smart idea. OMG. It was a truck route like the dragons tail.
okayseriouslywhy:
My friend took that through WV when a snowstorm was blowing in, said she was drifting her old SUV on every other curve. Lucky she's a great driver.
#17
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.
#18
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.
Richard Graham 1 hour ago
I never heard that expression before - "gator" - describing sections of tire tread along the road. Great name! Describes them perfectly! thanx.
#19
For legal reasons, California.
overlordbabyj:
CA has some commercial driving & emissions laws that the rest of the country doesn't. For example, any refrigerated trailer manufactured before a certain year is illegal there.
#20
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.
#21
Not a trucker, but, I dated a driver for a bit and would go with him on his routes sometime. Anytime it works snow he would say, "get ready to see some wrecks". His route was I-15 between Vegas and Wyoming. It would turn white out over Beaver in a matter of minutes, clear blue sky, to the lowest visibility. I saw some absolutely insane wrecks.
#22
My husband was an owner operator for almost 40 years, we live in northern Ohio and he would refuse loads that would send him East. He hated Erie PA and Buffalo NY, they get snow in feet. He also delivered to New York City once. Just once because he was told if you're stopped in traffic and someone runs up with bolt cutters, opens your trailer and starts stealing just let them.
#23
Wyoming in the winter is absolute nightmare fuel. The wind alone will literally blow your rig right off the highway, and you're just praying the roads don't close. I avoid it at all costs once November hits.
#24
Surprised I-90 from Spokane thru mid-Montana doesn’t have any mentions here. I drive this route several times a year to visit family and nearly every trip I take, there’s a truck rolled over, or on fire, or a huge backup of trucks stopped to wait out the weather/chain up in winter. I grew up in CO and am no stranger to mountain driving, but Lookout Pass in particular is so shaded and curvy (and for a LONG time) that it seems to invite lots of truck accidents.
Then add in Homestake Pass and the deceptive Bozeman Pass (where the wind really starts to kick in) and it makes total sense why it’s expensive as hell to live in Montana: it [is a pain] to get things there.
#25
I used to drive to see family in Morgantown, WV from MD on the I-70 and I-68, It has some of the craziest grades I’ve ever seen. They have those separate speed limits and lanes for trucks and I always see and smell brakes getting burned. I think at one point its 6% downhill for over 13 miles straight directly into a bend. I overheated my car going up and down the passes one time.
#26
I used to run dispatch all along the SE US, the 2 that stick out to me most are alligator alley in FL and the stretch of i55 from Memphis to Jackson, MS.
Lots of wildlife on those roads at night.
#27
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.
#28
Driving through the Transkei in South Africa in the late 90s. Its so isolated and beautiful but has burned out and stripped down cars lining the roads everywhere.
I had a 4x4 with a load of guys follow and then chase me for about 30 mins, thankfully they got bored. Sometimes they don't and then your vehicle joins the others and you become fodder for the wildlife.
Russell Bowman 9 minutes ago
I remember when Transkei was a law-less breakaway area of South Africa ... but, the roads along "the wild coast: were stunning
#29
Genuinely frightening? For people behaving badly, Atlanta I-285. Good lord. For Ma Nature, the region that comprises southern Minnesota, Northern Iowa, the Dakotas, eastern Montana, some of Nebraska and all of Wyoming…in the winter. When it snows, it generally blows, too. The combination of huge land area that is difficult to plow in a timely fashion and invites and encourages wind, and bad grip because, you know, snow and ice, that can be some [jerk] puckering driving. Even in the summer Wyoming gets a prize for dangerous wind.
Sudden visibility dropouts to near zero, a lot of inertia, and road surfaces that make braking a very ticklish proposition mean Papa Bear gets some white knuckles.
#30
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.
#32
West Texas at midnight.
Chinstrap6:
It’s not that it’s threatening or anything, it’s just empty. I’m a big fan of night driving, but if you’re driving to a specific spot in west Texas, it’s a ton of off interstate driving where there are zero services, cell reception, or people. If you break down, you can’t call for help and even if you could they wouldn’t be able to get to you.
When I was working out there, I was 100 miles from the nearest gas station. I drove into that “town” many times, and it wasn’t unusual to not see a single car until you got into town.
#33
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.
#34
West Memphis.
Fly_throwaway37:
It's just always under construction. Being from Memphis we have a joke that the state flag of Arkansas is an orange and white road barrel.
Scott Rackley 35 minutes ago
It's a very good idea to not stop in West Memphis. It's an even better idea to not stop between Jackson, Tennessee and Little Rock, Arkansas.
#35
285 in Atlanta.
awdude1:
It's the amount of accidents, EVERY single day I see wrecks. Multiple wrecks, everyday.
