The driver involved in last week's deadly I-75 crash was making his first run for the trucking company, The National Transportation Safety Board officials said this morning.
Ben Brewer, 39, was the driver of a truck that plowed into several vehicles in a crash that killed six people in Chattanooga on June 25. He had only started work with the London, Ky.-based carrier, on Monday, June 22.
NTSB officials released the information about Brewer during a press conference during which they released some details surrounding the "safety component" of the crash investigation. That investigation encompasses everything from the driver's competency to the conditions of the highway prior to the crash.
It could be 14 months before an outcome in that investigation. Officials are waiting on blood samples, cellular data and more interviews. Brewer's blood sample was sent to Nashville yesterday, officials said.
Nine-vehicle crash on Interstate 75 in Ooltewah, Tenn.NTSB officials said the truck Brewer was driving had deficiencies involving brakes and other components, but that those did not contribute to the crash.
Investigators are also looking into whether Brewer suffered from fatigue, said NTSB chief investigator Pete Kotowski.
The day before the accident, Brewer was cited for careless driving in Florida. He was supposed to undergo drug and alcohol tests after that crash, but did not, officials said at the news conference.
NTSB investigators were in Kentucky yesterday to interview Brewer and his companion in the truck. Brewer was "very candid" and "very cooperative" in the interview, Kotowski said, but officials are still working to corroborate his statements.
Brewer can technically still continue to drive for the London, Ky., trucking company Cool Runnings Express Inc.
The National Transportation Safety Board usually sends five investigators to crash sites, but sent 11 to Chattanooga due to the scope of this incident.
The Chattanooga Police Department, meanwhile, is handling criminal investigation into the crash. That is not likely to be resolved for weeks or months, said police Sgt. David Allen.