Determined Concrete Truck Driver Overturns, Still Delivers the Load

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[A determined concrete truck driver whose rig overturned on a soft shoulder along Rt. 148 south of Sesser Thursday watched for an hour while two wrecker companies worked to carefully lift his rig off the shoulder--then he delivered the nine cubic yard load of concrete.

There is no police report and truck owner Beelman Concrete, Inc. of Pinckneyville would not release the driver's name.

The accident happened shortly before noon at a Rt. 148 turnoff a mile and a half south of Sesser.

An Ameren utility crew was working at the intersection, and the concrete truck driver tried to steer clear of the utility work. The driver's side front and rear wheels went off the pavement and the truck became stuck. Slowly, the truck began to list to the north and overturned. The driver stayed inside the rig on the way down.

Heavy interstate wreckers from Rogers Wrecker Service in St. Libory and Big "S" Transports of Du Quoin worked along the narrow side road--with mud all around--to find places to connect to the rig.

The fact that the truck was carrying a nine cubic yard load of concrete didn't help anything.

The driver of a Big "S" Transports wrecker revved his diesel engine, then took off into the muddy field to the south, spinning his large wheels to gain as much distance as he could and to get a good angle on the truck.

The angle was a little off, so the wrecker was pulled back to the pavement. The driver turned his rig around and hit the field again from a different direction. This time the angle was better.

The huge wrecker from Rogers Wrecker Service set up nearby and a second Rogers Wrecker Service rig set up in front of the first.

All told, four winch cables from three wreckers were carefully tied to the heavy straps that had been wrapped around the concrete drum. Every effort was made to damage the truck no more than it had to be.

All three wreckers began pulling at the same time. The driver's side wheels began to dig into the side of the shallow shoulder and the rig began to pivot on those three wheels.

The rig came back over and sat upright again. The wrecker in front pulled eastward until the concrete mixer was back on the pavement.

The cab was damaged. The truck chassis and drum were intact. The truck started and the driver made the decision to hobble down the rural road and deliver the load of concrete. After that, the rig was nursed back to the Beelman concrete along Rt. 154 between Pinckneyville and Sesser.

No one was injured. The farmer who owned the field said disking out the damage would be no problem once the ground dries out.