On Tuesday, the California Highway Patrol’s Modesto team posted to its Facebook page a picture of a Ram 1500 squeezed tightly inside a box truck. It’s an impressive scene that left many commenters scratching their heads. Who did this and why? How did the driver get out of the pickup? Luckily, the Modesto Bee talked with the CHP to get answers.
“WHERE DO WE START?” the Facebook post, which as of this writing has over 1,000 shares, reads, referencing a photo of a Ram 1500 somehow crammed into a box truck, its nose poking through the rear opening and over the big white cargo-hauler’s aft bumper.
The Modesto Bee spoke with Officer Thomas Olsen from the CHP, who told the news site that a CHP officer had spotted this white truck on the highway with only a single strap holding the pickup down. According to the story, the Ram was “moving back and forth,” and the officer was worried it would roll out. Like, seriously worried, telling the news site: “...there’s no doubt in my mind it eventually would have fallen out of the truck.”
So he pulled the truck-inside-a-truck over.
In the comments section of the post, CHP-Modesto describes the issue further, saying:
[The pickup] Requires 4-point tie down. That’s if the towing vehicle is equipped to secure vehicle. We’re working with the drive to find the best and safest outcome.
According to the Modesto Bee, the 41-year-old driver from Florida had driven his Ram from Texas to Stockton, California, where he had purchased the box truck. He was apparently on his return trip to Texas when the officer pulled him over.
The article goes on to note that using this box truck to carry the pickup wasn’t illegal, as the tight fit (and the fact that the box truck’s rear door won’t close) and weight ratings were within the law. The only issue was the lack of a proper tie-down setup.
Then come the more important questions about how this was even possible; the California newspaper has answers:
So, how did he get the Ram into the truck? The place he bought it had a loading ramp, so he just carefully backed in.
And getting out of the Ram? “We were as puzzled as anyone else,” Olsen said. Dagoberto explained that he squeaked out the driver side window (must be a slender guy) and walked across the hood.
The driver did receive a citation, and—after being allowed to drive off the highway to a gas station—was told to stop driving until the pickup was properly secured, and was also told where he could buy tie-downs.
Assuming the driver eventually snagged some straps, he may have just continued on with his journey, which is good, because it’d have been a bummer if he couldn’t at least reap the benefits of this impressively tight parking job.