A sheriff’s office located in Markleeville, California, recently reached out to CDLLife to ask us to spread the word about a dangerous and potentially costly stretch of road for truck drivers.
A civilian manager from the Alpine County Sheriff’s Office recently contacted CDLLife asking us to let readers know that they should “NOT listen to their GPS and try to travel over Highway 4/Ebbetts Pass between Markleeville and Bear Valley. They will NOT make it.”
The Alpine County Sheriff’s Office says that several truckers have been stranded on hairpin turns on Highway 4/Ebbetts Pass “resulting in huge $$ tow bills and citations for being overlength. It just keeps happening because their GPS says it is a road.”
The manager went on to explain where the trouble is occurring: “Highway 4/Ebbetts Pass between Markleeville, CA and Bear Valley, CA. Highway 4 continues down into the central valley crossing Interstates 99 and 5, but up here trucks try to go over the pass and CANNOT make it.
“Also – the long trucks, with the 52′ trailers are actually overlength on this road anyway. But the drivers ignore the signs and blindly follow their GPS. ALSO – the tow truck fee is around $2,000 to get them out of there. If you can put the word out and it helps even ONE trucker then that would be great,” she said.
She also said that one trucker hauling ice cream actually went over the edge of the pass — much to the delight of local bears: “This was a Haagen Dazs truck that actually went over. Luckily the driver jumped out before it went down. The Bears had a GREAT summer LOL.”
