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Truck dumps bed after utility line entanglement
Low lines and an elevated dump bed were a bad combination for a local truck driver and other motorists late Wednesday morning.
While southbound on North Jackson Street (U.S. 231) shortly before 11 a.m. approaching the Frazier Street intersection, David Kendall, 67, Reelsville, noticed the dump bed on his truck, registered to Hassler Trucking, Greencastle, was slightly elevated.
“He saw it was up and was trying to push the button but didn’t have enough time before it caught the lines,” Greencastle Police Sgt. Nick Eastham said.
The result was not a downed utility pole, as one might expect, but a dump bed ripped completely from the truck and lying top down on the roadway in front of Humphreys’ Outdoor Power.
The veteran police officer of more than two decades said it’s the first time he’s seen this particular scenario.
“Normally that would’ve just ripped the communications line and pulled the poles down,” Eastham said. “That’s the first time I’ve seen that in my 22-plus years.”
Eastham said that while the lines, which belong to Frontier Communication, were a little low, the elevated bed was certainly a factor.
Fortunately, Kendall was not injured in the incident and no other vehicles were involved.
In addition to other GPD officers on the scene to direct traffic, the Greencastle Fire Department was dispatched to clean the hydraulic fluid that leaked from the truck when the lines were ripped away.
“It’s still a little slick down there,” Eastham said.
Seniour’s Towing removed the overturned dump bed from the roadway.
With no response to the scene by Frontier, the Greencastle Department of Public Works also responded to zip tie the lines in place until the communications company arrives.