A Detour Through the Woods: Three-Wrecker Team Recovers Turnpike Rollover
Updated: 22 minutes ago
Flanagan's Towing deploys a 75-ton rotator and two support wreckers to upright and recover a damaged rental truck following a rollover on the New Jersey Turnpike.
By George L. Nitti
A Budget rental truck took an unexpected detour through the woods after running up the back of a wedge trailer on the New Jersey Turnpike, leaving the southbound roadway, crossing a ditch, and ultimately rolling onto its side against two trees.
The September 29 incident occurred just north of Exit 4, near Mount Laurel, New Jersey. Flanagan's Towing received the call at 12:53 a.m. and dispatched three heavy-duty wreckers to handle the recovery.
Omar Vera, the company's rotator operator, said the truck had traveled across the ditch and came to rest on its side. The wedge trailer was carrying approximately six pallets, adding another consideration to the recovery.
Flanagan's responded with a 75-ton Century rotator mounted on a 2024 Kenworth W990 twin-steer chassis, a 50-ton Vulcan 100 on a 2019 Kenworth T880 twin-steer, and a 20-ton Century mounted on an International cab-and-a-half chassis.
Upon arrival, Vera and the crew surveyed the scene and developed a recovery plan. A construction access cut-through provided an opportunity to position the 20-ton across the ditch.
"We actually were able to drive the 20-ton across the ditch," Vera explained. "There was a construction cut-through, so we were able to put that in there so we could roll it over."
The crew positioned the 50-ton on higher ground while the 75-ton provided support for the uprighting operation. Once the truck was back on its wheels, the 75-ton maintained control while the 50-ton winched it out of the ditch and back toward the roadway.
The photographs from the scene reveal the extent of the damage to the Budget truck's cargo box, which was badly distorted during the rollover. The box had partially separated from the chassis, creating an additional challenge during extraction.
"The steering arm was broke off the steering box," Vera said. "We had to chain the front axle, cross-chain the front axle so it wouldn't steer, so we could keep the axle straight."
The crew also had to secure the damaged cargo box to prevent further separation during the pull.
"We had to chain the box frame back to the frame truck. It was half off the frame rail," Vera explained.
With the steering assembly compromised and the cargo box partially separated from the frame, maintaining control throughout the winching operation was critical.
"Just, you know, you're in a ditch and then also, you know, the side ditch coming back up, and then also holding it so it wouldn't roll over as it was coming out of the ditch," Vera said, describing the challenges of the extraction.
Once upright and recovered, the truck was prepared for transport to Flanagan's yard in neighboring Maple Shade. However, the return trip presented an unexpected logistical challenge: the truck was too wide to pass through the Turnpike tollbooth.
"We had to turn around before the tollbooth and then go out the maintenance garage in Mount Laurel," Vera explained.
The crew then traveled through Mount Laurel to Maple Shade, extending what would normally be a five- to ten-minute trip to approximately 25 minutes.
A sister company, A to Z Environmental, assisted with the cleanup, applying oil dry to a small area of spilled oil. No significant hazardous-materials issues were reported.
From the initial dispatch through the recovery, return to the yard, and cleanup, the operation took approximately six hours.
For Flanagan's crew, this was more than a straightforward rollover. Working in wooded terrain, positioning three heavy wreckers, securing a compromised cargo box and steering assembly, and maintaining control of the truck during extraction required careful planning and coordination.
The successful recovery brought the damaged rental truck back onto the roadway and safely to the company's yard.
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