Tractor, truck crash injures one

A driver of a pickup was seriously injured Monday night when his 2014 GMC Sierra collided with a trailer of corn pulled by a tractor in Silver Brook Township, forcing a closure of the highway to clean up the corn and clear the vehicles.

A 911 call about the accident came into the Carlton County Sheriff’s Office at 9:30 p.m. Monday. The accident report says Kyle Leveau, 26, of Wrenshall, was driving the tractor east on Carlton County Road 4 southeast of Wrenshall and attempted to turn into a driveway when the pickup hit the trailer. Pickup driver Caleb Schillo, 25, of Wrenshall, was hurt when the truck went into a ditch.

The report says both vehicles, and the trailer, sustained significant damage.

Deputies and firefighters from Carlton and Wrenshall responded to the call, along with ambulances from Carlton and Cloquet. The Minnesota State Patrol also responded.

Laveau wasn’t injured in the crash.

Schillo, who had serious but non-life-threatening injuries, was eventually transported by ambulance to a hospital in Duluth.

The accident report said alcohol may have been a factor in the crash.

Earlier this fall, the Minnesota Department of Transportation issued a warning for drivers to be on the lookout for farm machinery on roads as farm equipment transports crops. Crash data shows there were 374 crashes involving farm equipment in Minnesota from 2019 through 2021, resulting in eight deaths and 133 injuries. Inattentive driving and speed were the biggest contributing factors in those crashes.