Preserving Evidence, Preserving Trust

By George L. Nitti In June 2024, just a few miles outside their Missouri shop in Scott City, Midwest Truck Sales and Service Inc. responded to a call that required discretion and technical expertise as they worked with the Missouri State Highway Patrol to recover vehicles involving strict fatality protocol. 

According to Midwest owner and lead operator Ron Pratt, the scene involved a black pickup truck, crushed and barely recognizable, which had veered across the center line—likely the result of a sudden medical emergency—and struck a semi-truck head-on. The impact left the tractor-trailer with every axle displaced and the subframe of the trailer broken loose. The early assumption was grim: Highway Patrol initially classified the incident as a fatality. Miraculously, both drivers survived. But the recovery had to proceed under strict fatality protocol, a process that demands absolute preservation of the scene for potential investigations and lawsuits. 

For Midwest Truck, this wasn’t their first time working such a scenario. Their longstanding relationship with Missouri’s Highway Patrol—built through years of cross-training with police and fire departments—enabled them to become trusted partners, skilled in evidence preservation as much as in recovery logistics. 

“We’ve worked with them on these potential fatality scenes before,” said Pratt. “They call us because we know how to recover without disturbing anything—we’re trained not just to lift, but to lift without erasing what happened.” 

Upon arrival, Midwest Truck waited as Highway Patrol completed their preliminary investigation. Meanwhile, their team conducted a damage assessment and developed an unconventional recovery plan. Rather than towing the severely damaged truck and trailer—a process that could alter the position of critical components—they opted to lift and haul the entire rig intact, preserving every possible element for forensic review. 

Using a Peterbilt 389X chassis outfitted with a Miller Century 1150R 50-ton rotator, they lifted the front of the semi and trailer. For the rear, a 9055XL Western Star wrecker—an extended 50-ton, 3-stage straight boom—was used. Both trucks operated in tandem to perform a technical lift that avoided shifting weight or damaging compromised structures. 

“A lift like this is extremely dangerous,” said Pratt. “You’ve got compromised structural points, battery damage, and the fifth wheel pivot. A weight shift mid-air could flip everything.” 

Their wreckers performed with precision—keeping everything as it was found, even down to the angle of broken components. 

For the actual transport, they used a Trail-Eze EE 801 40-ton capacity trailer—a specialty float trailer typically not used for hauling complete tractor-trailer units. The total height of the load reached close to 17 feet, necessitating a Highway Patrol escort and route scouting to avoid overhead obstacles. 

“This wasn’t standard protocol,” Pratt explained. “But it preserved the evidence better than towing, and Highway Patrol agreed it was the right call.” 

Securing the damaged tractor trailer onto the Trail-Eze flatbed required skill and experience, especially given the unusual height of the load, which reached nearly 17 feet. The crew had to calculate tie-down angles and tension to ensure the load remained stable during transit. 

Then during transit, they even had to weave under traffic lights on the return trip to avoid impact. 

The second vehicle, the black pickup, was also carefully secured and transported using a Peterbilt rollback with a Miller LCG 12 bed. 

What set this recovery apart was the interagency trust and mutual respect that Midwest Truck has cultivated over time. Their cross-training with first responders means they're fluent in both mechanical execution and evidence integrity.  

“We train together; we know each other’s jobs. That means we don’t get in the way—we work together.” 

In a job where lives are at stake and the smallest detail could become a courtroom exhibit, Midwest Truck’s recovery was more than a lift—it was a commitment to doing it right.