Wow, ok, I'm sasiated. As long as the OP receives at least 80% of the original value, I'd be happy.

"...This is not the case with a catastrophe. This customer will probably receive full value from the insurance company..."

Just to let you know, the commenters here are going to hold you to that. Dont end up in the WCIA compitition next year.

The tragic mistake was not trying to merge into traffic. Also, while being from Boston and not Illinois would've been helpful, its entirely irrelevant as there are numerous signs posted around all entrance ramps to Storrow Dr that among others say "CARS ONLY", "NO COMMERCIAL VEHICLES", and the sign graphic with a truck silhouette underneath a red circle with a line through it.

It seems to me that the mistake was in ignoring posted road signs, not where the driver was from.

Additionally, it seems to me that no matter where a driver is from, the company/dispatch should've provided him with

1. a route plan
2. alternate routes
3. notes about driving in Boston.

It seems to me that 1 and 2 would be standard practice for any move, regardless of the location.

There used to be a train tresel down the street from my old apartment, right next to it was an industrial complex. It was almost a weekly ordeal to see a truck snugly settled under the bridge. The township installed plenty of height warning signs and even bumpers to keep the trucks form causing to much damage.

Is there any kind of research into these stories before they get posted? Just curious.

@chrispiss: Define 'these stories'. Most stories are posted to Consumerist at least partly because someone with a grievance of some sort can't get satisfactory information (and sometimes any information at all) out of the company that they are aggrieved towards. The point of Consumerist is to shame these companies into finally providing the service they should have in the first place. 'Research' is generally not conducive to this goal.

Unless you've ever driven one of these trucks, I wouldn't be judging the operator of this vehicle...

@twophrasebark:
Really? Can the people who drive them not read signs that say things like "no trucks" or "low bridge?"

@twophrasebark: Yeah, here's the sign he passed getting on the road. Pretty clear, I think: [tinyurl.com]

"...This is not the case with a catastrophe. This customer will probably receive full value from the insurance company..."

Who's insurance company? I hope not the Customer's

Boston is so forgiving to drivers unfamiliar with the city...

It's not limited to out of town drivers. The Boston Fire Department got a brand new ladder truck and promptly drove it under that bridge shearing off the bucket opening the cab like a can of sardines and decelerating from sixty to zero in 5 feet. The excuse? The new truck was lower than the previous truck and they thought it would fit.

@TheShepherd: I've driven in Boston. Number three might be appropriate regardless of where they're actually driving.

I will note that just driving a different truck than the one you're used to can cause this kind of catastrophe. When by brother used to do lights for rock shows he was driving from one venue to another and swung by the house to pick up a few things, as he often did while passing through town. Except this was a bigger concert and thus a bigger truck. Tore the roof off it while parking out front due to a huge tree branch.

The movers are STILL going to charge for this? Oh, get real. They are actually going to charge the customer for the experience of ruining their possessions. Jeezus. What shitty customer service.

@chrispiss: Yes.

I have a friend of a friend who rented a moving truck in Boston, and came very close to hitting a bridge on Storrow Drive just like this guy. Luckily she realized it before it happened. She pulled over and called the police. The police accompanied her as she backed the truck up all the way to the last exit she passed, after giving her a citation for a few hundred dollars. Disaster averted.

As someone who lived in Boston for 9 years, I can tell you that
1) Storrow Drive is just insane, especially when you have so many drivers actively trying to kill you and themselves with their very aggressive driving. Took me a while to adjust, but once I bought a old, big body Audi I was playing bumper cars with the best of them.

2) There might be signs, but anyone familiar with the Boston area knows to take any sign with a grain of salt.

3) driving in a new city (esp. one with the unordered cow paths that Boston calls streets and the aggressive drivers) can be very disorienting. Boston is one of the worst I have ever had the misfortune of driving in (second only to pre-Katrina New Orleans -- potholes that could have swallowed my CRX, plus signage so ambiguous as to be laughable)

4) When I first moved to Boston, I relied on maps to get around. During my first 6 months there, I found 27 serious errors in the maps I was using (misnamed streets, incorrect one-ways, intersecting streets where no streets really intersected...the list goes on and on).

But yeah, plan this type of drive before just jumping into the cab of your truck.

I hope you don't drive in Houston sometime and actually obey the street signs as they are posted. The highways are always being moved, overpasses being torn down and detoured, even for natives it is confusing. The highway department can only tell you to check their website for current information on road status. So, driver beware. You are obligated to observe the signs (as per state law) but don't trust them any further than you can throw them. I imagine the same goes for other cities.

Albert DeSalvo never had a problem getting around...

