The tanker driver whose truck crashed and ultimately caused a bridge collapse on Pennsylvania's I-95 has been identified by the Philadelphia Medical Examiner's Office as Nathan Moody.
The medical examiner said Moody succumbed to "Blunt Trauma of Head and Inhalation and Thermal Injuries" in his accidental death in Philadelphia.
Previously, local media outlets had identified Moody and his employer, TK Transport of Pennsauken, New Jersey. TK Transport declined to comment on Moody's accident and passing, but Moody's cousin Isaac, also a truck driver, spoke to local media.
Local media reports described Moody as a 53-year-old Army veteran who drove trucks while in the service and a dedicated father of three. Moody appears to have been a local to the Philadelphia/Southern New Jersey area, and TK Transport, according to its records with the FMCSA, appears to be a small 7-truck fuel hauler in the region.
The cousin also described him as an experienced driver, but did mention the difficulties of tanker hauling.
"There is so much that can go wrong with a fuel tanker. If you don't have this valve closed right, if this pressure is not right over there. Nate was very careful with that stuff," Isaac Moody told a local ABC affiliate.
The cousin seemed at a loss for words with regard to how a regular overnight route could end in such tragedy.
"I would say this for any legitimate truck driver, especially with a clean driving record, a flawless driving record," he told a local CBS affiliate. "Something caused the truck to lose control. What caused the truck to lose control is my question because I can't see him with everything he had to live for to lose it."
The local trucking community also mourned Moody, as detailed in this story in the Philadelphia Inquirer. “You always feel that kind of kinship with other drivers" Laura Sperratore, a trucker and owner of Sperr’s Fuel & Heating in Delaware County, told the publication, despite not even personally knowing Moody. "When you see another driver killed, it weighs on you. It makes you stop and think.”
“But for the grace of God, that could have been me,” she concluded.
Video of the incident, according to local media, shows the moment when Moody's truck took the fateful turn near Cottman Avenue and overturned.
Since the crash, Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg visited the site alongside Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney.
Kenney thanked the governor and his federal partners and also grieved Moody's death.
"I’d also like to share my condolences with the friends and family of Nathan Moody, who lost his life in the I-95 collapse. We are thinking of Mr. Moody’s loved ones as they mourn this tragic incident and terrible loss," the mayor tweeted.
Previously, Shapiro cautioned that rebuilding the bridge could take "a couple months," and PennDOT has encouraged drivers to take the following detour routes:
- I-95 Southbound: Route 63 West (Woodhaven Road), U.S. 1 South, 76 East, I-676 East
- I-95 Northbound: I-676 West, I-76 West, U.S. 1 North to Route 63 East (Woodhaven Road)
Overdrive spoke to various owner-operators/small fleet owners familiar with the area to get a sense of the best detours and alternate routes for truck traffic, which can be found here.
[Related: I-95 closure expected to last a 'number of months']
