(Radio Iowa) – The driver of a semi was ticketed for a traffic violation after his truck was hit by a train and the load of meat it was carrying spilled out. Sioux City Sergeant Tom Gill says the driver apparently tried to beat the train through the crossing around 2:30-p.m., (Wednesday). “So it hit the back third of the trailer that was pulled by the truck, causing the trailer to rip in half and then several boxes of meat that the trailer was hauling fell out onto the ground,” he says. Gill says the engineer saw the semi, but could not stop in time. He says the truck driver should never have tried to cross the tracks.

“So there’s going to be red flashing lights, there’s going to be bells going off. Anytime you’re coming up upon train tracks it’s important to look both ways for a train,” Gill says. “It should have been very apparent that there was a train coming, and luckily that truck there was no injuries to the driver. There was some substantial damage to that truck. An estimated 50-thousand dollars in damage to that semi trailer.”

The crash and spilled meat caused the roadway to be closed for several hours. The truck driver is from South Sioux City and works for a transportation company there.