A Roadside Wake-Up Call
This past week, we got a call for a big towing job just south of Woodburn, Oregon—right off State Highway 99. A fully loaded semi had rolled over near a business lot. The driver had parked partially on the shoulder the night before, planning to catch a few hours of sleep before an early morning delivery. But what should’ve been a routine start to the day took a hard turn, turning into a full-scale highway 99 semi recovery.
The Collapse
The truck was sitting with 40,000 pounds of frozen meat in its trailer. When the driver woke and began pulling forward, the earth beneath the right side of the truck gave way. The shoulder wasn’t built to support that kind of weight. With one loud shift and a sudden drop, the trailer rolled and the whole unit landed on its side, partially in the road.
This was no quick tow. This was a full-day highway 99 semi recovery, right in the middle of one of the busiest corridors in the region.
Safety First
When we arrived on the scene, we found out quickly that the situation was more complicated than it looked. There was a gas line running directly underneath the area where the truck had settled. That meant no uprighting the trailer while it was still full. With 40,000 pounds sitting on unstable ground above a gas line, even the smallest movement could’ve caused a serious problem.
We coordinated with Oregon State Police, ODOT, the gas company, and Woodburn PD. Everyone was clear: this had to be offloaded by hand.
Offloading by Hand
We assembled a crew right away. There was no other way—box by box, we removed and restacked the meat onto new pallets. We even tried contacting the receiving company, offering to offload and deliver the load ourselves on a flatbed, but they declined over concerns about liability. That meat was already a loss in their eyes.
Once the trailer was empty, we were finally able to move on with the recovery.
The Recovery Process
We staged two heavy wreckers on opposite ends of the vehicle. Our crew used winch lines attached to the driver’s side steer axle in front and to the trailer axles at the rear. One truck pulled down to rotate the tractor while the other pulled up and over on the trailer. It was a delicate maneuver—especially with the unstable soil and the nearby gas line—but it worked exactly as planned.
The job blocked one lane of traffic for most of the day. With flaggers in place, we kept vehicles moving as best we could through the area. By early evening, we had the semi upright, loaded, and ready to haul back to our yard.
Not Just a Tow
Once we got everything back to our lot, the next challenge came. The company owning the unit tried everything to get the reefer working again, hoping to salvage the frozen cargo. But after hours of work, it became clear the refrigeration unit was beyond repair. The meat was spoiled.
Their insurance company hired us to dispose of the load. We brought in multiple 30-yard dumpsters and hauled it all away for proper destruction—a follow-on mission to this highway 99 semi recovery.
Baker & Baker: Your Highway 99 Semi Recovery Experts
Recovering heavy trucks is rarely clean and simple, and this highway 99 semi recovery was a perfect example of how quickly a situation can escalate from routine to critical. Every job brings something new. At Baker & Baker, we’re used to jobs that others would rather avoid. Our team has the training, tools, and experience to handle the toughest recoveries, no matter the conditions. From coordinating with agencies to working around underground hazards, we know what it takes to do the job right. This highway 99 semi recovery pushed every part of our process, but we stayed on it from first call to final cleanup. When there’s a big mess on the road and time is tight, we’re the crew you want managing a highway 99 semi recovery. At the end of the day, we don’t just move trucks—we solve problems.
