This lumber spill looks like a pile of matchsticks.

 

 

On February 7, 2008, a truck carrying commemorative coins for the Royal Canadian Mint fell 40 feet off the TransCanada Highway in British Columbia spilling it’s load. The truck was hauling “snowboarder” commemorative coins issued by the mint to promote the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.

The driver and a passenger were OK. They also managed to avoid a 1,000 foot fall into Kamloops Lake.

A driver that pulled up to help had to scamble up a four-foot pile of coins to get into the truck to help the driver.

David Blair

 

Murray Mitchel

 

On July 21, 2006, a Tomahawk Cruise Missile fell off a truck and landed in the middle of the highway near the Bronx.

The truck was carrying the Cruise Missile on I-95 in New York on its way from Rhode Island to Virginia when it broke down and was rear-ended by another tractor-trailer. This knocked the missile off the truck and onto the highway. The missile remained in it’s fiberglass protective box.

The NYC Police Department only stated that it was an “inert ordnance”, but the NYC Fire Department confirmed that it was a Tomahawk missile. The NYPD bomb squad removed the ordnance. It was not armed.

One news account said that it was actually a dummy missile used for training. (“No, no, we didn’t drop an actual missile, it was…er… a dummy missile. Yeah, that’s it. A dummy. In it’s own specially-made fiberglass case. No, really!”)

Thanks to Laurie in Colorado for this Truck Spill.

WCBS Newsradio photos: Tom Kaminski

This Russian Truck crashed in Lithuania, spilling its load of milk on the road.
“Pienas” is Lithuanian for “Milk”.

Technically, not a truck spill, but lava on the road is pretty cool, nonetheless. I mean, how often do you see that?

This photo shows where a flow from the Pu’u O’o lava tube system in Hawaii overspilled the Chain of Craters Road near the coast in 1995.

 

Another lava flow over the Chain of Craters road in 2004.

 

 

On April 23, 2008, a tractor-trailer overturned on I-95 in St. John’s County, Florida, spilling Jell-O Snack Packs all over the roadway.

The truck flipped after it ran into another truck, which splattered individual Jell-O packs all over the highway, which caused a major traffic jam. The driver was trapped inside the truck, but was rescued, airlifted, and treated for non-life-threatening injuries.

No one else was hurt. Bill Cosby is distraught.

 

CBS News

I can’t find any information on this photo. It would appear that a modular home being delivered, tipped the delivery truck or crane.

UPDATE 4/13/08:

Dave C wrote “The picture is actually of a crane tipped over – onto/into the house. The house is delivered in parts and then placed on the foundation or the other pieces by a crane.”

Close enough for me to include it here.

 

On July 31, 2008, in Bismarck, N.D., an Air Force truck carrying an ICBM Rocket Booster overturned in a ditch.

The truck was on the way from Minot Air Force Base to a launch facility in Northwestern North Dakota, when it somehow “crashed” and overturned. The truck was carrying an unarmed booster rocket for a Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile.

The truck and rocket, weighing 75,000 pounds were still lying in the ditch a few days later under armed guard and an Air Force spokeswoman, Maj. Laurie Arellano, said that it would be there for a few more days while the incident is in the “assessment phase” and the Air Force determines if it is stable.

Local residents were not in the least bit worried about the missile. They are used to the military moving such things around and they trust them to be sure the missile is safe.

Update: Eventually, it cost the military $5.6 million to recover the truck and missile booster from this accident. The truck remained on the side of the road along with the rocket for more than a week until they were removed. The Air Force placed blame for the indicent on the “driver and safety observer error”.

I would point out a few things about this incident.

If the military could be trusted, there wouldn’t be an ICBM rocket lying in a ditch.

If you were the military spokesperson and they crashed an armed rocket booster, would you admit that it was armed, or would you report that it was unarmed?

The only photo I could locate of this incident was apparently taken and released by the Air Force, so the details are limited.

 

Via AP, Photo by the US Air Force

 

On May 23, 2008, a truck loaded with future hams ran off the A22 highway in Trentino, Italy and overturned. The truck split open, spilling two tons of pork legs on the side of the road. They appear to have been hanging from the roof of the truck.

Thanks to Daniel B. in Milan, Italy for sending us this story.

Trentino

A truck carrying flour crashes and spills on I-95 in Laurel, MD in 2004.

Crew used brooms and leafblowers to remove the flour. They were reluctant to use water because of the mess it could have created.