WEBVTT Kind: captions Language: en 00:00:00.750 --> 00:00:04.770 You’re on your way home from work after having just finished working a double shift. 00:00:04.770 --> 00:00:09.920 It’s late and the interstate is completely abandoned, no cars visible either in front 00:00:09.920 --> 00:00:10.980 or behind you. 00:00:10.980 --> 00:00:15.009 It’s only about a twenty minute drive but you know you’re going to struggle to stay 00:00:15.009 --> 00:00:19.270 awake, even in this old beater that shakes and rattles as it travels down the long, straight 00:00:19.270 --> 00:00:20.490 road. 00:00:20.490 --> 00:00:24.710 The rattling causes a piece of tape to fall off of the gauge cluster, revealing a lit 00:00:24.710 --> 00:00:26.340 “check engine” light beneath. 00:00:26.340 --> 00:00:30.070 You grab the tape and put it back over the light, covering it once again. 00:00:30.070 --> 00:00:31.270 There, good as new. 00:00:31.270 --> 00:00:36.360 You turn on the radio and it comes to life for just a moment before dying. 00:00:36.360 --> 00:00:40.620 You slap the radio and it blinks to life for just a second before dying again. 00:00:40.620 --> 00:00:44.879 You’re about to slap it again when you notice lights in your rearview mirror. 00:00:44.879 --> 00:00:48.719 And more than just a pair of headlights, it’s a whole wall of lights. 00:00:48.719 --> 00:00:51.270 They’re getting closer and quickly too. 00:00:51.270 --> 00:00:54.719 Before you know it, they look like they’re barreling down on you. 00:00:54.719 --> 00:00:58.500 But then, they suddenly go black, blinking out of existence. 00:00:58.500 --> 00:01:02.870 “Did that trucker just turn off his lights?” you think but you have no time to dwell on 00:01:02.870 --> 00:01:07.700 the thought because the sound of an explosion suddenly causes you to scream in fright. 00:01:07.700 --> 00:01:11.210 It sounds like lightning has struck just inches from your car. 00:01:11.210 --> 00:01:14.530 The inside of your car suddenly lights up with fire and smoke. 00:01:14.530 --> 00:01:15.530 Has your engine exploded? 00:01:15.530 --> 00:01:16.670 What’s going on? 00:01:16.670 --> 00:01:21.470 No, it’s not coming from you, it’s coming from… next to you. 00:01:21.470 --> 00:01:25.700 You don’t know where it appeared from, but next to your car is now a massive semi. 00:01:25.700 --> 00:01:28.119 At least you think it was a semi. 00:01:28.119 --> 00:01:31.439 The smoke is so thick it makes you cough and you quickly can’t see. 00:01:31.439 --> 00:01:35.520 You lose control of the car and slam on the brakes, but you can feel yourself going off 00:01:35.520 --> 00:01:36.600 the road. 00:01:36.600 --> 00:01:40.920 As the smoke finally clears up inside of your car you can see… the moon. 00:01:40.920 --> 00:01:45.860 It’s at this moment that you realize you’re no longer right side up as the car flips and 00:01:45.860 --> 00:01:47.960 tumbles through the air. 00:01:47.960 --> 00:01:51.110 You open your eyes to find that you’re still buckled into your seat. 00:01:51.110 --> 00:01:54.320 You release the seat belt and drop to the roof of the car. 00:01:54.320 --> 00:01:59.310 You crawl out to find that your car slid to a stop, upside down, several meters from the 00:01:59.310 --> 00:02:00.430 road. 00:02:00.430 --> 00:02:05.280 You look around, and far off in the distance you can see it, the semi that ran you off 00:02:05.280 --> 00:02:09.530 the road, driving at an almost impossible rate of speed off into the night. 