A Maryland tractor-trailer driver died Thursday morning after his rig left Interstate 95 northbound and struck the Courthouse Road overpass in Stafford County, Virginia, State Police said.
The crash happened about 11:20 a.m. at the 140-mile marker, at Exit 140. Troopers identified the driver as Derek P. Volkmer, 40, of Glen Burnie, Maryland. Volkmer died at the scene, according to a 5:42 p.m. update from Virginia State Police Public Relations Coordinator Matthew Demlein.
State police said a tractor-trailer pulling a flatbed went off the right side of I-95, hit the overpass, and overturned. The crash remains under investigation. The release does not give a cause, name a trucking company, say whether other vehicles were involved, or describe damage to the overpass. For questions about the overpass, state police referred reporters to the Virginia Department of Transportation Fredericksburg District.
A GoFundMe page organized by Caitie Zurawski of Linthicum, Maryland, says Volkmer leaves behind his fiancé, Jen, and two children, Jae and Jax. The campaign describes him as an Army veteran and the family’s sole provider, and it seeks help with housing and daily expenses. As of Friday afternoon, the page, titled “Support for Jen, Jae, and Jax After Derek’s Passing,” had raised about $12,670 of a $20,000 goal. The fundraiser is at gofundme.com/f/support-for-jen-jae-and-jax-after-dereks-passing.
The wreck closed northbound lanes through the afternoon and backed up traffic for miles, including on Route 1 and nearby secondary roads. Stafford County Public Schools logged dozens of late afternoon bus runs while the backups built.
VDOT said two of the interstate’s three northbound lanes were closed near Courthouse Road after the crash. A single northbound lane stayed open. The agency’s first alert went out just after 12:15 p.m., when about four miles of congestion had stacked up approaching the scene.
An update issued at 3:18 p.m. said two northbound lanes had reopened. One northbound lane remained closed at the crash scene, and congestion on I-95 northbound then started about five miles before the interchange, VDOT said. VDOT Fredericksburg District posted the same update on social media a minute earlier, tagging Stafford County government and the Stafford County Sheriff’s Office.
VDOT directed drivers to 511 Virginia for lane and traffic updates. Potomac Local News checked the 511 Virginia camera views covering that stretch of I-95. The wreck itself was out of view.
At 4:06 p.m., VDOT Fredericksburg District said all I-95 northbound lanes at the Exit 140 interchange were open. VDOT Fredericksburg District spokeswoman Kelly Hannon is the listed contact for the earlier traffic alerts.
Stafford school buses
Stafford County Public Schools was in session Thursday. The division’s Trending Now page points families to its Bus Delays and Notifications Dashboard, which the Transportation Department updates through the day.
By midafternoon, that dashboard listed dozens of delayed afternoon routes. Many of the entries were elementary runs posted around dismissal, with delay windows of 0-15 minutes, 15-30 minutes, or, on at least one Hampton Oaks Elementary route, 20-40 minutes.
Most listed reasons were “Prior Run,” “Multiple Runs,” or “2nd Run.” At least one route, Crow’s Nest Elementary bus 4112, was coded “Traffic.”
The dashboard does not name the I-95 crash on each line. The delays were posted while VDOT was reporting multi-mile northbound backups at Courthouse Road and extra traffic on Route 1 and nearby secondary roads.
The division tells families to use the MyRide K-12 app for a student’s live bus location and to keep checking the delay dashboard. Morning delay listings are cleared after noon. Afternoon listings stay up until 7 p.m.
What drivers should know
All I-95 northbound lanes at Exit 140 (Courthouse Road) were open as of VDOT’s 4:06 p.m. update. Leftover congestion can linger after a long afternoon backup.
Updated lane status is at 511.vdot.virginia.gov.
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