#36
Interstate 70 across Kansas around midnight to 4am.
For some reason and it's only happened twice, somewhere out there is a black hole.
GPS reads it's only 200 miles from one town to another, and you've got say, 6 hours on your clock. That 200 miles should pass in a little under 4 hours, but suddenly you're coming up on the town with 10min left to drive before you've gotta take a break. It's weird.
Also, parking anywhere near Philadelphia, Baltimore, or anywhere in Pennsylvania really.
#37
I'm not a driver, but I dispatch fuel trucks.
I know better than to drive on I-30 between Portland and Astoria in bad weather or at night if I can avoid it. I've been on the job for 2 years and have worked through too many wicked accidents to want any of that in my life.
#39
Most drivers say it's not one specific state, it's stretches like Wyoming on 1 - 80 winter, Texas during sudden storm chains, and mountain passes like Donner Pass in California, where the weather flips fast, and visibility disappears without warning.
#40
Not terrifying, but compared to the rest of the country: stressful. And don't get me wrong, if I wasn't in a full length semi, I'd love to visit, but East PA, Maryland, Connecticut, New Jersey, NYC entire area, Long Island, Massachusetts. Everything that makes life harder for a truck, those places embody it. Narrow, curvy roads, low bridges everywhere, smaller dock yards, no parking, lumper fees at every single place. I'm a company driver, so I can't refuse loads, but if I get another load going to Long Island to drop off 3 pallets at a grocery store with no truck entrance, I'm quitting.
#42
Been everywhere, hated the north east. Nothing terrifying but absolutely not planned for truck traffic. Lack of truck stops and routes is a nightmare.
#44
I-90 around Erie and Ontario in winter. Snow. Whiteout. Wind. Also I81 north of Syracuse gets 300 inches of snow a year.
#45
North Dakota/Western Minnesota. Drove through the worst dust storm ever day before yesterday. HIgh winds made it difficult to hold the road, and there were times visibility was down to 15 ft. ahead. This is what the dustbowl must have been like in the 1930's.
#46
I have read that there are long stretches in New Mexico that have a high fatality rate with vehicle accidents because 1) these long, desolate stretches have little local or state police patrols, so people use the opportunity to drive at very dangerous speeds; and 2) when there are accidents, it takes a very long time for emergency services to find and reach the accident victims, so people who might've survived end up not surviving because medical aid couldn't get there in time.
#47
US 550 in Colorado between Durango and Montrose: two lane road, cliff on one side, straight drop on the other, no guard rails, 15 mph hairpin curves and three 11K' passes. In my truck, I need both lanes to negotiate the curves.
#48
A lot of people have rightfully mentioned the stretch of I80 through Wyoming, but I'll add any of the major highways you need to take to get to Seattle from the east and southeast, particularly the areas around Yakima and Snoqualmie pass.
#49
My friend told me stories about trucking with his dad through Detroit.
Police had a checkpoint and told them not to stop at stop signs. I remember him saying was there was a broken down vehicle in the middle of the road and the police were plowing it out of the way. I think the vehicle was meant to force drivers to stop, then they would ambush their goods while they were stopped.
#51
There are some mountain roads that have switchbacks so severe that you're taking the turns in the oncoming lane. A head on collision is waiting. One example is the Lockheed Martin facility at the top of Empire Grade Road in California. Also, some mountain roads that don't have guardrails, or very small ones, when it's snowing. One example of that is the US 50 in Colorado.
#52
Nashville TN.
God dang they just can't figure out how to drive straight there.
Bonus answer, parking in Memphis.
#53
Chattanooga Tennessee has an interstate that sharply curves due to the river and a mountain. All the trucks have to slow down in a short amount of time.
#54
I'm a box truck driver on a route. It's a nightmare anywhere in Boston. Drivers, especially truck drivers, were not intended for that city.
#55
My dad use to be a truck driver in Australia and there is a whole area where they use to think Yowies roamed. They would check there trucks and everything before hand so they didn’t brake down.
#56
As a professional who for decades was driving 50,000+ miles a year, and who has driven around most of the US of A, I claim honorary trucker status. Agree with many of these. And will also nominate Cresson Mountain, Route 22 between Ebensburg and Altoona PA. Whiteouts in winter, foul weather and pea-soup fog any season.
#58
Highway 11/17 from North Bay to Kenora. 1000 miles of undivided two lane highway through Northern Ontario.
#59
The Coquihalla pass in B.C Canada gets pretty wild in the winter. The “smasher” has many avalanches yearly, multiple snow sheds, and you often will hit 3 different seasons from top to bottom.
#60
I used to work in customer service for a trucking company. Most shipments that weren't delivering to Arkansas but had to go through were always advised to not stop unless absolutely necessary.
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