Big rigs carry the strangest things. The "precious" cargo contained in these behemoths is usually hidden from the public, deemed unfit for civilian eyes. When these trucks tip over, though, all bets are off.
From chocolate floods to money storms, the spilled guts of big rigs have us laughing in disbelief. We thought they only carried fruit or gasoline. Trust us, all the accidents you're about to see would be tragic if they weren't so funny!
A McMess In Southern California
Here's one way to start a frenzy in sunny Southern California. You might think health-conscious Californians would be disgusted to see McDonald's french fries littering the freeways, but no one can resist their salty goodness.
The best part is these fries were frozen, anyone interested just had to get to the spill fast enough to stock up. Store them in your freezer and enjoy at your leisure. Just remember, McDonald's fries don't come salted, so when it comes time to season, don't be shy with the sodium snowfall!
We Always Wanted A Road Made Of Chocolate!
Everyone's childhood dreams came true in Poland when this truck full of chocolate rolled over. Both sides of the freeway had to be closed, but at least people forced to wait weren't going to starve to death! The truck was carrying 12 tons of chocolate when it overturned, which of course melted in the warm spring air.
Because it would be unsanitary to indulge in the chocolate, workers closed the freeway for hours to clean up the glorious mess. Hilariously enough, firefighters were called to the scene to melt the chocolate to help speed up the cleaning process.
The Spiciest Roadway Of All Time
In June 2018, college students across the country had their hearts broken when a semi-truck hauling Fireball Whiskey crashed and spilled its cargo across the freeway. The 18-wheeler was struck by another truck, and an explosion followed. Police said there were no injuries.
While it might be sad to see so much whiskey lost to the pavement gods, let's be grateful it was only Fireball Whiskey. Now if it was Johnnie Walker Blue Label, we might be more upset.
A Classic Hit And Beer Run
When one truck hit another in the Netherlands a few years ago, 2,184 cases of beer spilled onto the freeway. An officer at the scene said it looked like a "sea of beer" as he checked his watch desperately waiting for the end of his shift. While most of the beer bottles broke, leaving the suds tainted, some survived, giving anyone driving past a reason to stop.
Of course, only one truck was left at the scene of the crime. The other truck drove off, attempting a hit and run. It failed, getting pulled over in Almelo.
Driving On The Skittles Rainbow
"While we don't know who did this, it is certainly clear that it may be difficult to 'Taste the Rainbow'" is what one officer said after a truck spilled its cargo of Skittles all over this freeway in Wisconsin. The candies were on their way to be used as cattle feed after being deemed unfit for human packaging.
Did we mention the only color in the truck was red? The story goes the truck was transporting the sweets in the rain. The water soaked through the boxes, melting the candies, and sending a river of red sugar onto the road. We guess the cows will have to get their sugar fix another way!
Deadpool Would Approve Of This Spill
If you love Deadpool, then this is the spill you'll hate you missed. A comic shipment fell roadside in 2016 when the truck carrying them was hit by another truck. The most notable comic about was Deadpool, but other titles were littered in the mix as well.
The accident happened around the same time the first Deadpool movie was being released, but that's only a coincidence. Not a publicity stunt. We think. Stranger things have happened to promote films though.
Did Someone Call The Ice Cream Man?
That's a lot of spilled ice cream! There were some pretty upset children when they heard the story of the truck bringing ice cream to the store that didn't quite make it. Sadly, the truck overturned and spilled out 35,000 pounds of ice cream!
The truck in question was passing through Indianapolis on its way to a Kroger in 2013 when the accident happened. The ramp it was near had to close while the cleanup crew fought the urge to lick the ground clean.
Unleash The Ducks!
This cargo ship turned the ocean into bath time when it spilled its contents into the deep blue sea. Nearly 29,000 plastic ducks, green frogs, and blue turtles found their way to freedom. This might be the most adorable ocean cleanup of all-time!
Of course, not all the plastic toys were reclaimed and are still out in the water the ocean today. Some have washed up on shores, leaving beachgoers wondering about their adventures. Some known sites the ducks, turtles, and frogs have been seen at are the Arctic ice pack, Hawaii, and the site where the Titanic sank!
