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Strange But True - Curiosity Put the Drivers in the Drink

In this edition of Strange But True, drivers have an unfortunate encounter with a moat, a driver assumed he could modify a vehicle without asking, and a fleet manager discovers an unusual source for a vehicle warning sound.

August 12, 2011
Strange But True - Curiosity Put the Drivers in the Drink

 

2 min to read


‘Curiouser and Curiouser’

A private security company had a contract to patrol the perimeter of a large oil refinery. There was a large berm surrounding the property, with a deep moat inside to catch any spills that might occur. The fleet manager received a panicked call from the supervisor on duty stating a driver was overcome by curiosity, drove a car to the top of the berm, only to find he was unable to stop. The car rolled down the back side and plunged into the water. The driver was fortunate to get out safely, albeit soaking wet. The next day, another driver did the exact same thing.

Taking Back What’s Yours?

A new fleet manager for a major sporting goods company received a call from a wholesaler who had just received a vehicle to sell on consignment.

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“This thing has holes in the roof,” the wholesaler said. The fleet manager immediately called the driver, who had just picked up his new car. “What did you do to that car you turned in?” he inquired.

The driver calmly replied, “Oh, I just took off the roof rack I paid for a while back.”

The driver had purchased a roof rack for the car as a driver-paid option, and thought it quite reasonable to take it off and bolt it to the new one. 

Favor for a Friend

A fleet manager’s friend asked him to stop by his house and repair the battery cable on his truck. He cut the cable because he thought he had a short in the truck and was afraid of a fire. When the manager’s friend turned off the vehicle and pulled out the key, he heard the annoying warning “dinger” still going off. After trying to find the sound under the dash, he proceeded to try and disconnect the battery. All he had was a pair of side-cutters, so he cut the cable. When he went to manually lock the truck, he still heard the warning dinger going off. The sound turned out to be a toy under the floor board pressing the vehicle’s warning activation button.

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