SKAGIT COUNTY, Wash. — A Sequim logger was killed instantly when he was run over by his own truck in Snohomish County early Tuesday morning. Washington State troopers say 56-year-old Richard Rector's truck came to rest in a densely forested ditch after rolling over him and killing him instantly.
“He was talking with his coworker who was just ahead of him, talking on the CB, I believe about brake problems, brakes locked up,” explains Mark Francis with the Patrol.
Troopers say Rector got out of the vehicle and walked around to the back for a closer look. That's when they think the truck slipped out of park.
The compounding factor was likely the hill Rector parked on; the patrol says it's between a 7 and 9.5 percent incline and if Rector had been able to safely navigate to a flatter portion of the road, the truck may not have rolled the way it did.
After the accident, his load of lumber was transferred onto Mike Bauter's truck. The veteran driver has been navigating logging roads for more than 30 years and knows they can be treacherous.
"Brake failure on woods roads is not unheard of,” he explains.
He says that's why the drivers inspect their trucks every morning.
"Brakes are probably the most important single thing,” he says.
Now it’s troopers who will inspect the truck and weigh the load to determine the official cause of the crash.
"It's always a reminder to be extra careful, whenever there is an accident,” concludes Bauter.
Rector worked for a company called Tony Van Hoof Trucking out of Enumclaw. We called the company to ask about the possible break failure. We were told by the owner that he doesn't want to talk about it right now.
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