It's Raining... Money!
'Tis the season for needing extra cash! And some commuters on a New Jersey highway got the chance to grab a bunch of it off the road after a Brinks armored truck spilled its cargo on Route 3 in East Rutherford on December 11, 2018.
It was an incredibly dangerous situation but some people were willing to risk it all for a little dough. One woman who watched the scene unfold said, "There's money all over Route 3, no joke. Can't make this up. I want to get out and go get money too, but I wouldn't dare!" Luckily, no one was injured. Authorities didn't announce if people got to keep the cash they had pocketed.
The Best Kind Of Crab Feast
Motorists couldn't believe their eyes in Summer 2013 when a truck carrying fresh crabs overturned on the freeway. The semi-truck was hauling seven tons worth of lump meat deliciousness at the time, and as you can see from the photo above, passersby had no problems pulling over and collecting dinner.
It's hard to blame them; crab is expensive! The total cost of the accident for the poor driver hauling the load was $176,000. Hopefully, he drove the McDonald's fry truck on his way home!
This Is What Caused The Potato Famine
Oh, how history could have been written differently! This potato truck was passing through our nation's capital when the spud hit the fan! Before the driver knew it, his cargo spilled onto the road. Potatoes were everywhere, and drivers were suddenly going nowhere.
We don't know where the potato truck was going, but the famine happening there is genuinely tragic. Also, the amount of potatoes lost on this list brings tears to our eyes. No potato should ever go uneaten!
This Is Not What Picasso Had In Mind
Only in Novia Scotia would a pick-up truck full of paint spill its colorful guts on the road. The truck was crossing a bridge at the time, making 400 feet of roadway look like the water beneath. That's must have been terrifying for anyone driving past!
Traffic for the morning commute was re-routed while cleanup took place. The most challenging part of the cleanup was making sure the slow-moving paint didn't reach any storm drains. If any had entered the water supply, it could have been devastating for the environment!
Before There Was Whiskey There Was The Frozen Pizza Incident
About one year before a big rig spilled whiskey everywhere in Arkansas; another one gave free frozen pizzas to the world. The tractor full of pizza was taking Interstate 30 in Little Rock when it couldn't clear a bridge. Its top came off, and frozen pizza went everywhere!
To clean up the frozen pizzas, local law enforcement chose not to call starving college students. Instead, they used "front loaders" to pick up the pizza, then brought in a giant broom (not kidding) to sweep away the remaining debris.
Your College Greatest Hits Just Keep Coming
North Carolina almost had a college walkout when a truck carrying ramen noodles veered off the road and crashed in 2015. The driver of the truck admitted to falling asleep behind the wheel when he crashed into the guardrail and spilled over to the other side of the freeway.
College students searching for the dorm room staple at the grocery store were reportedly confused and refused to explore the fresh produce or meat aisles. Luckily Hot Pockets were still in stock in the freezer section.
40,000 Pounds Of Sausage In Sheboygan County
What's important is none of the 40,000 pounds of sausage spilled in 2009 in Sheboygan County was bacon. The bad news is we still lost 40,000 pounds of sausage to the wilderness. This is why truck drivers should pull over at 1 in the morning to sleep instead of playing destruction derby with each other!
The truck was hit from behind and rolled off the road, spilling every piece of meat it was carrying. The driver was unharmed in the process. The county closed the road for an undisclosed number of hours after to have an early morning barbeque.
There's Lost Money All Over The Road
If the following stories are real, then one of the smartest things you can do on a road trip is stopping a lot and look for money. Since 2004 at least three trucks carrying large sums of money have crashed and spilled their riches across the United States.
In 2004 an armored truck caring $2 million worth of coins wrecked on a New Jersey Turnpike. One year a later another armored vehicle caught fire in Alabama and coughed up $800,000 worth of coins. And finally, in 2009 and truck crashed in Miami and released 3.5 million nickels. That's a lot of chump change!
