Truck Driver Dies Delivering Holiday Packages

by Jana Ritter - Published: 12/19/2016

Just six days before Christmas, a 26-year-old truck driver tragically lost his life while doing his job as a contract driver delivering packages for the U.S. Postal Service. The accident occurred early Monday morning on Interstate Highway 680 in Danville, California, when the driver struck an abandoned vehicle, flipped the truck on its side and hit a highway sign. The contents of the truck spilled all over the roadway and the driver was left trapped in the wreckage. He later died at the hospital from injuries he sustained in the crash.  His name has not yet been released.

                                                                 

According to the CHP, the young man lived in Sacramento and was a freelance contractor for the US Postal Service. He was driving a two-axel box truck and was heading southbound Interstate 680 near El Pintado Road in Danville, delivering holiday packages on their final stretch to San Jose. Early reports were unclear about what initially caused the driver to crash. "A lot of what we have is based on witness statements," CHP Sgt. Oscar Pacheco said. But hours later, the investigation revealed that the driver apparently struck an abandoned Ford minivan on the right shoulder of the highway, which caused his truck to overturn and hit a large metal pole. CHP officers said that the van and a light-colored station wagon or SUV were involved in an earlier collision, which caused the van to turn over on the shoulder of the road. The CHP have also confirmed that it doesn’t appear the truck driver was under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the crash.

                                                               

Emergency crews arrived at the scene to find the driver trapped inside the truck. They were able to extract him from the wreckage and he was rushed to a nearby hospital with major injuries but unfortunately he did not survive. The young man was officially pronounced dead at the hospital just before 7 a.m.

                                                               

The truck was carrying hundreds of Fed Ex packages headed for San Jose on the busiest delivery day of the year. Instead, the accident left them spilled across the highway; closing three lanes of traffic and causing a major back up during the early Monday morning commute. A large amount of wood, clothing and debris were also found nearby in the right lane south of the West El Pintado off-ramp. Crews worked through the morning to clean up the road and all lanes have since reopened except for one. A spokesperson from USPS says that because the truck crashed during the transfer, salvageable packages will be delivered as is and should be able to make it before Christmas. The damaged and destroyed packages will be sent back to FedEx for the company to notify and deal with customers directly.

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