Load shift kills Jackson trucker

A Jackson man is dead after a single-vehicle accident Monday morning in Madison County, Missouri.

Samuel R. Kranawetter, 23, was driving a 2000 Peterbilt tractor-trailer west on Highway 72 in front of Fredericktown High School shortly after 8 a.m. when the vehicle made an abrupt stop for an unspecified reason, according to a crash report filed by Missouri State Highway Patrol Sgt. M.R. Renshaw.

Although Kranawetter was wearing a seatbelt, the force of the stop caused aluminum beams in the trailer to shift forward through the rear of the tractor, "impacting and pinning the driver," Renshaw wrote.

Kranawetter was pronounced dead at the scene by Madison County Coroner Collin Follis shortly before 8:20 a.m., the report stated.