The Maple Syrup Incident At Buttermilk Pike
We promise we're not making this up. In 2012 a truck full of maple syrup crushed at Buttermilk Pike. We have no further news of a nearby Pancake Avenue or Waffle Lane. There is not a lot of information available regarding the sticky situation, but we can tell you a few things.
The Buttermilk Pike in question is located in Kentucky. A quick google search for the term reveals there is another one in New York. Load up a truck with syrup, looks like we're going to Manhattan!
More Than Just Donuts Were Lost That Night
The year was 2011. A big rig driving I-74 in Illinois crashed, losing 20 tons of frozen food and meats in the process. The only picture we could find was of the donuts above, but rest assured, there was an entire freezer section worth of food that needed to be cleaned up.
The driver of the truck escaped the accident with non-life threatening injuries. The clean up took over seven hours. Workers probably had to go through to figure out what they could take home with them. Anytime we can avoid the grocery store we do!
The Scariest Spill Of All Time
Before we even begin, a lot of people got stung in the process of cleaning up this mess. It was not a pleasant scene in Idaho when a truck carrying honey and 14 million bees crashed. The brave men and women who helped clean up the mess were thanked with countless stings.
We're amazed anyone even volunteered to help clean this up. If we saw this happen on the news, we'd move a state over. Bees are no joke, and 14 million of them is a set up for the scariest horror film we don't want to be a part of!
A Colorful Truck Spill That's Almost Art
We don't know where this colorful truck spill occurred but it was certainly impossible to ignore after it occurred. A truck carrying what appears to be five-gallon buckets of paint flipped over and the buckets burst open.
The paint started to slide down the road, causing a unique rainbow of colors. We can only imagine how much of a pain it was to turn this road back to its original color. It's really amazing where you can find art even when you're not looking for it.
That's A Whole Lot Of Green Beans
In September 2014 a truck was driving through Surrey when it tipped over and spilled thousands of vegetables all over the highway. This might be the healthiest cargo load spill on our list.
We're pretty sure this is what it looked like under the dinner table when we were children, just a massive mess of green beans we were trying to hide from our parents. There had to be millions of green beans from this spill — so many that it almost looks like grass lining the side of the road.
A Giant Does Of Vitamin C
In September 2014 a giant truck full of oranges spilled onto the road in San Diego, California. The truck overturned and by the time California Highway Patrol showed up, thousands of oranges remained littered on the road.
You know those fruits that are discarded at the grocery store because they don't quite fit the quality standard that grocers are looking for? Times that by tens of thousands and you have this unfortunate but also very healthy accident.
Flaming Avocados Dumped Out Of This Truck
In December 2017, a trucker was driving through Texas on Interstate 35E when 40,000 avocados were involved in an accident. In a moment of sheer terror, the avocados caught on fire and firefighters were called in.
The accident was so bad that the interstate was closed down for most of the day as the delicious food was scorched to a crisp. Who says this wonderful food item can't be bad for your health. It's all about perspective.
20 Carts Full Of Cookie Dough
North Carolina's Highway 17 was littered with 20 carts full of fresh cookie dough during an accident on May 15, 2018. As you can see from the photo, it was a massive mess that blocked traffic.
The accident occurred when a truck carrying the cookie dough accelerated too fast to make a green light. In total 20 rolling carts of dough fell out of the back of the truck. Thankfully nobody on the busy street was hurt but they were probably shocked by the sight of all that fresh cookie dough littering the street.
A Truck Full Of Corn Dogs Couldn't Stick On The Road
A truck driver in Shreveport, Louisiana lost control of his semi-truck and overturned, spilling corndogs across I-220 West. Drivers were forced to detour and it took most of the morning to pick up the giant mess that occurred.
It might not be the craziest spill on our list but a lot of people were probably feeling the urge to play carnival games or visit a hot dog on a stick after this mess was spotted.
A Giant Scrambled Mess
Imagine driving down the street and all of a sudden you are met with a lake of scrambled eggs. That's what happened when this truck turned over and spilled thousands of eggs onto the roadway. This wasn't even the first time an egg truck has turned over.