00:02:09.530 --> 00:02:14.230 You look back at your car, which is completely totaled, and wonder what you’re going to 00:02:14.230 --> 00:02:15.260 do now. 00:02:15.260 --> 00:02:18.610 It’s late the next morning when you finally get back home. 00:02:18.610 --> 00:02:22.650 The police did not seem to believe your story about the magically appearing semi-truck causing 00:02:22.650 --> 00:02:26.819 your single car accident, but they did at least give you a ride back home after administering 00:02:26.819 --> 00:02:28.650 a sobriety test. 00:02:28.650 --> 00:02:33.270 You enter your small studio apartment and look around at the sparsely decorated room, 00:02:33.270 --> 00:02:36.709 wondering how you’re going to pay rent next month if you can’t get to your job. 00:02:36.709 --> 00:02:40.390 You go to the fridge and open the door, but there’s nothing inside except for a carton 00:02:40.390 --> 00:02:43.489 of milk that’s well past its expiration date. 00:02:43.489 --> 00:02:48.569 You open it and take a whiff but this is too far gone even for your state of desperation. 00:02:48.569 --> 00:02:51.530 You close the fridge and lean on the door, trying to figure out what you’re going to 00:02:51.530 --> 00:02:52.530 do. 00:02:52.530 --> 00:02:55.879 You’re so deep in thought that you barely notice the mail being pushed through the slot 00:02:55.879 --> 00:02:56.879 in your door. 00:02:56.879 --> 00:03:00.739 You decide to go pick it up, even though you know it will only be bad news. 00:03:00.739 --> 00:03:05.220 And you were right, bills, bills, and more bills. 00:03:05.220 --> 00:03:07.709 First, second, and final notices. 00:03:07.709 --> 00:03:10.820 You wonder if you’ve ever had a piece of good news show up through that slot in your 00:03:10.820 --> 00:03:11.820 door. 00:03:11.820 --> 00:03:12.820 What’s this though? 00:03:12.820 --> 00:03:16.530 The last piece of mail is a battered and folded envelope that looks like it’s been used 00:03:16.530 --> 00:03:18.170 and repurposed many times. 00:03:18.170 --> 00:03:22.660 It feels thick and heavy, but there’s no information on it at all, it’s completely 00:03:22.660 --> 00:03:23.980 blank. 00:03:23.980 --> 00:03:27.670 You open the envelope and your eyes light up. 00:03:27.670 --> 00:03:29.580 Inside… is money. 00:03:29.580 --> 00:03:34.239 It’s a stack of crinkled, old bills, different denominations all in a random order, but there’s 00:03:34.239 --> 00:03:35.340 a lot of them. 00:03:35.340 --> 00:03:37.120 There must be over a thousand dollars here! 00:03:37.120 --> 00:03:39.090 And there’s something else too. 00:03:39.090 --> 00:03:40.580 A note. 00:03:40.580 --> 00:03:44.790 You unfold the creased and dirty piece of paper to see a simple message that looks like 00:03:44.790 --> 00:03:47.470 it was hastily written in black crayon. 00:03:47.470 --> 00:03:50.510 All the note says is “SORRY BOUT LAST NIGHT!! 00:03:50.510 --> 00:03:52.739 HOPE THIS HELPS COMPADRE.” 00:03:52.739 --> 00:03:56.470 You flip the note over and look in the envelope again but there’s nothing else other than 00:03:56.470 --> 00:03:58.269 the wad of cash. 00:03:58.269 --> 00:04:01.870 The apology note may have been unsigned, but you weren’t the first to receive something 00:04:01.870 --> 00:04:04.670 like it, and you would be far from the last. 00:04:04.670 --> 00:04:08.820 The SCP Foundation, though, knows exactly who sent it. 00:04:08.820 --> 00:04:13.810 This was a message from SCP-3899, also known as… 00:04:13.810 --> 00:04:15.569 The Night Hauler. 00:04:15.569 --> 00:04:21.459 SCP-3899 is a black, Peterbilt 379 semi-trailer truck with an attached trailer. 00:04:21.459 --> 00:04:26.020 But as you no doubt have determined, this is no ordinary truck. 00:04:26.020 --> 00:04:31.330 SCP-3899 has the anomalous effect of appearing seemingly at random, upon stretches of highway 00:04:31.330 --> 00:04:36.139 within the continental United States and usually at a considerable distance away from any other 00:04:36.139 --> 00:04:37.500 motorists. 