2 trucks collide on I-40, injuring both drivers

The Trucker News Services

2/28/2008

MONTEREY, Tenn. — Two trucks — one hauling pesticides and the other dog food — collided on Interstate 40 west of  Monterey, Tenn., injuring both drivers earlier this week, according to investigators.

One trucker, Richard Pleasants of Memphis, was seriously injured and had to be airlifted from a field in Monterey to Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville. The other driver, David Chancellor of Richmond, Va., was taken for treatment at Cookeville Regional Hospital. Both of drivers are expected to recover, medics said.

Tennessee Highway Patrol's troopers were at the scene overnight while clean-up crews cleared the highway of debris caused by the crash.

Hazardous materials specialists removed from the roadway substances described as toxic, including pesticides and fungicides, according to Putnam Emergency Management Agency director Tyler Smith.

While no official report of how the accident happened has been released, PCEMA Director Smith said one truck rear-ended the other.

"This stuff (spilled onto the highway) is dangerous, and when we found out what it was, we got everybody back from the scene and the Rescue Squad suited up and went in to rescue one of the drivers who, was pinned in the wreckage," Smith said.