Anyone who cooks with eggs knows they can be slippery and nearly impossible to corral when they break free of their container. I'd hate to be the person responsible for trying to clean up this mess. Apparently, even if your eggs aren't all in one basket they can cause quite a shakeup.
'Crappy' Way To Start The Day, Says One Man Affected By This Spill
Treated solid waste, certified as commercial-grade fertilizer but still smelly, spilled out of a big rig in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The public was assured that there was no risk of contamination from the stinky mess.
Local resident Bradley Robinson was not amused by the spill. "A crappy way to start my Friday," he told reporters. "There were piles that were this big and up near where the truck was, he had a pile that was really big. That first initial one, I kind of chopped it down for everybody."
This Is A Couch Potato's Dream Come True
In 2016, two big rigs collided in Melbourne, Florida. You won't believe what they were carrying. One of the trucks was full of beer and the other was loaded with potato chips. It sounds like a match made in heaven, except none of the munchies could be saved.
A spokesperson for the Florida Highway Patrol said, "All of the products will be thrown away. they can't take the risk of them having some type of internal damage. They're still trying to get the chips and beer out of there." Too bad for anyone hoping for a free snack.
Pears For Everyone
In January 2018, a big rig carrying pears crashed in China. The result was a spill involving 20 tons of the coveted fruit. Locals soon found out and made a bee-line for the wreck site.
According to a report by the South China Morning Post, "The villagers were well-organized: some filled the bags with pears, others loaded these in nearby cars and vans, while others drove the fruit back to the village." It turned out that the fruit was too damaged to sell, anyway, so the pears' owner said it was OK for people to take them.
Yogurt Responsible For Shutting Down Multiple Lanes In Toronto
Well, this is sad news for all you yogurt lovers out there. This truck was carrying a load of yogurt (no word on the flavor) down a busy section of Highway 401 in Toronto when disaster struck. According to witnesses, the big rig sideswiped some support posts for an electronic sign.
In the process, the truck's entire side was ripped open and its precious load of yogurt was spilled. This was one rush hour that witnesses won't soon forget.
A Spill With A Happy Ending
Just before Thanksgiving in 2014, the unthinkable happened: a truck carrying a load of 25,000 pounds of frozen turkeys flipped over after a too-fast turn. The turkeys were sent spilling all over the busy roadway near Oakland, California.
There was a happy ending here, though. The turkeys were too damaged to sell, so instead they got donated to the Alameda County Food Bank, whose spokesperson said, "receiving this volume of meat protein is rare for us any time of year – and a donation like this simply couldn’t come at a better time." He continued, "this is going to add a significant helping of holiday joy to thousands of households throughout our community.”
Lego All Over The Road
We all know how much it hurts to step on a Lego block in bare feet. But how many of us know what it's like to drive over a whole bunch of Legos? People who were driving down Interstate 79 in West Virginia on March 6, 2013 got a chance to find out.
This road "block" wasn't the result of a semi truck spill, but rather a private passenger vehicle. The family inside had their Legos in a crate strapped to the roof, and it became dislodged, spilling the blocks everywhere. A woman named Tiffany Lantz took responsibility for the situation and apologized to everyone who was inconvenienced.
Poor Fido
Now, this is an unusual sight. Here's a semi truck in Australia that has tipped over and spilled a load of... processed meat. Yuck. This meat was en route to a processing plant, where it would be used to make dog food.
This unfortunate situation took place in Australia on June 25, 2006. But perhaps the loss of meat caused a lot of dogs to convert to vegetarianism?
Aloha, Staten Island!
Perhaps the trucking gods felt that Staten Island, New York, needed some sweet Hawaiian vibes on May 31, 2014. That's the day that a tractor-trailer full of pineapples overturned on the Staten Island Expressway, sending its load all over the road.
Traffic was shut down for several hours as a result. A second car was involved in the wreck but that vehicle's driver only received minor injuries, luckily.
But What About All The Avocado Toast?
