A Fayetteville veteran had to be flown to the hospital after the garbage-filled tractor-trailer he was driving rolled over on I-40 Monday afternoon.
State Highway Patrol says that veteran, 69-year-old James Forte, was at the wheel of the tractor-trailer when it went off the shoulder of the eastbound lanes near Exit 334 in Johnston County and struck a guardrail.
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The crash spilled garbage across the interstate, closing several lanes for nearly six hours.
According to SHP, it’s not yet clear what caused the crash. Investigators do not believe alcohol was involved, and no charges are expected.
“It just looked bad. I just saw trash everywhere,” said Necole Lee, another truck driver who saw the crash and stopped to help. “Part of the truck looked collapsed.”
According to Lee, Forte was trapped inside the truck when she arrived. Another good Samaritan was already trying to get to him by smashing through the windshield.
“Once we got an opening so that I could climb through, I grabbed my box cutter. I cut [Forte’s] seatbelt off, and then I asked him was he able to get out of the truck. He was really dazed, really confused,” Lee said.
“He looked scared. He had a gash on his head from where [a] microwave had fell on top of him. And so I was just trying to clear the space and then try to get him out.”
Ultimately, first responders had to cut Forte the rest of the way out of the truck. He was airlifted to WakeMed, and the State Highway Patrol described his injuries as potentially life-threatening.
This isn’t the first trash truck crash on this part of I-40. In November 2025, another trash-filled tractor-trailer rolled over near Benson after a tire blew. No one was injured in that crash.