BECKLEY, WEST VIRGINIA — A UPS tractor-trailer driver walked away with bruises and minor cuts after hydroplaning on a winding downhill road outside Beckley on the morning of October 15, then used a Facebook post to warn other drivers that a heavy truck can float off the road on standing water.
Joe Olimpo, who drives out of the UPS Mebane Hub in North Carolina, wrote that the crash happened around 6 a.m. He said he has driven that hill thousands of times in every kind of weather without trouble. That morning the wet pavement looked as smooth as a still lake, and he started hydroplaning almost the moment he thought so.
According to Olimpo, the responding trooper estimated the truck slid about 100 yards before hitting a concrete barrier and then the guardrail. The trooper told him a few more feet could have made the outcome devastating. Crews had to cut him out, including through the windshield, and he was taken to the emergency room at Raleigh General Hospital.
Doctors found blunt force trauma to his chest and considered whether he had suffered a mild heart attack. That was ruled out, but he was kept for 24 hours of monitoring. He said he came away with bumps, bruises, and minor cuts from the windshield being removed.
Olimpo said another UPS tractor-trailer slid into the guardrail a few miles down the road, and that six accidents happened along that stretch. He said it does not matter whether the rain is light or heavy, drivers should always expect the unexpected.
His tractor was later brought back to the Mebane Hub from West Virginia. Olimpo said he stared at it for a while, thinking about how lucky he was.
His Message to Drivers
Olimpo asked drivers to think about how a rig weighing 30,000 to 40,000 pounds can slide off the road on standing water, and what that means for a car or pickup. He urged drivers to stay aware of standing water, and to prepare for black ice and packed snow as winter approaches. He also mentioned that a coworker hit a deer near Burlington the day before, and he reminded drivers to watch for trick-or-treaters on Halloween night.
Olimpo thanked his wife and sons, his UPS coworkers, friends, and the hospital staff for their care and support.
Information courtesy of Joe Olimpo’s Facebook post.
📸 Photos courtesy of Joe Olimpo.
