Bear like
Was driving north through the mountains of Colorado towards Pueblo, and it was my first time dealing with anything like the Rocky Mountains so I was taking it nice and slow with my hazards on and in the right lane. This was in the spring, and there wasn’t much snow on the ground aside from a light dusting.
I remember passing another truck pulled to the shoulder on my way up, nothing out of the ordinary. However, as I was heading down the mountain (which can be scary as shit in an 18-wheeler, trust me) I saw the same truck I passed earlier FLY by me in the left hand lane. Now being passed on the left going DOWNHILL in the ROCKY MOUNTAINS by another TRACTOR TRAILER is crazy enough, but what really makes this story is this guy’s trailer brakes were on fire. He was pulling a load (could tell because the trailer was sealed) and if you know anything about trucks you know there’s only so much braking you’re supposed to do before they overheat and, worst-case, catch fire.
This guy’s truck looked like a fucking comet as he sped down the mountain at what I thought was a surely to be deadly pace.
I grabbed the mic to the radio and called out to him, “Hey Driver! Your brakes are on fire! I mean literally on fire!”
This rough and weathered sounding voice comes back over the speaker of my radio and says, cool as a cucumber, “I know.”
And he disappeared around a curve.
I never saw any wrecked truck, emergency crews, or even mention of an accident over the radio.
I did see a discarded fire extinguisher on the ground at the base of the mountain though.
Just one of many awesome stories.