Monroe County, AR — July 26, 2025, Rulon Pitcher was killed and Robert Sohns was injured in a truck accident at about 5 p.m. on eastbound Interstate 40.
Authorities said a Freightliner semi-truck crashed into a 2021 Volvo semi-truck that was parked on the south shoulder near mile marker 209. The truck also hit the cable barrier before catching fire.
A passenger in the Freightliner, 77-year-old Dublin resident Rulon Pitcher, died in the crash west of Brinkley, according to authorities, while driver Robert Sohns, 71, of Cleburne was hospitalized with unspecified injuries.
No other injuries were reported.
Authorities have not released any additional information about the Monroe County crash at this time.
Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman
When a crash involves a moving truck striking a parked one, the public’s first instinct is usually to blame the driver who hit the vehicle. That may turn out to be warranted, but we can’t jump to conclusions without knowing what led up to the impact. What we do know is that a semi-truck traveling on Interstate 40 in Monroe County collided with another truck parked on the shoulder. One person lost his life, and another was injured. The rest is still unknown.
The key legal question here is why the moving truck left the roadway and hit the parked rig. Was the driver distracted? Did he fall asleep? Was there some kind of mechanical failure? Without that answer, we can’t begin to understand whether this was the result of a momentary lapse or something deeper, like improper driver oversight, a failure to maintain the truck or company policies that put drivers in unsafe situations.
Getting to the truth will depend on collecting and preserving critical evidence. That means accessing black box data to see how fast the truck was going and whether the driver tried to brake. It means checking in-cab cameras, if the truck had them, to find out if the driver was using a cell phone or otherwise distracted. It also means reviewing the driver’s hours-of-service records to see if fatigue could have played a role.
Another layer of the puzzle is the parked truck itself. Depending on whether it was properly pulled off the roadway or partially in a traffic lane, different safety obligations apply. If the truck was parked improperly, then fault may not rest solely with the moving vehicle. But that’s just speculation unless someone analyzes the crash scene evidence.
In one case I worked, a driver crashed into a parked 18-wheeler at night. The trucking company insisted the truck was well off the road, but our investigation showed it was sitting just inside the fog line and hadn’t deployed any warning triangles. That small detail made a big legal difference, and it only came to light because we went out and measured the scene ourselves.
Bottom line: It’s too early to draw conclusions about fault. But the only way to get answers is through a thorough investigation: one that looks at both driver behavior and company practices, and doesn’t stop at the surface.
Key Takeaways:
- It’s not clear why the moving truck left the roadway and hit the parked semi.
- Critical evidence like black box data, in-cab footage and cell phone records can help explain the crash.
- The parked truck’s position and use of warning devices may also factor into who bears responsibility.
- Trucking company hiring, training and oversight policies could be relevant depending on what the investigation uncovers.
- A full, independent investigation is essential to determine the root causes of the crash.
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