Actually, I'm satisfied with that response, so long as it's genuine. Being someone who moves around a lot, I know that signs and rules of the road can get confusing. And although you try your best, you miss one every now and then. When I first moved to DC from Kansas City, I turned right on red once (because you can anywhere in KC...yet very few places in DC). It was an innocent mistake. This guy entering the wrong highway/road/whatever may be as much of an innocent mistake. Unfortunately, it cost a lot more than my mistake. But the point is, it's still a mistake. They're owning up to it, there's a plan of action, they've responded to the customer, they're following rules, they even took the time to respond here.

Like I said. I'm satisfied, so long as it's genuine and truthful.

There is no merge there, he simply didn't check his route before he went gallivanting down Storrow drive.

About to send this into the editors, but all us Bostonians are familiar with this high-larious sign on Storrow Drive: [www.flickr.com]

Hey, whys is everyone being so harsh on the moving company and the driver? Look what happened to their truck! It's gonna cost hundreds of dollars to fix that.

@friendlynerd: My last neighborhood had "no trucks" signs all over it. Because they didn't want us to have through commercial traffic, not because the roads couldn't handle it or because we had any bridges. Moving and delivery trucks came all the time.

"They also let us know that the driver is very experienced and has been with the company for 14 years but is from Illinois..."

Where, incidentally, they've had a whole scandal with commercial driver's license given in exchange for bribes.

@twophrasebark:

I have driven these types of trucks, and I am always aware of my surroundings. I worked for a moving company and being aware of everything around you is the first thing they teach you. I have driven a 13'6" clearance truck from VA to NY to IL in various types of moving situations, and it is usually very hard to accidently go under a too-low bridge. The signs are usually numerous, with the height in bold print and flashing lights.

Hitting a bridge is a rookie mistake, not one that a 14 year veteran should ever make

@twophrasebark: I worked at a TV station driving a live truck for the local newscasts. Because there is a giant mast stowed on top, we had a SIGN inside the vehicle saying how tall it was, and therefore what clearance you'd need. So unless driving that truck renders you unable to read signs, I'd say it isn't an excuse.

@flairness: Amen. People aren't perfect.

@Viva La Volvo: There's a pedestrian bridge near where I work with a big yellow sign declaring its unusually low clearance. The sign is pretty beat up because trucks keep hitting it. Truckers apparently ignore signs just as often as normal drivers.

@Eyebrows McGee: Yeah, "no trucks" and "no commercial vehicles" signs often exempt moving trucks, so I can see how a moving truck driver might be used to ignoring them. Ignoring a clearance sign is kinda dumb, though.

I've lost track of the beginning of this story, but did the truck driver say exactly how he got onto Storrow? I was looking at Google Streetview, and you CAN get onto Storrow from Pinckney Street and not see a height warning sign until you get to the bridge...

@twophrasebark: and if I have?

every single entrance onto storrow has signage similar to the photo posted by Ted's Famous Kitchen

It sounds like the company was in contact with the customer from the beginning. If thats so what is the original point of the post other then to point at the driver and mock his driving?

I was under the impression that this forum was for customers that could not resolve problems, not petty finger pointing.

@jyindc: If that's the sign he passed, it would have smacked right into his truck.

In brooklyn, the el runs down New Utrecht Ave. A number of places, the stations are slung lower than the actual clearance, and there are brigh red beams, painted 'SACRIFICIAL BEAM' in the hops of avaiding such a disaster.

Oh, Don't call it a tagedy unless someone died.

@kretara: I lived and drove in Boston for 15 years, and am not buying any of this.

1.) I'm happy to hear that you bought a bigger car instead of just learning how to drive safely.
2.) No matter where you are, you should not be taking signs that say "CARS ONLY. NO TRUCKS" with a "grain of salt".
3.) It's sort of part of the job description for a professional truck driver (especially one of 14 years) to "drive in a new city" frequently and to quickly and adequately overcome this disorientation.
4.) I'm thinking that a moving company can be expected to have current and accurate maps and route plans, if not GPS.

During my time in Boston, you could always count on a few of these accidents on Storrow and Memorial Drive two times each year: when the students arrived in August, and then they moved out in June. While I can give a little slack to young kids navigating an unfamiliar city with a vehicle they aren't used to driving, I would argue that this exact scenario demands a higher level of attention in order to be safe, both to yourself and to the other drivers on the road.

The folks who are defending this driver, or others like him, are simply providing explanations, not excuses, for this poor judgment.

@bostonguy:ok, you may have found the one place that doesn't, but if iirc, going inbound from pinckney, he should've been ok

@amyschiff: Flairness speaks wise.

What else can you say to other posters except... you've never made a big mistake?

So, since yes you have, and just about every adult has been in a major auto accident as well, is like the feeding frenzy for people who want someone to take out their frustrations on?

