The man told police that he was looking for his wallet inside a dumpster, when it was picked up and placed into the back of the garbage truck.
He managed to survive the three-hour ride by building a coffin, which he did by maneuvering pieces of lumber around himself.
According to NY Daily News, the unidentified man could have suffocated. Tim Annis, who is of the Davis Fire Department, said that people in the industry can’t believe that he survived. He continued to say that it was a miracle that the guy didn’t end up dying.
The man was eventually dumped at a landfill in Yolo County. The driver of the truck spotted the man, after he came flying out of the truck along with the trash. The driver was then able to stop the bulldozer that was going to flatten everything.
The truck was also only half-full, and deputies said that he probably wouldn’t have made it out alive if the truck was completely full.
Atlas Disposal, the company the driver of the truck works for, said that it was proud of its driver stopping the bulldozer just in time.
The man was sent to the hospital, where he recovered from minor injuries.
