This information is preliminary and subject to change. Release Date 27 August 2024
On Wednesday, July 24, 2024, about 1:22 p.m. eastern daylight time, a 2020 Freightliner Cascadia truck-tractor in combination with a 2022 Wabash refrigerated semitrailer (Freightliner combination) operated by Leonard’s Express, Inc., was traveling north in the right lane on Interstate 95 (I-95) near Kenly, Wilson County, North Carolina. At this location, I-95 was a divided, four-lane asphalt roadway with a 70-mph speed limit.
As the Freightliner combination reached the area of milepost 113.5, it encountered a traffic queue that had formed due to a left-lane closure in a work zone, about 1.5 miles ahead. The 51-year-old operator of the Freightliner combination did not slow and struck the rear of a 2013 Chevrolet Tahoe sport utility vehicle (SUV) stopped in the queue. After impacting the Chevrolet, the Freightliner combination continued forward and struck three other vehicles in the queue: a 2017 Toyota RAV4 SUV, a 2025 Kenworth T680 truck-tractor in combination with a 2018 Great Dane refrigerated van semitrailer, and a 2014 International LF687 truck-tractor in combination with a 2003 Somerset Welding & Steel end-dump semitrailer. A postcrash fire ensued and consumed the Freightliner combination. As a result of the crash, the driver and passenger in the Chevrolet and the driver and two passengers in the Toyota were fatally injured. The drivers of the Freightliner, Kenworth, and International were treated for various injuries.
The work zone was part of a North Carolina Department of Transportation project that began in June 2024 to perform tree clearing and mulching in the I-95 median. This project required the left northbound lane to be closed, which caused the traffic queue near the time of the crash.[1] Temporary traffic control signage was in place ahead of the work zone to warn drivers of the left-lane closure.
Parties to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigation are:
- Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
- North Carolina State Highway Patrol
- North Carolina Department of Transportation
- Daimler Truck North America
All aspects of the crash remain under investigation while the NTSB determines the probable cause, with the intent of issuing safety recommendations to prevent similar events.
[1] The left-lane closure started at 9 a.m. and was scheduled to end at 6:30 p.m. on July 24, 2024. This closure was scheduled daily, Monday through Thursday. The temporary traffic control signage display began each day at 9 a.m. and ended at 6:30 p.m. No work was done on Friday or the weekend.
