That was an UGLY wreck.. The Preferred tractors cab and engine were torn from the frame... It's a shame the driver died because of another drivers inattention... That section of 64 is notorious for inattentive driving especially in the morning!!!!!!!!

As of today the reason is still unknown why the Hunt driver stopped in the travel lane... Speculation is traffic had come to an immediate slow down..

That day was not a good day for trucking. Earlier that day a truck, a lowboy, was stuck on a railroad crossing and was hit by an Amtrak train.. Fortunately no one was killed!!!!

Not reading many details but is it possible he simply broke down and was rear ended before he could get out and place triangles? Or it could be like the Doc said, a sudden slow down in traffic and the Preferred truck was simply too close. That happened here 3 or 4 years ago with a Haz-Mat load. Some Interstate paving was going on overnight and traffic came to a sudden stop, last truck in line had just got stopped when he got plowed from behind and shoved into the 2 trucks in front of him.

I was placed OOS by Oregon a couple years ago. I was traveling north on I-5 at about 1 am and had stopped 4 times already looking for a parking spot. The scale that put me OOS was where I had planned on looking for parking next. The kid at the scale (and I DO mean kid… he looked like a classmate of my 17 year-old son) didn't seem to care one bit that I was only driving past the 11th hour because I was having difficulty locating a safe place to park.

My old co-driver hit a big turkey while doing 70mph on US-441 in FL. Stupid thing came right through the windshield and landed on the passenger’s seat. Blood, feathers and glass were everywhere. We had that Freightliner for about sixteen more months and til the day we gave it up, every time we’d vacuum the truck we’d find glass and even an occasional feather.

On the other hand, I hit a meadowlark in Missouri a few weeks ago and it wedged between the right corner of the visor and roof. We drove around for an entire day and half the night and only noticed it when we stopped to fuel and I was cleaning the windshield.

I have a few questions . .

Sometimes it seems a U turn is the only way out of bad situation and I've made my share of them. In 6 years I think I've seen three 18w's pull one on the interstate and two of those were to escape shutdowns due to accidents. The third was a Hunt on a perfectly clear, beautiful day on the lightly travelled portion of I-81 in VA.

How does a driver make it through any kind of training program without hearing at least once that the easiest fix on the interstate is the next exit?

What circumstances would you consider appropriate to attempt an interstate U turn?

Are I-80 near Davenport, 0330 and fog appropriate circumstances?

I-80 fatality still under investigation

Last question: How many years should this guy get?

A U-turn on an interstate, I would never pull it whether I'm in a CMV or my PMV, not when I can do the same thing at a ramp. I see 4 wheelers do it all the time in WV, must be allowed there? I would give this guy at least 5 years and pull his CDL for good. NO explanation is good enough for what he pulled.

i would agree....there are situations where its a last resort. Your shutdown due to an accident is a good one. i've done them but only when i know i've got plenty of room, and i know the area i'm about to pull one has very little traffic at the time. other than that, there is no reason to pull a u-turn. why not just wait for another mile or two, and catch the next off ramp and make 2 left turns?

the fact that the driver was SHUTDOWN, parked on an on-ramp when he got rear-ended.....the side of the road is not a parking lot. it is for emergencies. Some drivers, thats the only place they stop because of a personal preferance of not liking rest areas and truck stops. Well....fine....but accept the responsibility that you've parked your truck in an emergency lane on a public road with dumb 4-wheelers. its asking for trouble. i'd say he should get 2 yrs mandatory. But done driving a truck for the rest of his life.

I much preferred the emergency stopping areas of the PA Turnpike, large pronounced alcoves of sorts, large enough to fit 3-5 trucks in comfortably and still have 15 feet or so to the shoulder of the highway.

but still, should a van full of menonites lose control and clip your truck, then go spinning off to the other side of the turnpike where it then gets t-boned by a flatbed....the accident is still your fault.