Trailer overturns with a transformer valued at 2 million euros on the Guanajuato-Silao road in Santa Teresa. A week later, the efforts to rescue the transformer are still ongoing.

[u/Ph6222]

[u/BothChairs]

I work with loads like these. That transformer is a complete loss. I've seen them get rejected at site for a knob being slightly fucked up. This type of load should never have been taking that kind of turn/hill. Whoever planned the route is an idiot

[u/Capable_Lifeguard512 → u/BothChairs]

If you assume someone planed the route.

[u/daveinmd13 → u/Capable_Lifeguard512]

Google Maps

[u/brainmydamage → u/BothChairs]

Yes, but, isn't the driver ultimately responsible for their load?

[u/BothChairs → u/brainmydamage]

Yes, they are. It falls on the driver to decide if it's safe or not. In a situation like this the driver and everyone else is going to be sharing blame. This will probably be in court for years.

[u/noncongruent → u/BothChairs]

I found a news story that indicated it was being moved without a permit, and that it would never have been permitted on this road due to both size and weight. Also, it seems like normal planning for a move like this involves driving the route without the load first to verify all geometry/clearances/angles, which clearly wasn't done since it would never have been permitted for this route.

[u/BothChairs → u/noncongruent]

You're right about doing the route first, called a route survey. If they didn't do that, it would definitely explain how the fucked this up so badly. Especially if there's no permit. Their insurance will probably tell them to pound sand and this will be in court for years and years.

[u/noncongruent → u/BothChairs]

And this happened in Mexico where they put people in jail until they pay off the damage they caused from a crash. Friends of mine used to travel down to San Louis Potosi ever year and they talked about that, said their biggest fear wasn't narcos or crooked small-town cops, but having a car crash.

[u/Nyuusankininryou → u/BothChairs]

Why is the load being placed so far back on the trailer?

[u/BothChairs → u/Nyuusankininryou]

Weight distribution. That thing probably weights at least 125,000 lbs and that's too much weight to put on a regular trailer. This way each axle only has to bare close to a normal tractor trailers amount. It's to help pull it easily and not damage roads. Which these guys definitely did went they flipped

[u/Nyuusankininryou → u/BothChairs]

I see! Cool. Thanks

[u/noncongruent → u/Nyuusankininryou]

It's actually in the middle of the transporter. The wheels you see are just the front set of wheels, there's a matching set of wheels after the transformer as well as a second truck acting as a pusher behind that.

[u/TreborG2 → u/BothChairs]

I don't think it was really just the load, the issue was they have a truck hauling a trailer hauling a second trailer. It's fine in a straight line but anytime you deviate from a straight flat level line, that's where the distance and overall length of the thing becomes the issue.

[u/josbossboboss → u/TreborG2]

No it's all one trailer, a front set of wheels and an equal set of back wheels, there are big struts that span across with a U shape in the middle that holds the load.

[u/meepyneepy]

Is the guy on the trailer alive?

[u/misocontra → u/meepyneepy]

Died of embarrassment

Edit: Oh. I thought you meant the driver. Shit I hope so.

[u/indianabobbyknight → u/misocontra]

Yeah idk he’s probably deader than dead, I can’t see many ways out of this one, he’s literally in between gravity and the laws of physics

[u/Tullyswimmer → u/indianabobbyknight]

I actually looked it up. Allegedly there were no serious injuries or fatalities and I genuinely don't have the slightest idea how.

[u/indianabobbyknight → u/Tullyswimmer]

Green lantern, only possible way.

[u/nd4spd1919 → u/Tullyswimmer]

It looks like he starts moving towards the front of the transformer before he's obscured from view.

[u/Nix-geek → u/meepyneepy]

I think that's him freaking out @28 seconds.... He looks all kinds of 'what the hell just happened'

[u/_disco_potato]

I live near a place that manufactures these in the US. 90% of the time they just build the things directly onto a train car and ship them out on rail. But every now and then the road by my neighborhood gets shut down and a huge vocational truck and trailer haul one of these out. They weigh more than the sun.

[u/avengedpixels]

What a noob. I do this so easy on American truck simulator.