00:04:37.500 --> 00:04:41.449 The truck will manifest already in motion, traveling within roughly three kilometers 00:04:41.449 --> 00:04:46.620 per hour of the posted speed limit, but it will not stay at this speed. 00:04:46.620 --> 00:04:51.790 Once SCP-3899 has appeared, it will almost immediately begin accelerating, and the speeds 00:04:51.790 --> 00:04:54.580 it can reach are truly staggering. 00:04:54.580 --> 00:05:01.090 Despite appearing to be a normal truck, SCP-3899 is able to reach impossibly fast speeds, and 00:05:01.090 --> 00:05:07.740 it’s been observed traveling at over 420 kilometers per hour, or 267 miles per hour. 00:05:07.740 --> 00:05:13.290 As SCP-3899 flies down the road, it will attempt to avoid other vehicles and roadside objects, 00:05:13.290 --> 00:05:18.970 and has even shown the ability to displace itself across short distances, which it seems 00:05:18.970 --> 00:05:22.419 to mostly do in order to avoid collisions with vehicles. 00:05:22.419 --> 00:05:27.710 SCP-3899 will disappear and then immediately appear somewhere else, though always within 00:05:27.710 --> 00:05:30.480 300 meters of its last location. 00:05:30.480 --> 00:05:34.840 This reappearance will be accompanied by a thick cloud of dense, black smoke that lab 00:05:34.840 --> 00:05:39.370 tests have revealed to consist of a mixture of diesel fuel combustion byproducts, volcanic 00:05:39.370 --> 00:05:43.580 ash, and trace amounts of unidentified human blood. 00:05:43.580 --> 00:05:47.970 The anomalous truck will only appear at night, and will demanifest completely once it encounters 00:05:47.970 --> 00:05:54.100 direct sunlight… or if it causes an automotive accident, which it has done plenty of times. 00:05:54.100 --> 00:05:58.350 In one particular incident, undercover SCP Foundation agents working within the Virginia 00:05:58.350 --> 00:06:02.720 State Department of Transportation became aware of reports of a large black truck appearing 00:06:02.720 --> 00:06:06.330 on a particular stretch of interstate that had caused multiple accidents. 00:06:06.330 --> 00:06:10.600 They were able to track down and locate one of the victims of these incidents, a woman 00:06:10.600 --> 00:06:14.310 named Martha Lewis, who they soon brought in for questioning under the guise of it being 00:06:14.310 --> 00:06:16.350 a police investigation. 00:06:16.350 --> 00:06:20.449 The agents questioned Martha on her experience, and she explained her own interaction with 00:06:20.449 --> 00:06:21.690 the black, semi. 00:06:21.690 --> 00:06:22.690 She said: 00:06:22.690 --> 00:06:24.850 “It's all still clear in my head. 00:06:24.850 --> 00:06:28.800 I'm driving down I-64 on my way home and the sun had just gone down. 00:06:28.800 --> 00:06:33.270 There's no other cars and I’m about to take my exit, when out of nowhere this huge truck 00:06:33.270 --> 00:06:35.700 just… appears, right next to me. 00:06:35.700 --> 00:06:39.440 There was a bunch of smoke, like it was on fire or something, and the sound was like 00:06:39.440 --> 00:06:42.039 a bolt of lightning had just struck right next to me. 00:06:42.039 --> 00:06:44.229 It all happened so fast. 00:06:44.229 --> 00:06:47.789 All the smoke clouded my windshield and before I could really process what was happening, 00:06:47.789 --> 00:06:51.000 I was plowing right through a concrete divider and into some trees. 00:06:51.000 --> 00:06:52.550 I think I passed out. 00:06:52.550 --> 00:06:55.650 When I came to, there were paramedics and cops. 00:06:55.650 --> 00:06:57.530 They took me to the hospital.” 00:06:57.530 --> 00:07:01.759 The agents asked if anything happened after that and she said there was one other odd 00:07:01.759 --> 00:07:02.759 thing. 00:07:02.759 --> 00:07:06.919 When she left the hospital and went home there was a letter waiting for her, but it didn’t 00:07:06.919 --> 00:07:09.039 have a return address. 