Truck drivers involved in I-40 crash recount surviving wreck

JACKSON, Tenn. — A dramatic crash involving three trucks took place Wednesday morning on Interstate 40, but luckily, all three drivers walked away without injury.

“I don’t know what to think,” said Chris Kapher, driver of a pilot truck leading a truck carrying an oversize load. “I’m thinking ‘what’s going on?’ and trying to hold my truck in the road, and the next thing I see is Buffalo Wild Wings in my windshield.”

The drivers of a tractor-trailer and the pilot truck shared their story after the wreck, just before 8 a.m. near the Highway 45 Bypass.

“Everything went according to plan,” Kapher said. “We were coming down the bypass, and all the escorts were getting on the interstate. Mine were telling me everything was clear. We merged out in the lane, and next thing I know we’re being run off the road.”

The tractor-trailer, along with a dump truck, ran into a ditch, completely crushing the front of the dump truck and turning the tractor-trailer on its side.

Alvin Johnson, the driver of the truck carrying the oversize load, says they were carrying a bridge beam, and he says it didn’t break until they were far into the wreck.

“I don’t know what to think. Just happy I’m here,” Kapher said.

That’s what the driver of the dump truck is saying as well.

Johnson has a message for people they share the road with.

“Over-sized loads are very dangerous,” Johnson said. “These pilot cars are out here to do a job, and that is to keep the public safe. You know, have some patience. Be safe out there.”

A third tractor-trailer was involved in the crash. They were able to drive away.

The cause of the crash is still under investigation.