Pulaski County, MO — January 18, 2026, one person was injured in a truck accident at about 8:30 a.m. on Interstate 44 south of Richland.

Authorities said a 1998 Kenworth semi-truck was heading east when it rear-ended a 2021 Volvo sedan near the exit for State Route 7.

The truck driver, a 59-year-old California man, was seriously injured in the crash, according to authorities.

No other injuries were reported.

Authorities have not released any additional information about the Pulaski County crash at this time. The accident is still under investigation.

Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman

When people hear about a crash where a semi rear-ends a smaller vehicle, they often assume the truck driver was simply not paying attention. That may end up being the case here, but right now, we don’t have enough information to say for sure. What we do know is that a fully loaded 18-wheeler hit the back of a sedan on Interstate 44 in Pulaski County, sending the truck driver to the hospital with serious injuries. The circumstances behind how that happened are still unclear.

At the heart of any crash like this is one basic question: Why didn’t the truck stop in time? Until investigators can answer that, there’s no way to know who’s really responsible. Was the truck following too closely? Did the car in front stop suddenly? Was the truck speeding, or did its brakes fail? These are the kinds of questions that only a detailed investigation can resolve.

One key piece of evidence is the truck’s engine control module (ECM), sometimes called its “black box.” That device can show whether the driver hit the brakes, how fast the truck was going and what happened in the seconds before impact. If the truck had in-cab cameras, a common feature these days, those might show whether the driver was distracted or if something unexpected happened on the road. Cell phone records can also be relevant, especially if there's any concern that the driver was texting or on a call.

In my experience, a rear-end crash involving a commercial truck can also raise deeper issues with how the trucking company screens, trains and supervises its drivers. For example, I once handled a case where a driver had been hired despite being fired multiple times before for poor driving. The company claimed it had tested his skills, but that “test” turned out to be a 20-minute drive around the block; hardly enough to assess someone’s ability to operate an 80,000-pound vehicle safely. If something similar happened here, then the company may bear as much responsibility as the driver himself.

Right now, the only thing authorities have confirmed is that the crash is still under investigation. That leaves some crucial questions unanswered:

• Was the truck slowing down or speeding up before impact?
• How much traffic was on the road at the time?
• Was the Volvo already stopped, or just moving slowly?
• Could any mechanical failure have played a role?

Until those facts are known, it’s a mistake to jump to conclusions. The job now is to gather and examine every piece of evidence — black box data, driver logs, cell phone records and maintenance reports — to understand what really happened and why.

Key Takeaways:

• The key question in any rear-end crash is why the trailing vehicle didn’t stop in time.
• Critical evidence includes ECM data, dash cam footage and driver phone records.
• Trucking company hiring and oversight practices may also come under scrutiny.
• At this stage, there are more questions than answers, and all possibilities should be investigated.
• Accountability depends on a full, fact-based investigation, not assumptions.