Finally Got A Deer!

After 6 1/2 years of driving truck I finally got my first deer. I've had plenty of raccoons and possums but never a deer. Ironically enough I was talking to my mom 2 days ago and mentioned many close calls lately with my van and the truck both but never hitting one.

It happened about 650am this morning on Kansas state highway 10 west of Kansas City about halfway to Lawrence. Deer came running out and caught the deer guard on my passenger side, made a huge mess down my tractor before getting run over by my tandems. I pulled off at the next ramp about a mile down the highway to inspect the damage. Fortunately the only visible damage was snapping off 8 of my plastic lug nut covers on my steer.

I made it back to our yard without issue and wrote it up for the shop to take a better look at it and filled out my accident report. Company policy is to report ALL events that involve damage to the truck though animal strikes aren't held against you as long as you don't swerve.

When I was at my first stop I slid my tandems all the way to the front because I had 2 gas stations in Lawrence that are tight, and the backhaul i had in Lenexa is tight as well. I noticed my airlines under trailer were hanging pretty close to the ground so I zip tied them up. I'm glad I did, who knows if the deer would've caught them and left me helpless even though I was empty at the time.

I knew it was just a matter of time but figured it'd be in Southern Iowa. Almost without fail anytime I go south i see a couple dozen deer just standing along the interstate from Osceola (MM 32) to the state line but they're smart enough to not run across in front of you.

Congratulations!

I've gotten one so far, and it came a week after I thought "I haven't seen many dead deer this year"

Our company policy is too also report any animal strikes. While it wasnt held against you, they used to make you watch the 1.5 hour long safety video but they stopped that.

Rob, I’d say you’ve been pretty lucky considering you drive in deer country. I’ve had a number of close calls but no hits in 300,000 plus miles but my time is probably coming.

I think I remember PackRat having hit about 30 deer, if my memory serves me correctly. That must be some kind of record, lol.

Speaking of PackRat, I noticed he just went over 10,000 comments on this forum. Quite an accomplishment. I’d like to say THANKYOU, Mr. PackRat. Your contributions have helped educate me and enriched my life with your humor.

I hit one with a company car driving back from home time after my tractor was getting a PM. Hit the brakes shoved the deer down the road and it took off.

I've hit 4 of em in 3 years. Although I mainly drive at night. Unfortunately knight won't put a deer slayer on. I've got dashcan footage of one em, sent it a few hundred yards down the road. Amazing.

Since this is about hitting things, Saturday I had a near miss of a car.

I was on I255 northbound in Illinois after crossing the Mississippi. 0400 and almost no traffic at that time of the morning. 3 lanes and I’m following a tanker. Tanker is right lane, I’m middle lane coming up on the tanker. When I’m about 100 or so yards from the tanker, he takes a super hard left all the way across the highway. I hit my brakes hard to avoid the tanker and then I see the real problem. A car is driving the wrong way and the tanker went left to avoid a head on crash. Now I’m head on to the car. I went left as much as I could and somehow there was not a crash, I don’t know how. Car driver must have been high or drunk or both. This was my first time encounter with a wrong way driver and it is a very scary experience, especially at night. I called 911 immediately and reported it and I hope they got the driver. I’d rather hit a deer than have something like that happen again. Yikes.

Unfortunately knight won't put a deer slayer on.

Any idea why? At PFG we didn't either but that was far more city driving. I'm guessing Knight choosing not to utilize them is cost/benefit. It blows my mind hearing some OTR drivers hitting 8 or 9+ MPG. I'm usually right around 6.9 - 7.5 MPG but I also run 70 when possible as opposed to 65 or less.

Just before I hit the deer there was a class B tanker oil truck that merged on the highway behind me. He was tailgating me decently and alot of cars were out and about. After hitting the deer (and leaving it in travel lane I'm guessing due to tandems rolling over it) traffic backed off very quickly. This is another example of why following distance is so important.

I've had 2 deer strikes in the last 4 years. First one, the deer hit me. Was on a 4 lane road and the dear ran out of the woods and did a header into the side of my trailer and went up under the trailer tandems making a huge mess. Second was leaving the terminal gate going up our driveway and a dear ran out in front of me. Barely hit it and knocked his rear legs out from under him. It got up and gave me a dirty look before trotting off.

I think I remember PackRat having hit about 30 deer, if my memory serves me correctly. That must be some kind of record, lol.

34

30 with POVs and 4 with big trucks.

Hard to believe I went over 6 years driving truck, starting my day between midnight and 2am, and got a deer 2 months ago when I initially posted this. Well, this morning I got a two-fer. I was headed down I35 once again heading to Lawrence KS. I'd just went under the bridge for exit 48 in Missouri when I nailed another one. This time I hit it centered and boy did it make a huge mess. When I pulled over at the next exit to inspect my equipment I noticed an unborn fawn that was ripped from mama resting next to mama's intestines lodged in my grill. Absolutely disgusting so I'll spare you guys the pictures. Entire underbody on my tractor and trailer are covered, ACC sensors busted along with my fog lights. I'd just got my truck out of the shop before leaving for new steers (wearing uneven on outer edge, unsure if related to last deer strike) worst part was I still had an hour and half drive to get to Lawrence then drive back 4 hours after getting my backhaul in Topeka and due to the ACC system being smashed to crap I had no cruise! Company policy is a drug test for anything over $1,000 damage regardless of fault so I'm sure I'll be asked to provide a sample after our shop looks at it.

Once again I needed to fill out an accident/incident report per company policy. I stated that "At approximately 3:17AM deer failed to yield right-of-way. We made contact in the center of my truck resulting in damage to the ACC system as well as fog light assembly."

If only these dang deer would learn to cross the bridge so generously provided, or the DOT stop placing the deer crossing signs in high traffic areas such as the interstate we could improve safety on our roads!