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As people started their morning commutes they were detoured through New London after the trailer of a flipped semi-truck broke open and covered the roadway and median with 26,000 pounds of uncured ham.
The accident occurred, said a Henry County Sheriff's report, at 1:33 a.m. when the driver, Roger Allen Hageman, 51, of Ute, Iowa, fell asleep at the wheel. The truck, owned by Moeller Trucking, Denison, entered the median ditch. At that time the driver awoke and attempted to bring the truck back onto the roadway.
The tractor and trailer flipped onto the driver's side and came to rest across both westbound lanes of traffic.
Nearly the entire load of the meat was spilled into the median and onto the roadway when the trailer split open during the accident, requiring a lengthy clean-up process.
The ham was being transported from Monmouth, Ill, to Sioux City.
Hageman was transported to the Henry County Health Center by the Henry County ambulance service for treatment of unspecified injuries.
Both the 2006 Peterbilt tractor and the 2005 utility trailer are considered total losses.
Hageman faces several driving violation charges including failure to maintain control, which will all be filed at the conclusion of the investigation, the sheriff's report said.
Other units assisting the sheriff's office were the New London Fire Department, Henry County reserve deputies, Des Moines County sheriff's office, Iowa DOT Enforcement, Breuer's Towing, Prottsman Sanitation and Hunsaker Trucking.
