Log truck crashes on curve

ASHLAND, Maine — For the second time this summer, a tractor-trailer truck has crashed attempting to make a curve just over four miles east of Ashland on Route 163.
“An 18-wheeler traveling eastward crashed in the same identical spot as an accident about a month ago involving a tractor-trailer truck,” said Chief Cyr Martin, Ashland Police Department, of the Aug. 30 accident.
Martin said drivers — especially truck drivers — “fail to negotiate that curve” from time to time.
“They (drivers) don’t take the curve into consideration,” said Martin, noting a slower speed is advised for motorists to safely make the corner.
The accident was reported around 2:26 p.m. When emergency personnel arrived, they found the truck and trailer tipped and the load of logs spilled over the embankment. Martin indicated a problem with the trailer may have been the cause.
“A possible defect to the trailer may have caused the accident. Witnesses said the trailer started to tip when it was making the curve,” said the chief. “The trailer spilled its load of logs. They went flying off the trailer, down the embankment and into the treeline.”
The driver was shaken but not seriously injured.
“When I got there, the driver — Jeremy Monteith, 38, of Houlton — was trapped in the vehicle. His head was caught between the seat and back window. He had cuts to the back of his head and his arm but was otherwise just shaken up,” said Martin. “He just wanted out of the truck.”
Emergency personnel were able to free his head. Monteith was treated at the scene.
The 2006 Sterling truck and 2003 trailer, owned by Kevin Tuttle Trucking of Houlton, sustained about $70,000 in damage and was considered a total loss.
Assisting Martin at the scene were the Ashland Fire Department, Ashland Ambulance Service and Trooper Darryl Pelletier of the Maine State Police.