By Shawn Henry 
Another brutal early morning wreck on I-5 near DuPont just hammered home what truckers already know: this fatigue thing ain’t getting better. Around 1 a.m. Monday, some poor soul dozed off behind the wheel of a chicken hauler near milepost 116. Next thing you know, that rig’s upside down and suddenly there’s a poultry apocalypse across three lanes—crates busted open, feathers everywhere, and at least 200 birds dead before breakfast.
State Patrol had their hands full, herding survivors while a Mount Vernon outfit scooped up the living. Meanwhile, northbound traffic? Totally screwed. Backups bled all the way to Lacey like some kind of terrible rush hour sequel, finally clearing around 9:30.
Here’s the kicker: truckers nodding off isn’t some fluke. Feds have been waving red flags for years—push past eight hours and crash odds double. One in five long-haul guys confessed to zoning out at least once a month, and let’s be real, who trusts self-reported stats? NHTSA data’s even scarier: skimpy on sleep, high on risk. Less than four hours of shut-eye turns the cab into a rolling hazard.
So why’d this driver konk out? Who knows. Could’ve been deadlines, desperation, or just another guy ground down by the grind. Point is, when thousands of pounds starts swerving, there’s no undo button. This time it was chickens. Next time? Might not be so feathery.