Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/655281
FOR SAFETY'S SAKE 38 // COMPANY DRIVER // APRIL 2016 the trucking industry. The crash occurred when a DND Internation- al driver in a 2004 Freightliner and 2012 East fl atbed carrying three steel coils collided with stopped vehicles in the right lane of I-88 in Naperville, Ill. According to the NTSB's preliminary report, a 2000 Volvo tractor-trailer, owned by Mi- chael's Cartage, broke down in the right lane of I-88 around 7:45 p.m. An Illinois State Toll Highway Authority truck, along with an Illi- nois State Police patrol car, stopped behind the disabled truck to help the driver and warn oncoming traffi c of the blocked lane. At approximately 9:20 p.m., the DND driver collided with the ISP patrol car, pushing it off into the right shoulder and ditch. It then con- tinued forward into the ISTHA truck, before going off into the right shoulder and ditch it- self. During the collision, all three steel coils be- ing transported by the DND truck fell off the fl atbed. One of the steel coils made contact with the ISTHA truck and came to rest in the center lane of I-88. The other two steel coils came to rest in the ditch. The impact caused the ISTHA truck to collide into the back of the broken down truck, which in turn collided into the back of a heavy-duty tow truck. A post-crash fi re consumed the ISP patrol car, and the offi cer was severely burned but survived. The driver of the ISTHA truck was fatally injured and the right front passenger in the ISTHA truck, who was also driver of the disabled truck, received minor injuries. Investigators of the crash found that the DND driver had slept less than 4.5 hours in the 37 hours leading up to the crash, and said in their report to the NTSB board Tuesday that the driver admitted to falling asleep at the wheel. Investigators also found that the DND driver had falsifi ed his logbook 36.9 percent of the time in the six months leading up to the crash. The driver of the broken down vehicle was found to have false logs at the time of the crash, as well as preexisting vehicle defects that would have placed the vehicle out-of-ser- vice had it been inspected prior to the crash.