Trucks Crash in Memphis....

[lifespalette]

Apparently, two trucks and a car were involved in a collision this morning around 4:00AM.........the reports so far are that the first truck was stopped at the intersection of Lamar and Raines, was rear ended by a car and the second truck sandwiched the car between himself and the stopped truck.............the first truck exploded (eye witnesses reported) when it was hit by the car, and pretty much all that is left is a smoldering pile of the trailer.....

4 Dead, 3 sent to the hospital in critical condition and 1 released after treatment..........no word on the fate of the drivers and they haven't found the car yet....????

Lots of questions still to be answered...........right now Channel 5 is the only station giving any in-depth coverage........

DRIVERS BE CAREFUL OUT THERE. STAY ALERT TO WHAT IS GOING ON AROUND YOU. IF YOU'RE GETTING FATIGUED.........PULL IT OFF THE ROAD.

Folks this happened at an intersection on Lamar that's pretty wide open in the early morning hours when the traffic is fairly light. No rain. No fog. No adverse conditions. There are still allot of questions to be answered, like what happened to the car, what of the drivers, if no car why were so many people in these trucks?

Folks today, already 4 families are going to get a phone call from the TNHP only to learn that a loved one has been killed in an accident.

DON'T LET YOUR FAMILY BE ADDED TO THE LIST. BE SAFE OUT THERE DRIVERS...........GOD BE WITH YOU TODAY AND EVERY DAY.

[Windwalker]

What was the first one carrying that the heat was enough to melt/burn the entire car???

[cattle_feed_maker]

hmm havent head anything yet.. will have to watch the news at 12noon to see if they say anything about it.. if so ill follow up with an update.

[golfhobo]

What was the first one carrying that the heat was enough to melt/burn the entire car???

What was the FIRST truck carrying - in the trailer - that would explode from the impact of a CAR in the rear??? Spinach??

But, WHY couldn't the second truck, at surface road speeds, not stop in time to keep from crushing the car??

[Sheepdancer]

It said one of the trucks was hauling batteries....so thats probably what caused the explosion. One of the trucks involved was owned by Maines food and paper. I could be wrong but it looks like the Maines Food truck rear ended the trailer hauling batteries causing the explosion.

[cattle_feed_maker]

just got done watching the news. in just outside of memphis about 20 miles east. the truck was carrying batteries.. the didnt say what kinda i guess it was car batteries or something.... witnesses say there was a car involved but the police cannot find the car???......... this is a big mess and the road is still closed at this time 1209pm and this happened at 430am...... this is a MAJOR lane for trucks comming into the memphis area as well as a ALOT of warehouses in this area.... here is a link for the ch5 news ....

http://www.wmctv.com/Global/story.asp?S=5495238

channel 3 news:

http://www.wreg.com/Global/story.asp?S=5494652
this one has a video in the story that you can click onto and watch it gives vague details and tells the names of the compaines involved.


Will keeo the trhead posted as things unfold further today.

[Windwalker]

Don't know if the truck carrying batteries had new ones or used ones going in for recycling. One of the hazards from lead acid batteries is HYDROGEN gas. There have been people hurt pretty badly just from jumping a single car battery. Then, a whole truckload? There's a lot of room for gasses in a dryvan, if that's what it was. Then, the plastic cases from the batteries would burn. A little of the gas seeping out the back doors, and the slightest spark would ignite it. Had to be old batteries going in for recycling. I don't think new batteries would do that, or they would not ship new batteries in vans or enclosed trucks, like I've seen them do.

Come to think of it... I hauled a load of old batteries for recycling once. The shipper required that I had both vents open. The one in the upper front corner of the trailer, and the one in the right rear door. While the shipper didn't say why, venting off the hydrogen gas would make sense.

[lifespalette]

Still no evidence of a car................surely not all of these people were in the truck that burned..........?

4 dead, 3 in critical condition and 1 released........that would make 8 total......even if you split it between the trucks that would be 4 per truck......either way there are going to be law suits out the whaaazzzuuu.

[Mr. Ford95]

As was seen on Mythbusters, there is no way to make a car disappear between 2 trucks that collide and sandwich the car in between. They should have found a car by now. May be possible that one was being driven by a Mexican who had his whole family in the truck. If you have seen how they pack into cars you know what I mean.

We had a wreck here about a year ago where 3 trucks ran into the back of one another, the 3rd in line ended up so far into the back of the 2nd trucks trailer that it looked like the 2nd truck was 100 feet long.

