Trailer crushes, kills truck driver changing tire

DEFUNIAK SPRINGS – A 56-year-old man died Wednesday after his trailer crushed him as he tried to change a flat tire.

Elmer Dudley Reams, of Woodville, Fla., was driving his tractor trailer north on U.S. Highway 331 near Hawthorn Road around 1 p.m. when a tire on the right side of his truck’s trailer went flat, according to a Florida Highway Patrol news release. He stopped directly in front of Stonehenge Equipment.

Reams crawled under the trailer, the release reads. As he was changing the tire, the trailer overturned on its right side, crushing him. The man was pronounced dead at the scene.

A 29-year-old Tallahassee man was sitting in the passenger’s seat, according to the release.

Reams was not under the influence of alcohol.

The FHP is investigating the death as a “traffic related incident,” not a traffic crash. No charges are pending.