Big trucks often solve big problems, but what happens when the big truck gets stuck in a big problem because it is too big?
In a viral TikTok that has more than 732,400 views as of this writing, Stephanie (@faststeph) reveals how her Ford F-150 truck got stuck in a Vegas hotel parking garage.
So, How Did the Truck Get Stuck in the Parking Garage?
“Just a word of advice, if you are staying in a Vegas hotel, don’t bring a big truck. I have no idea how we are going to get out,” she begins.
Stephanie shows how her Ford F-150 got stuck when trying to exit the parking garage. As she attempted to exit, her truck met the ceiling of the clearance, which brought it to a halt.
This put the content creator in quite a dilemma, trying a variety of maneuvers to get her truck to fit under the clearance. She began by deflating all tires to drop the height, but this wasn’t enough.
The next move was to load up the bed of the truck with random people who were walking by to lower the truck. They packed eight people in the bed, and while it seemed strange, it did the trick. With enough weight in the bed, the truck was able to move past the clearance and escape the parking garage.
“The group of people that walked by offered to get into the bed of the truck. It was amazing and they were such sweet people,” Stephanie told Motor1.
Once the truck passed through the clearance, everyone cheered and celebrated the effort of teamwork.
How Did the Truck Even Get Into the Garage?
So, if the truck got stuck leaving the garage, how did it even fit going in? In the caption, Stephanie writes, “The sign said 6’10”. We are 6’10”. The math should’ve math’d. Spoiler: it did not.” She also notes that she’s aware oversized parking exists, but it was late and her truck technically should have fit, so she parked in the smaller garage, leaving many commenters wondering how she got in in the first place.
“She has no idea how they are going to get out. We have no idea how she got in,” one TikTok commenter shared.
“Was the truck assembled in the garage?” another commenter joked.
In a follow-up TikTok, Stephanie addresses the comments.
According to Stephanie, the parking garage functioned as a one-way in and one-way out in two different directions. Going in, the clearance was allegedly higher, and she had no issues entering the garage. Due to the flow of hotel traffic with taxis, Ubers, and valets, going out the entrance wasn’t an option.
She did mention she got valet parking, and asked about oversized parking options when booking. The hotel informed her that the parking garage would accommodate her truck. The valet drivers found a way to get the truck in, but getting it out was a different story.
Many of the comments continued to hammer the idea of reading the clearance sign and knowing your truck height.
“Aww pavement pwincess can’t navigate the parking garage,” one troll shared.
“Or read the clearance sign and know your truck height,” another added.
Stephanie told Motor1, “The sign was wrong. I measured the truck and it’s under 6’10 (without passengers and luggage), and it should’ve fit. This particular beam of cement had marks on it from others hitting it.”
When the Math Doesn’t Add Up, Who’s Responsible?
Typically, when a car hits the clearance ceiling, the driver is responsible for knowing the height of the vehicle, Penske reports—especially if the garage is marked with the maximum clearance height, which this Vegas hotel’s garage was. However, what if the sign is incorrect?
The hotel garage claimed to have a maximum clearance of 6’10”, and the truck measured in at 6’9.5” once the tape measure got pulled out. On paper, the truck should have fit under the clearance. However, this is a tight squeeze to pull off in the game of inches. Trying to slide this one by is definitely ambitious, to say the least.
In general terms, the driver would be responsible for any damages that occurred. The hotel becomes responsible for damages if the clearance sign is incorrect, which may have been the case.
According to the American Concrete Institute, concrete beams can lower and become defective over time. This is referred to as creep, and this happens when concrete is under stress and weight. Parking garages are always dealing with various weights on a daily basis. Depending on the age of the parking garage, the concrete may be dealing with creep. Over time, the concrete beam in the garage may have lowered, making the maximum height sign incorrect.
The only way to verify this is to measure the concrete beam that stopped the truck from exiting at the Vegas hotel.
“What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas,” the concrete beam tried to enforce. Luckily for Stephanie, the truck was able to escape the parking garage with the help of eight people in the bed of the truck and deflated tires.
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