Woah, this had to have seemed extra tragic to all those dedicated people who eat avocado toast every morning. Not to mention people who love guacamole on everything. On December 28, 2017, a semi-truck carrying 40,000 pounds of the green goodness crashed and caught on fire.
This took place near Forreston, Texas. Firefighters were able to put out the blaze, but all those precious avocadoes were lost. Fortunately no human were injured in the process. The above photo shows the last of the cleanup efforts.
A Lumbering Cleanup Effort
This looks like a bad case of the Mondays, and it really did happen on Monday, May 12, 2003. The semi-truck seen here crashed and overturned on I-295, near the exit to the Falmouth access road of the Maine Turnpike.
We hope the lumber was salvageable. That's a lot of good wood to go to waste! Lumber spills are apparently pretty common in that part of the country, with one taking place in 2010 and another as recently as 2015.
Paint Just Can't Be Contained, Apparently
Who would have guessed that paint spills were so common in the trucking industry? In July of 2018, yet another big rig lost its load of paint, causing a messy spill. This one took place in Jackson County, Alabama. The 18-wheeler carrying the paint overturned, causing the paint to leak from the truck.
Drivers were rerouted for the morning-long ordeal as crews worked to contain the white mess.
Giant Metal Dice
This giant die washed up on the shore of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho in 2017. Reddit user rickrage snapped a picture and posted it to r/mildlyinteresting to show the world. Except users found it more than just mildly interesting.
The "die" was actually a plain box that washed up on Driftwood Point in 2008. The Gridley family painted big circles on the tank to make it look like die. It remained near the Gridley's seaside shop until it drifted 36 miles away to Driftwood.
Mystery Space Craft Parts
Since late 2018, experts have been scratching their heads over this mystery object that landed on the shores of Charleston, South Carolina. The Lowcountry Marine Mammal Network posted the object to Facebook in late 2018.
From the picture, the object looks like metal. But it is actually foam, reports say, and even floated on the seawater. Many believe it looks like a piece of an aircraft or a space ship, but the Marine Mammal Network asserts that it must be a flotation device. Still, no one knows.
Garfield Phones
Since the 1980s, plastic Garfield phones would creep onto the shores of Brittany, France. At first, people thought these phones could have rolled from the deep sea. But after sending divers and submarines to look for the source of the phones, none popped up.
Eventually, a local farmer guided the president of the environmental group Ar Viltansou to a beach cave. He claimed that a storm in the '80s threw a shipment of these Garfield phones into the shoreline cave. The lasagna-loving cat toy housed quite a few starfish and crabs in the meantime.
New Zealand Giant Squid
The Aplin brothers were scouring the coast of Wellington, New Zealand for a diving location when they ran into a 14 ft long giant squid. The brothers then contacted the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, who later removed the squid.
The largest giant squid recorded was 40 feet long, so this was small in comparison. Because giant squids are deep sea creatures, no one is sure how one washed up on the beach. It sure beats any marine animal the Aplin brothers were diving to see, though.
Millions Of Lego Pieces
Back in 1997, a container of Lego pieces fell into the sea, and are still being spotted on beaches today. Nearly five million Lego pieces were being shipped from Tokyo Japan to New York City when the ship was hit by a massive wave, toppling the Lego box overboard.
The Legos spilled into the sea near Cornwall, UK, and continue to appear on British shores. No one knows how many more Lego pieces will threaten beach-goer's feet in the years to come.
A Giant Lego Man
It seems that Japan has many beach Legos to offer. In 2014, a surfer filmed an 8 ft tall Lego man sunbathing on the shore at Yuigahama Beach. The Lego man was created by Dutch artist Ego Leonard as a representation of "the virtual world."
Surprisingly, this wasn't the first giant Lego man to float onto a beach. In 2012, a Lego man glided onto a California beach. And a year before that, Florida's beaches were greeted by another giant Lego man.
80 Million Year Old Dinosaur Bones
These 80 million year old bones were found on the beach among sea creature fossils. In 2012, Burke Museum research associates spotted the bones while exploring Sucia Island State Park. The fossil belongs to the same dinosaur family as the velociraptor and tyrannosaurus rex, although the actual species has not been identified.