00:07:09.039 --> 00:07:13.450 Inside was a large amount of US currency in a random assortment of denominations, with 00:07:13.450 --> 00:07:16.389 many of the bills appearing wrinkled and worn. 00:07:16.389 --> 00:07:18.849 There was a note in the envelope too which read: 00:07:18.849 --> 00:07:20.080 IM SORRY. 00:07:20.080 --> 00:07:21.349 DIDNT MEAN NO HARM. 00:07:21.349 --> 00:07:22.530 FOR THE DAMAGES. 00:07:22.530 --> 00:07:25.330 GET Y'ALL A NEW RIG AND DRIVE ON!!! 00:07:25.330 --> 00:07:28.610 Later Foundation analysis of the document revealed that the note was written with a 00:07:28.610 --> 00:07:32.139 piece of charcoal on non-anomalous notebook paper. 00:07:32.139 --> 00:07:36.599 Now you’re probably asking yourself the same question that SCP researchers had. 00:07:36.599 --> 00:07:42.090 Just who is the driver of SCP-3899 that apparently wrote this odd note and also paid for the 00:07:42.090 --> 00:07:43.970 damages they caused. 00:07:43.970 --> 00:07:50.449 The operator of the truck, which has been designated as SCP-3899-1, is a very mysterious 00:07:50.449 --> 00:07:51.599 figure. 00:07:51.599 --> 00:07:54.810 Observers who have been able to get a brief glimpse inside of the truck as it moves past 00:07:54.810 --> 00:07:59.310 them at a rapid speed have described the driver as looking only like a silhouette of a slightly 00:07:59.310 --> 00:08:03.789 overweight male wearing the type of headwear that is typically referred to as a “trucker 00:08:03.789 --> 00:08:04.789 hat.” 00:08:04.789 --> 00:08:08.580 Some reports have also alluded to the presence of what appears to be smoky, tentacle-like 00:08:08.580 --> 00:08:13.440 appendages within the cab, though all further efforts to determine the exact physical characteristics 00:08:13.440 --> 00:08:18.900 of 3899-1 have failed, as the truck has proved resistant to any kind of outside scanning 00:08:18.900 --> 00:08:20.380 equipment. 00:08:20.380 --> 00:08:24.170 Most of what is known about the driver has come in the form of direct communication, 00:08:24.170 --> 00:08:28.260 though not in the form of interviews or any other sort of face to face interaction. 00:08:28.260 --> 00:08:33.820 No, while SCP-3899-1 has never been willing to stop and have a discussion with Foundation 00:08:33.820 --> 00:08:38.080 agents, it does seem more than willing to speak with anyone and everyone in its immediate 00:08:38.080 --> 00:08:43.669 vicinity over Citizens band, or CB radio, which is a type of shortwave person to person 00:08:43.669 --> 00:08:47.480 communication system that is popular with many long haul truckers. 00:08:47.480 --> 00:08:51.760 In one particular instance, an SCP Foundation helicopter happened to be traveling above 00:08:51.760 --> 00:08:54.640 a stretch of road where SCP-3899 appeared. 00:08:54.640 --> 00:08:59.970 An agent within the helicopter began communicating with the anomalous trucker, first asking for 00:08:59.970 --> 00:09:02.040 their callsign, to which SCP-3899-1 replied: 00:09:02.040 --> 00:09:06.290 I'M THE NIGHT HAULER AND I'M COMIN' IN HOT! 00:09:06.290 --> 00:09:10.250 I KNOW Y'ALL CAN FEEL THIS SPEED! 00:09:10.250 --> 00:09:15.880 After adjusting their volume to compensate for 3899-1’s loud response, the agent asked 00:09:15.880 --> 00:09:17.950 if the entity could explain where they came from. 00:09:17.950 --> 00:09:18.950 3899-1 answered with: 00:09:18.950 --> 00:09:22.620 I ROLL WITH THE WIND! 00:09:22.620 --> 00:09:25.290 MY WHEELS SING SWEET LOVE TO THE BLACKTOP! 00:09:25.290 --> 00:09:35.543 I'M FILLIN' Y'ALL'S VEINS WITH ROAD SALT AND EXHAUST AND THE SMELL-A BURNIN' RUBBER! 00:09:35.543 --> 00:09:36.543 AIN'T NO BOTHER WHERE I'M FROM, WE ALL GOTTA LIVE FOR THE RIDE AND DIE FOR NOTHIN'! 