One Killed and Over a Dozen Injured in Los Angeles County Multi-Vehicle Truck Accident
Shortly before sunrise on August 14th, a tanker truck carrying thousands of gallons of milk was traveling westbound on the Pomona Freeway just east of Los Angeles in South El Monte, when the tanker failed to take into account the slowed traffic ahead. The truck jackknifed and came to rest on the center divider wall, taking out two semi-truck tractor-trailers and eight or nine passenger vehicles in the chain-reaction crash. Two cars and the tanker caught fire, and debris was scattered for hundreds of yards along the 60 freeway. Over 100 gallons of diesel fuel and 6,500 gallons of milk poured onto the road.
Fourteen people were injured in the crash, four of them critically, and 10 to 13 people were taken to hospitals in the area. Tragically, there was also one fatality, a five-year-old girl who was a passenger in one of the vehicles which was struck.
According to a KCAL9 report of the accident, the truck was operated by Orozco Trucking. The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) maintains a database of trucking company records, including inspections and crashes in the U.S. and Canada and the company’s safety rating. A review of the FMCSA Safety And Fitness Electronic Records (SAFER) system reveals over 20 different companies doing business as Orozco Trucking, but the KCAL9 story identified the truck in this accident as belonging to Orozco Trucking out of Norwalk and as having three crashes in the last two years, including one injury, among its fleet of 13 trucks and drivers. The SAFER data for this company shows that that the carrier is not authorized to operate and does not have a safety rating.