Because the bones were so well preserved, scientists believe that the dinosaur lived in shallow water. The giant bones washed up on Sucia Island beach and lay buried under sand and rocks. At 17 in long and 9 in wide, it's a big find!
A Floating Piano
In 2014, New Yorkers flocked to take pictures with a piano floating in the East River under Brooklyn Bridge. The piano remained half-submerged until it finally washed up onto the shore. Surprisingly, it remained in good condition, but it makes no sound.
No one really knows where the piano came from. Some suspect that it may have fallen off a truck, or was abandoned by a former owner. Either way, it has captured the imaginations of many New York photographers.
A 200 ft Long Barge
In 2018, a 40-ton barge drifted onto Florida's St. Pete Beach. Measuring at 200 ft long, 40 ft wide and 8 ft tall, that barge shouldn't have moved. Only a week before, a recent storm created 7 ft waves that pushed the barge almost 30 miles.
Luhr Bros Inc., who owned the barge, claimed that it was used for a beach restoration project in Pinellas County. Coastal resource managers had to wait for the storm to pass to finally move it.
Love Letters From WWII
A letter in a bottle may be cry for help, but these letters cried for a safe return. Found on Atlantic Highlands beach trail by a 14-year-old boy, these 57 love letters dated back to World War II. Somehow, they remained legible until they were found in 2012.
The letters were written by a young woman in New Jersey to her boyfriend in Vermont. They dated 1942-1948, up to the week they got married. The family who found the letters later tracked down the author. She was still alive, though her husband passed away in 1991.
Forty-Year-Old Doritos
A fisherman in North Carolina had to call a local shop owner to report, "I got two stripers and 35 bags of Doritos." That's because, in 2006, a trailer-sized box filled with thousands of Doritos tipped overboard near the beaches of Hatteras Island.
Hundreds of these red and blue bags lay scattered all over the beaches. Clean-up volunteers ended up filling trucks with mostly undamaged bags. The bags washed up included Spicy Nacho, Cool Ranch and Nacho Cheese Doritos, in case anyone wants to take a bite.
$180,000 Worth Of Whale Excrement
When Ken Wilman discovered a foul-smelling chunky blob on the beach, he initially had no interest in it. But he later looked it up online and found that it was worth $180,000. Naturally, he went back and picked it up. Wilman had found a 6-pound pile of ambergris, or "whale vomit."
Despite its name, ambergris is actually excrement produced in a whale's intestines to guard its insides against sharp squid beaks. But why is it worth so much? Well, ambergris is used in perfumes to make the scent stay on the skin much longer.
Perfectly Round Snowballs
A shoreline in western Siberia was absolutely flooded with snowballs in November of 2016. Each snowball was around the size of a tennis ball and covered 11 miles of coastline. Oddly enough, the water did not freeze over as the balls did.
BBC reports stated that the icy orbs formed through natural phenomena. According to them, the snowballs "result from a rare environmental process where small pieces of ice form, are rolled by wind and water, and end up as giant snowballs." Beach snow day anyone?
A Two-Headed Dolphin
A gym teacher in Turkey stumbled upon an odd site during his beach vacation. In 2014, Tugrul Metin reported finding a two-headed dolphin, with two sets of eyes, and one blowhole. Though the dolphin was buried the next day, it was later dug back up for further study.
Scientists diagnosed the dolphin with polycephaly, where an animal develops two heads. This condition makes survival a struggle for the animal. Studies find that the mutation is likely caused by marine pollution.
A Life-Sized E.T. Replica
When a beach-goer called the police to report a body floating in the water, police rushed to the scene--only to find a beloved extraterrestrial. A life-sized E.T. model tumbled onto the shore of Old Portsmouth in the UK in April 2019.
The doll belonged to Margaret Wells, whose daughter crafted it for her. E.T. had been stolen in September, but Wells luckily got the doll back. He was a bit roughed up and lost a finger, but still intact.
