I found a parking spot in a small truckstop in Huntsville, TX. I ate my dinner, showered, and settled into my sleeper with a good book. I was reading just about two hours when I was suddenly jarred almost to the point of falling out of my bed.
I looked out the sleeper curtain and saw a rig in my mirrors. He had hit my trailer. What a way to spend the evening! I put on my jeans, shirt, and boots, and grabbed my maglight on the way out the door.
Once outside I was met by a young black guy who told me he was trying to get around the corner but wasn't watching his mirrors like he should have been. When you are driving a rig, you basically are driving the trailer wheels, which means you HAVE to watch the mirrors closely whenever you're turning a corner. I let that pass for the moment.
I inspected his trailer with my maglight at first, looking for the impact point. It wasn't hard to find. He had connected with my trailer right where his tool box was mounted under his trailer. The tool box doors were smashed in pretty badly. Expensive.
I inspected my trailer and found the ICC bumper was bent in against the tire on the left side. This isn't good. After looking at the situation I decided on a course of action. I grabbed a chain out of my tool box and wrapped it around my ICC bumper, and then around his trailer axle. I then instructed the young guy to back up until I told him to stop. The backing of his rig pulled out my bumper enough to get it off of the tire so I could drive my rig.
I got all of the guy's information, called his company to report the accident, and then was ready to return to my reading. The young driver thanked me. I was like, "huh? for what?". He said he was grateful for the fact that I didn't get mad, violent, and all that stuff. I explained that I had learned a long time ago that these things just aren't worth getting bent out of shape about. Shit happens.
He was man enough to not try and drive away after hitting me (it happens), so I saw no reason to make things worse with a shitty attitude. We exchanged names and cell phone numbers with the idea of meeting up someplace and having a few brews.
He's young and inexperienced but shows a lot of promise. Seemed like a nice kid.