If it seems you received less “junk” mail than usual last week, it could be due to an early morning crash involving a postal truck on I-75 at S.R. 56 that erupted into flames on March 21.

According to the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP), at about 6:30 a.m. on March 21, a tractor-trailer driven by Mark Berrier, 55, of Macclenny, FL, which was carrying mail (mostly magazines and advertisements) was traveling in the outer southbound I-75 lane just north of the S.R. 56 interchange when it struck a crash attenuator (guardrail) with its right side, causing the trailer to jackknife.

The FHP report says that a dump truck driven by Manuel Francisco Rodriguez, 42, of Land O’ Lakes, was traveling behind the tractor-trailer and could not avoid a collision and struck the trailer. Both drivers escaped before the tractor-trailer erupted into flames, snarling traffic for hours.

FHP reports that all southbound I-75 lanes were closed between S.R. 54 and S.R. 56 until one lane opened at about 5:30 p.m. the same day (although all of the lanes were not reopened until close to midnight).

Motorists were forced to seek alternate routes for the remainder of the day, as the I-75 lanes could not be reopened until significant asphalt damage caused by the crash and fire could be repaired. No injuries were reported.

 

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