By Donna Hales
The driver of a tractor-trailer rig said he was unaware there was a problem with the load of dirt he was hauling until a noise alerted him.
“I didn’t even know it until I heard the trailer hit the deck,” Jim Smith said. “I didn’t even know it was rolling.”
The truck lost its load Monday at U.S. 69 and West Okmulgee Avenue while headed to a construction project.
Smith said he believed a pin broke on a fifth wheel, causing the trailer load to shift and spill over. He was traveling east on Okmulgee and had just turned north on 69 when the trailer rolled over on its side.
The cab of the truck, owned by Steve Wallick & Co. did not turn over, and no one was injured.
Muskogee Police Officer Danny DuPont issued Smith a citation for careless driving.
Steve Wallick, president of the Okmulgee firm, said in a phone interview he thought the vehicle was just going a little fast when it rounded the corner.
The company is subcontracting the building pad and parking lots on the new Social Security Building being constructed on West Shawnee, Wallick said.
An empty trailer was brought to the wreck site, along with a bulldozer from the construction site on Shawnee Bypass at 24th Street. The bulldozer loaded the spilled soil onto the replacement trailer.
The incident happened at 11:30 a.m. Traffic was stopped on the east side of the northbound lanes on 32nd Street for more than an hour.
Reach Donna Hales at 684-2923 or dhales @muskogeephoenix.com.
