Log truck overturns south of Astoria
ASTORIA, Ore. – An Astoria truck driver was injured when the log truck he was driving overturned and spilled logs onto Highway 105 Sunday morning.
One of the logs hit a car on the highway. The driver was not hurt.
State police said William Fletcher was driving northbound on Highway 105 at around 11:20 a.m. when the log load shifted and he lost control of the truck near Wireless road.
Police said they believe speed and a wet road were also factors in the crash.
Fletcher was taken to a hospital with minor injuries.
The highway was closed for about three hours.
The load shifted alright. He came around that corner on two wheels and the load shifted right off the side of the trailer. He's done hauling logs. The problem as I see it is the logging companies and mills pay by the load, so the more loads the more money. Log trucks and around here the chip trucks are the worst, hauling through town like they were late for a funeral. Luckily no one got killed. Those logs come flying through the cab and smash you like a bug.
I was right; it didn't overturn after all, just rolled on its side! Why can't reporters ever get it right? Just for excitement?
"Load shifted" is a common excuse among truck drivers, it allows them to blame the people/company that loaded it rather than blaming themselves for driving too fast (as we all know they always do). My dad loads paper rolls for a local paper mill, and one of their customers out of Chicago always has "loads shift" back there, yet they hardly ever have any issues with the trucks they have going to other destinations. And there's no way those paper rolls are going to shift unless the driver is driving and cornering way too fast.
Glad that no one was seriously injured..! Â Â This could have been a lot worse than it was...
I get a bit nervous in close proximity to these log trucks, too... I don't like driving either right behind them or alongside them... same with those double- and triple-trailer semis... Â Nothing at all against those big trucks; I just like a little distance between their great big truck and my (comparatively-speaking) little van.! Â :-)
Near a turn, was the driver going to make a high speed turn? Luckily the people in the car were not seriously injured. Carelessness or wrecklessness? Or neglicence as mentioned.
Speed and wet roads didn't have anything to do with the load shifting. Negligence in securing the logs caused them to shift. The driver can be thankful he was not killed or flying logs killing anyone else. This happened a couple of years ago in Wasco Co. and people were killed.Â
This is why I fear log trucks! I hope the driver recovers quickly and I am happy to hear the person in the car was
unharmed.
Rollin' right along....