[Sheepdancer]

very strange story.....There is no way a car would just disappear.
The more stories I read about this accident the more confusing it gets.
I bet when all is said or done....the media will have it all wrong.
Either that or the USA truck driver had 7 people in his cab.
Hmmm...I wonder if this happened?....Im not sure if USA truck does orientation in memphis....but could it be that The USA truck was filled with newbies in orientation taking their road test. I believe I recall a driver once telling me that sometimes while taking a road test during orientation they fill up the cab with people. I could be wrong.

[Malaki86]

They do their road test @ 4:30am?

[Sheepdancer]

Good point....that blows my theory out of the water.

Also....I guess they wouldnt be taking a road test with a load of batteries.

Hmmm....i dont have any more theories except the media is just getting it all wrong.

[golfhobo]

Don't mean to muddy the waters, and don't know WHO does WHAT in Memphis, but the second truck COULD have had up to 6 people inside doing "observation" on the road. And yes, I've done it at 4:30 in the morning.

Hard to believe, though, that 2 drivers in the front truck couldn't get out before a fire reached them from behind.

There HAS to be a car with AT LEAST 4 people in it, sandwiched in between! Someone give me a link, so I can "analyze" this for myself. Haven't heard so much as a PEEP about it on the news.

[lifespalette]

Channel 5 News has just reported that there were 8 people involved between the 2 trucks.........1 man and 7 women. The lone male has been identified as one of the drivers as well as one of the women...........just which truck they were in is not known at this time or hasn't been released.

This is not looking good...........why in the world would you have 6 women in the same truck at 3:30AM?

Witnesses are still claiming there was a car involved. Police now are thinking the car may have changed lanes and gotten away before the crash.

Ongoing investigation..............here you go Hobo.......try this link.

http://www.wmcstations.com/Global/story.asp?S=5495238

[lifespalette]

Just saw the lastest news report on the crash........they had a security video that recorded the accident that was from a U.S. Express (or Fed X) yard camera...............the video clearly shows the first truck stopped at the intersection before the second truck literally plowed into the the rear of the trailer of the first truck at a very high rate of speed.............you can see the trailer being lifted up and the first truck pushed through the intersection, while the second truck is engulfed in a ball of fire from the explosion.

Here's the URL for the Channel 5 website......look for the video link to the lower right of the picture of the burned trailer..........

http://www.wmcstations.com/

[Malaki86]

Does anyone else find it odd that there are 2 trucks that go past the wreck after it happened? One was a fed-ex pulling pups.

[golfhobo]

Thanks for the link, Lifespallete! Pretty much ALL I needed to know.

No way in HECK, that police couldn't tell if a woman was driving the first truck and might be a casualty! What? 100 feet between the front truck's cab and the burn site?

I SAY, all casualties were in the second truck. ONE male driver, and 7 "illegal" alien women! I was laid over once in California (won't name the town) and went to a Mexican Bar for a few brews. There were at least 8 women in there who were "fresh" out of Mexico. Most couldn't speak English (and had no papers!)

Atlanta is a magnet town for illegal Mexicans.

NO training class has 7 women and one guy in it! Get real!

The second truck (MOST LIKELY) was carrying at least 7 illegal mexican women to Atlanta to work in someone's bar! (NOT saying strippers! They just go there to sell beer to the Illegal Mexican MEN! .... and ME!)

Oh... I could be WRONG! But, given what I read in the INITIAL accounts, the physics of the accident, and the numbers and sexes involved....

I stand by MY account!


Y'all go ahead and "discuss" it now.... and listen to all the misleading news accounts! I COULD be wrong! Especially, if I've been fed misleading information. But... I doubt it.

I stand by my account. Next stupid trucker story!....

[Skullitor]

I saw on PD.COM the USA Truck was hauling C Cell Batteries.

[Toothpick]

Damn?I?m glad I checked in. I was wondering what was up? I passed that way earlier today in between 12:15 and 12:30, but I didn?t have any idea what had happened. Turned on the CB but never heard what was going on. I was planning on stopping at the Pilots just up the road to pick me up a Subway when all of a sudden I was rerouted onto E. Raines Road because they had a cop car blocking Lamar. So I took E. Raines to Getwell Road and then Getwell Road to Goodman Rd (MS-302) in Southaven, and then Goodman Rd back to US-78. In fact, a couple of USA trucks followed me all the way around, like they were lost are something. When I got to Shelby Drive, I started to turn left to go to the two Pilots, but decided against it because I didn?t know how far back the road was closed. So I ended up going to the Flying J instead to eat.

[Toothpick]

Im not sure if USA truck does orientation in memphis....but could it be that The USA truck was filled with newbies in orientation taking their road test.

Why would they be on Lamar? The USA terminal is in West Memphis off of I-40.