Inspection Detail

Inspection: 310761036 - Corie Slaght Trucking

Inspection Information - Office: Madison Area Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 8:30 a.m. on March 9, 2007, Employee #1, owner and operator of a trucking company, arrived at a sawmill driving his semi-truck pulling a semi-trailer, Transcraft Model Number TH90-K-45, loaded with logs. He was wrapping up the tie-down straps that had secured the load of logs. A worker of the sawmill saw a log rolling on the ground and then saw Employee #1 lying on the ground it appears that all of the straps were loosened on the driver side, were unhooked from the passenger side and then pulled or thrown over to the driver side. Approximately six straps were coiled up from the front of the truck to the rear and three straps at the rear of the trailer that had secured the last bunk of logs remained to be coiled. A log that was stacked above the racks on the trailer apparently fell off, striking Employee #1. Possible factors that could have caused the log to fall include melting snow and ice, a passing train causing vibration, a strap that had been stuck on the log and was pulled off or a stuck strap that Employee #1 climbed on the load to release. Employee #1 was unconscious, and was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Keywords: UNCONSCIOUSNESS, LOG, CRUSHED, TRUCK, STRUCK BY, TRAILER, TRUCK DRIVER, UNSTABLE LOAD