CHEROKEE COUNTY, Texas — A man has died after an 18-wheeler crash on US 69 in Cherokee County Monday morning.
According to the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), around 11 a.m., troopers responded to the crash on US 69 near FM 241, north of Alto.
The investigator's preliminary report indicates the driver of a 2018 Freightliner truck tractor towing a box semi-trailer was traveling south on US 69 in the outside lane. The combination vehicle, for an unknown reason, left the roadway and entered the west ditch where it traveled almost 1,000 feet before it struck a tree and ended up in a creek.
DPS identified the driver as Brian Keath Hulska, 52, of Magnolia. Hulska was pronounced dead at the scene and was taken to Wallace Thompson Funeral Home in Rusk.
According to officials, southbound lanes on US 69 was closed due to the crash. Southbound traffic was shifted to the northbound lanes to carry two-way traffic until the crash scene was cleared.
The crash remains under investigation.
