Usually when people hear about truckers dying while working, it is on the road in a motor vehicle accident of some sort. This is of course not the only way a trucker can die on the job however. A trucker died last month in a work accident involving his tractor-trailer and a loading dock. The accident occurred at the Restaurant Depot in Pittsburgh as the truck was being unloaded.

At the time of the incident it appears the truck was in the process of either loading or unloading some sort of food supplies. According to police, the 59-year-old man died after his 18-wheeler backed-up, pinning him to the loading dock. Police indicated the movement of the truck was likely due to a failure to set the vehicle's parking brake.

The truck driver was from Illinois and an employee of Kiwanis Trucking Co.

The Allegheny County medical examiner indicated that the man's death was a result of blunt force injuries the man sustained to his chest. The incident was ruled an accident.

Many workplace accidents are a result of negligence or carelessness of the employer, another employee or a third party. In these types of cases the loved ones of the worker who died may decide to file a wrongful death lawsuit against the negligent party. Civil lawsuits such as these require a financial value be assigned to the life of the person who died. While most would agree that money cannot buy happiness, it may provide those left behind with the closure needed to move forward with their lives.

Source: Lebanon Daily News, "Illinois trucker dead in Pittsburgh dock accident," The Associated Press