I'm sorry, but being unfamiliar with the Boston area is not an excuse for getting a truck wedged on Storrow Drive. Boston is indeed a difficulty city to drive in, with twisty roads, confusing signage, construction, Boston drivers, and other obstacles. I live here, and I drive into the city as little as I can due to the above, opting to take the T. However, Storrow Drive is NOT an example of aforementioned confusing signage. There are plenty of easily visible signs barring trucks from this road and warning of low clearances.

I'm familiar with the area where the truck was decapitated, and it's pretty damn well marked. Here's the onramp the driver would have had to take to get onto Storrow coming from Mt. Vernon St. The huge "CARS ONLY" sign is a bit faded in that picture, but I happened to drive past that onramp Saturday night and it was quite legible and impossible to miss; the "NO TRUCKS OR BUSES" sign is clear enough anyways. The giant, colorful "DANGER LOW CLEARANCE" sign is another giveaway. If the driver cannot read English, there's also the helpful graphic depicting a truck colliding with an overhead obstacle. Here's the approach to the actual bridge that the truck hit. It's around a little bit of a curve, but there's plenty of time to notice the bridge and the clearance sign. Even if the clearance sign was missing (which it wasn't, from the earlier posted photos), I'd imagine an experienced commercial truck driver would have plenty of time to notice that the bridge is pretty low and react appropriately.

So, the driver obviously ignored the multitude of signs at the entrance to Storrow. After that, perhaps he was seriously speeding and couldn't slow down in time, or just wasn't paying attention, or whatever. I, however, theorize that he probably noticed the clearance sign, but due to the fact that the bridge section/overpass is very arched, decided that he'd clear it if he stayed in the center lane since it does have a bit more clearance than is posted, since the clearance measurement would be taken from the lower of the two outer edges of the entire road.

Moving trucks are always traveling in "No Truck" zones in order to deliver their goods. They are not restricted in the same way, because they deliver to residential areas.

Not to sound like a shill here, but if 25% of the customer's belongings make it to their destination and the other 75% are replaced at full value at the destination, then the customer is effectively zero out-of-pocket, except for (1) irreplaceables (e.g. family heir looms), which probably shouldn't be shipped by commercial carrier anyway, and (2) loss of use.

So in that case, assuming that the insurance company deals with this guy fairly, I would say that the shipping expenses are fair. Assuming they get some sort of compensation for loss of use, of course.

@psychos: It's funny how you went through all that trouble to point that out, despite the fact that so many others already did. How many more "I live/drive by that sign everyday and it looks like this posts are we going to get here?

@humphrmi: Why would you not ship family heirlooms by commercial carrier? That's like saying you wouldn't trust a piano mover to move your piano. How else would you move them?

@rasbach: Until people quit claiming the driver made a "mistake"?

Everyone's photos are pretty damning evidence. This was not a mistake, this was a blatant disregard of traffic signs and safety precautions. The driver is lucky no car was riding his tail.

@Me: From all the horror stories here, I'd guess you shouldn't ship anything by commercial carrier if you want to see it again.

Truth be told, I can't blame the driver. From my own experience, Boston is just a pain in the arse to drive in or even walk in for that matter. If the crazy roads won't do you in, the crazy drivers will.

Man, I'm gonna have to try these excuses next time I get pulled over for speeding - "Officer, these roads are so confusing and disorienting that I've temporarily lost the ability to read and interpret any signs I might see."

@rasbach: So you meant funny as in incredibly stupid, right?

Ok can we lay off the driver now? Yes, he made a huge, expensive negligent mistake. Do you think he doesn't know? He needs you to tell him? What is the point? Sounds like the company is taking care of the customers, and that's what Consumerist is about right? Give the guy a break.

Decent response from the company, but I'd like to know from the consumer if this is actually legit. Also, I still don't get how being unfamiliar with an area puts you in a position where you can't read signs or know the height of your own vehicle before going so fast you not only slam the truck, but you go all the way THROUGH the bridge and end up on the other side. I'm gonna go ahead and be a judgemental jerk about the driver's abilities because one can ALWAYS hit the brakes and/or pull over at the first couple of signs. Also, why wouldn't a company paid to drive cross country as their main business not have a properly mapped out route that would avoid this?

honestly...i give a pass to most out-of-town drivers in Boston (except for drivers from RI and NH, you have no excuse).

Boston's streets are amazingly complex...Storrow Drive (where the accident occured) is a pretty major road, and trucks are constantly either driving down the road, realizing the mistake before they hit the bridge, and having to close down all the traffic so the truck can back up the length of the road...or they lodge their truck under a bridge/in a tunnel.