I-26 West in South Asheville back open after tractor-trailer crash

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) — Interstate-26 Westbound between Brevard Road and Long Shoals Road is back open after to a tractor trailer overturned.

The driver is charged with failure to maintain lane control.

According to the NCDOT, the operator of the tractor trailer was 57-year-old Jerry Fulp of Asheville. Troopers say that as Fulp came out of the curve he was unable to maintain control of his tractor trailer, and traveled off the roadway, striking the guardrail on the shoulder.

"Sleep or speed were not a cause of the collision, he simply traveled off the road and wrecked," an NC Highway Patrol representative told News 13.

Drivers were diverted at the Long Shoals Road exit to detour around the crash. The 18-wheeler blocked both lanes of westbound travel, causing a back-up just behind the crash scene.

Dispatchers tell News 13 that Fulp was not injured. They say the big rig was hauling wood chips when it overturned.

The trailer then overturned and landed in the roadway, blocking both westbound lanes of I-26.

Fulp’s tractor-trailer was the only vehicle involved.