- A semi-truck carrying jars of Alfredo sauce coated a Memphis highway
- It isn’t clear why the truck carrying jars of Alfredo crashed, but it took about six hours to clean
- 150,000 tomatoes covered Interstate 80 after another truck accident this week
It isn’t every day you see a truck accident headline like this one. A truck carrying jars of Alfredo sauce struck a median on Interstate 55 in Memphis. Thousands of Bertolli Alfredo Sauce jars coated the highway just before rush hour. While this isn’t as weird as the slime eels incident of 2017, it’s still pretty odd.
A semi-truck carrying jars of Alfredo sauce coated a Memphis highway
A semi-truck carrying jars of Alfredo sauce covered a Memphis highway | YouTube via CNBC Television
According to a New York Times article, the tractor-trailer truck was carrying jars of Alfredo down mile 11 of Interstate 55. Something happened that sent the truck into a retaining wall, spilling its saucy cargo all over the highway. Alfredo sauce completely covered the northbound section of the road.
Richard Ransom, an anchor for ABC24, spoke to a correspondent on the scene. “The Alfredo sauce is everywhere,” Danielle Moss told Ransom. Other news crews in the area confirmed the smell of Alfredo wafted through the air. That smell was pleasant at first, but the pleasantries did not last. Kate Bieri of Fox 13 Memphis said it felt “like we were at an Olive Garden.”
It isn’t clear why the truck carrying jars of Alfredo crashed, but it took about six hours to clean
The incident ripped the entire side of the semi-truck off, and the trailer separated from the truck’s cabin. The tractor-trailer driver went to the hospital with minor injuries, but nothing was reported further on the driver’s condition.
The cleanup of this truck accident wasn’t easy; situated at I-55 and McLemore, just before the exit and just before rush hour. Men showed up in boots and suits to help clean the roadways, but the glass had to be removed first. One person from the responding Tennessee Department of Transportation group helped clean the roads by scooping sauce into a dumpster via excavator. The truck carrying jars of Alfredo sat on the road blocking traffic until someone pulled it out of the way.
The mess was cleaned up around 11 PM local time, taking more than six hours to get all of the Alfredo sauce off the road. If you are in Memphis and notice a lack of Bertolli Alfredo Sauce on the shelves, now you know why.
150,000 tomatoes covered Interstate 80 after another truck accident this week
“Those tomato skins, man. Once they hit the asphalt, it’s like walking on ice.”SCREAMING
story by the great @byEduardoMedina https://t.co/vwfnQeIcLv
— McKenna Oxenden (@mack_oxenden) August 30, 2022
This, of course, comes the day after a truck carrying tomatoes spilled on a California highway. The New York Times article says a truck carrying 50,000 pounds of tomatoes fell out of a truck after it struck a median. A California Highway Patrol officer said vegetables spread over 200 feet of the eastbound lanes. Officer Jason Tyhurst said it seemed like the veggies were “two feet deep.”
After the tomatoes spilled, it caused a chain reaction of car accidents. “Those tomato skins, man, once they hit the asphalt, it’s like walking on ice,” Officer Tyhurst said to the NTY. The crash involved seven cars and injured three people. The driver of the truck carrying the tomatoes had minor injuries.
Crews used a backhoe to clean the tomato pieces and an “absorbent powder” to soak up the juice. It is currently tomato season in California, which means lots of trucks transporting tomatoes through the state. The California Tomato Growers Association says more than 90% of the nation’s processed tomatoes come from California. If you are traveling this holiday weekend, pay extra attention to those tomato and Alfredo trucks. You never know when a free meal is upon you.