[u/Crashtestdummy87 → u/avengedpixels]

pffft thats easy mode, try snowrunner

[u/Claude-QC-777 → u/Crashtestdummy87]

Sadly, you can't get to 60mph without suddenly finding yourself slide as if tarmac was suddenly black ice on road on a slight curve...

ATS definitely allow it.

[u/17_ScarS]

That's two lives lost in just this one curve.

[u/Tullyswimmer → u/17_ScarS]

According to news reports that I could find, nobody was even seriously injured and I genuinely have no idea how.

[u/CCHS_Band_Geek → u/Tullyswimmer]

that's because they were squished with such force that their remains were paper thin and flew with the wind

[u/CameronsTheName → u/CCHS_Band_Geek]

To shreds you say ?

[u/4entzix → u/CameronsTheName]

Your are technically correct… the best kind of correct

[u/17_ScarS → u/Tullyswimmer]

RIP transformer. RIP unknown person who is memorialized by the small white cross in the ground.

[u/Santex117]

Yeah that driver was moving waaay to confidently with $2 million strapped to the back

[u/Dry_Seaworthiness_31]

The rescue for the transformer are still ongoing???? What about the dude who was riding on that trailer???? Was he rescued????

[u/weilanwangxian → u/Dry_Seaworthiness_31]

I had to rewatch, I hope he's ok 😬😬

[u/noncongruent]

Near as I can tell this is the location:

https://www.google.com/maps/place/36260+Santa+Teresa,+Guanajuato/@20.9615383,-101.3219846,1929a,40.1y,24.46h,85.42t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sZPfgqejFRLclbInsUG7hZg!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.clients6.google.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fcb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26pitch%3D4.579999999999998%26panoid%3DZPfgqejFRLclbInsUG7hZg%26yaw%3D24.46!7i13312!8i6656!4m7!3m6!1s0x842b7603a87fe073:0xf697fc2eb14bf5b6!8m2!3d20.9609262!4d-101.3154276!10e5!16s%2Fg%2F11c263vhf9!5m1!1e1?hl=en&entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI2MTAwNy4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

Sorry about the massive google streetview link, this sub doesn't allow Google-created shortened map links.

Streetview is from 12 years ago so much may have changed since then. This road is Carr. Guanajuato-Silao, it's the original road between Guanajuato and Santa Teresa, and this is the only curve on that road that can be video recorded from that angle. Unfortunately being recorded in portrait lost a lot of information that would have been more useful in geolocating this.

More info:

https://oem.com.mx/noticiasvespertinas/local/retiro-de-transformador-volcado-mantiene-afectaciones-en-la-carretera-guanajuato-irapuato-32453282

Looks like they'll be able to move the transformer out in one piece.

And it's been recovered:

https://periodicocorreo.com.mx/guanajuato/2026/oct/07/tras-mas-de-100-horas-de-trabajo-rescatan-transformador-de-siemens-en-santa-teresa-guanajuato-168483.html

Looks like they used multiple cranes to pick it up.

Whoops, looks like it was being moved without a permit, and that load would never have been permitted for that stretch of road:

https://portalguanajuato.mx/2026/10/08/revisara-gobierno-federal-danos-causados-por-la-volcadura-del-transformador-en-santa-teresa/

[u/Crab_Jealous]

Sheeeeeeeeeeeeeet....

[u/KILLALLEXTREMISTS]

NGL, I was really hoping to see a big Bumblebee or Optimus Prime on there.

[u/enigmatic407]

r/ThatLookedExpensive

[u/asonofasven]

Unrelated, but why does the truck have stickers covering a fourth of the windshield?

[u/noncongruent]

There are not that many cranes in the world that can lift that transformer, and that road isn't good enough to get any of those cranes to that site. My bet is that it gets scrapped in place over the next few years.

[u/shaun3000]

I bet the only looked at the curve radius and didn’t consider the super elevation. Seems like a super rookie mistake.

[u/PutridANDPurple]

Went and pissed off the dog, smh

[u/josbossboboss]

The guy standing on the wrong side caused it to tip over.