Laurinburg firemen worked to free a tractor-trailer that got caught on an overpass Friday.
Traffic was at a standstill for close to an hour as emergency personnel tried to free the vehicle.
"This is a first," said Sgt. Richard Snipes of the Laurinburg police. "I've seen loads hit overpasses before, but never get stuck on them."
The top of the home was a too tall to clear the 14 by 9 structure crossing over the east-bound lane of 15-401 Bypass near the Wal-Mart shopping center.
Firemen had to use a chain-saw to remove a portion of the roof to free the truck while Laurinburg police blocked off the north-bound lane and directed traffic around the incident.
The truck was freed at 1:30 p.m.
The driver of the vehicle, Bobby Myrick, 35, of Hamilton, Ala., is charged by Laurinburg police with driving a commercial vehicle with a revoked license and with failing to comply with the 2-mile rule, violating height regulations. He was also charged by the state Highway Patrol with a federal crime of driving with a suspended commercial license, according to Snipes.
Snipes said a second driver, 36-year old Roy Dobbins of Vance, Ala., is also charged with failing to comply with the 2-mile rule and violating load regulations, Snipes said. The tractor-trailer was part of a caravan carrying manufactured homes from Alabama to Elizabeth City.
Dobbins actually drove under the overpass first, according to Snipes. He damaged the top of the manufactured home, but he made it through.
The second tractor-trailer got stuck, however.
Dobbins said that he had not left his certified route of travel, which is supposed to take into account the height of overpasses.
He also noted that there were no signs or numbers on the overpass indicating how low it was.
Snipes said that, when lawmen looked into the route, they noticed that the drivers were supposed to turn down Hasty Road to avoid going under the overpass.
"They have a mapped out route, road to road," Snipes said.
Snipes also said that DOT officials inspected the bridge and found it to be safe.
The drivers work for A&G Commercial Trucking Company, based in Ashland, Missouri. They were hauling a manufactured home produced by SEhomes.
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