Trucking is a lonely line of work. The loyalty, quiet companionship, and unconditional love provided by a canine co-pilot can be a significant help to a trucker. A dog in the cab can also, depending on the dog in question, lead to some pretty hilarious situations. Last week in Mankato, Minnesota, just such a hilarious situation ensued.
On the afternoon of March 4, Marie Brace of Mankato stopped at the local Kwik Trip where she stumbled on to a scene straight out of an early-80s Glen Larson television show. A red semi-truck pulling a gravel trailer had hopped a curb, demolished a tree, and smashed up a Ford Taurus at the gas pumps before coming to rest. Behind the wheel, with his head out of the open driver’s side window, was an extremely proud-looking Labrador Retriever.
Mankato Police told Fox 9that the truck driver left his big rig idling across the street from the Kwik Trip while he went into a nearby store. Apparently the dog knocked the truck into gear, and it crept slowly out of the lot, across the street, and into the Kwik Trip with the dog at the wheel.
No one was hurt during the Lab’s short and surprisingly destructive joyride, and no citations were issued at the scene. Mankato Police state that an investigation is ongoing, and that the truck has been pulled form service pending a thorough mechanical inspection.