Packages in Pa. Turnpike crash remain on delivery route

UPS packages that were being hauled by tractor-trailers involved in the fatal Pennsylvania Turnpike crash will reach their intended destinations if they were not damaged, a company spokesman said Tuesday.

“If a package is damaged, we contact the shipper for replacement or reimbursement of that delivery,” said Matthew O’Connor, senior manager of public relations for UPS. “The undamaged packages continue to their destination for delivery.”

The turnpike is a vital shipping lane for moving freight and packages across the state and the country. A 2016 PennDOT report said about 7.5% of the goods and materials produced, used or exported by the U.S. travel through Pennsylvania.

UPS has a policy in place for family heirlooms or items shippers might consider “priceless,” O’Connor said.

“Every package receives a declared value of $100, and shippers can purchase additional declared value of up to $50,000 for each package,” O’Connor said. “If a package is damaged in transit, UPS works with the shipper to repair or replace the item or reimburse them for the declared value of the package.”

The chain-reaction crash happened at 3:30 a.m. Sunday when authorities say a tour bus hit the highway barrier on a downhill curve near mile marker 86 in Mt. Pleasant Township. The bus then veered to the right, drove up a steep embankment and rolled over, investigators said.

The bus belonging to Z&D Tours of Rockaway, N.J., slid back onto the road and hit the center barrier a second time before coming to a stop, officials said. A FedEx tractor-trailer hit the bottom of the bus. The bus was also hit by a UPS tractor-trailer based out of the Harrisburg operating center. The operators of that tractor-trailer, Dennis Kehler, 48, of Lebanon, Pa., and Daniel Kepner, 53, of Lewistown, died at the scene, along with the bus driver and two occupants who were ejected.

A Mercedes-Benz car then hit the side of the UPS tractor-trailer, and a second UPS tractor-trailer ran into the wreckage, investigators said. The driver of the second UPS tractor-trailer and the Mercedes were not hurt, police said.

As for the UPS tractor-trailers damaged in the crash, O’Connor said a contingency plan is in place to meet the company’s service commitments.

FedEx Ground media relations representative David Westrick said the company makes every effort to retrieve and transport packages involved in accidents to their intended destinations.

“Shippers are also notified of lost or damaged shipments as appropriate,” Westrick said.