WILLIAMSBURG, Va. — The driver of a tractor-trailer involved in a deadly collision 15 months ago on Interstate 64 told investigators that his company had a method for altering electronic driving logs, according to a report from the National Transportation Safety Board.
The crash happened eastbound near Humelsine Parkway in the early morning hours of Dec. 16, 2022. The Freightliner truck, operated by 61-year-old Daniel Cramer, rear-ended a bus driven by 23-year-old Antonio Wiggins. The truck was moving at 66 mph, but the bus was going only 40 mph. The report said alcohol was not a factor for either driver.
Killed in the crash were three passengers on the bus — Montia “Tia” Bouie, along with brothers Jontae Russell and Xzavier Evans.
According to the NTSB report, Cramer initially told Virginia state troopers he had just dropped off his co-driver, and they originated in St. Louis and were headed to a company yard in Chesapeake.
Later in the investigation, Cramer admitted that there was no co-driver, according to the NTSB.
The report said Cramer told investigators that trucking firm Triton Logistics told him what to say about a fictional co-driver in case there was a vehicle inspection or accident.
“I basically repeated what they told me to say — that I had just dropped off my co-driver — which is the same thing that I told that state policeman that night,” Cramer is quoted as saying in the report.
Cramer went on to describe how he could call Triton’s offshore data center in Lithuania and they would reset his electronic log books, giving the appearance that he had had more rest than he really did.
Federal law states that the driver can be behind the wheel no more than 11 hours per day. The report states that the truck driver’s available time for rest was only seven hours the day before the crash, and just four hours the day before that.
A representative for Triton Logistics said the company has no comment on the allegations in the report that it had a method for altering drivers’ electronic logs.
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