00:09:36.543 --> 00:09:38.230 “I see,” the agent responded, before asking “Are you… 00:09:38.230 --> 00:09:39.620 ‘hauling’ anything in particular?” 00:09:39.620 --> 00:09:40.980 SCP-3899-1 came back with: 00:09:40.980 --> 00:09:42.340 Ain't you listenin', girl? 00:09:42.340 --> 00:09:43.700 Are you seein' this? 00:09:43.700 --> 00:09:49.420 What I got is pure rattlin' salvation, eighteen wheels at a time! 00:09:49.420 --> 00:09:53.550 When y'all's roads is choked, when the ways is blocked and y'all's speed is all dead and 00:09:53.550 --> 00:09:58.050 gone, I'm droppin' this load and we'll all be drinkin' gas and breathin' smoke! 00:09:58.050 --> 00:10:02.310 The agent didn’t understand though, and asked again who they were and what they wanted. 00:10:02.310 --> 00:10:03.310 3899-1 replied: 00:10:03.310 --> 00:10:06.100 THIS IS FOR THE SOULS OF THE ROAD! 00:10:06.100 --> 00:10:11.769 FOR THE LONG NIGHTS AND DEAD ENGINES AND EVERYONE TRY'NA PUT THAT HORIZON UNDER THEIR WHEELS! 00:10:11.769 --> 00:10:13.610 I AM THE ROAR OF HOT IRON! 00:10:13.610 --> 00:10:15.200 I AM SCREAMING FREEDOM! 00:10:15.200 --> 00:10:17.510 I AM THE DEATH OF ALL BARRIERS! 00:10:17.510 --> 00:10:18.980 THIS RIG AIN'T GOT NO QUIT, HONEY! 00:10:18.980 --> 00:10:19.980 I DO NOT STOP! 00:10:19.980 --> 00:10:20.980 CAN YOU FEEL THE RUMBLE? 00:10:20.980 --> 00:10:21.980 CAN YOU SEE THE FIRE AND SMELL THE BURN? 00:10:21.980 --> 00:10:28.870 I KNOW YOU CAN, I CAN TASTE YOUR HEART AND I KNOW YOU WANT TO FLY APART WITH ME! 00:10:28.870 --> 00:10:33.490 When the agent began to answer in the affirmative that they could indeed “feel the rumble,” 00:10:33.490 --> 00:10:39.190 seemingly caught up in the excitement of SCP-3899-1’s proclamation, the investigation was quickly 00:10:39.190 --> 00:10:42.430 halted and the helicopter broke off from its pursuit. 00:10:42.430 --> 00:10:47.430 Following this incident, the potential memetic influence of communicating with 3899-1 is 00:10:47.430 --> 00:10:49.329 under investigation. 00:10:49.329 --> 00:10:54.860 SCP-3899, being currently uncontainable by any conventional means, has been classified 00:10:54.860 --> 00:10:56.209 as keter. 00:10:56.209 --> 00:11:00.310 Upon reports of it manifesting, all CB radio transmissions emanating from the truck are 00:11:00.310 --> 00:11:06.010 monitored by nearby Foundation listening posts for attempted contact by SCP-3899 to civilian 00:11:06.010 --> 00:11:07.140 recipients. 00:11:07.140 --> 00:11:11.300 Any individuals who were contacted are to be administered Class B amnestics, as are 00:11:11.300 --> 00:11:13.790 any eyewitnesses of the truck itself. 00:11:13.790 --> 00:11:19.300 All information about SCP-3899 is to be suppressed, and a disinformation campaign is active to 00:11:19.300 --> 00:11:23.690 make all reports of a mysterious truck that can appear out of nowhere and move at impossible 00:11:23.690 --> 00:11:27.560 speeds seem like nothing more than an urban legend. 00:11:27.560 --> 00:11:30.230 Just what is SCP-3899? 00:11:30.230 --> 00:11:32.690 Is the driver some sort of anomalous ghost? 00:11:32.690 --> 00:11:37.840 Or perhaps an old, eldritch god, a manifestation of freedom and perpetual motion given physical 00:11:37.840 --> 00:11:41.700 form as a diesel powered behemoth on the highway. 00:11:41.700 --> 00:11:45.210 Perhaps the answer to that question… is up to you. 00:11:45.210 --> 00:11:50.930 Now go and watch another entry from the files of Dr. Bob, like SCP 973 Smokey, for another 00:11:50.930 --> 00:11:55.079 tale of an automotive anomaly with its own very distinct set of goals. 00:11:55.079 --> 00:11:59.209 And make sure you subscribe and turn on notifications, so you don’t miss a single anomaly, as we 00:11:59.209 --> 00:12:03.240 delve further and further into the SCP Foundation’s classified archives.