(March 13, 2026 – Grand Island, Nebraska)
A semi-truck driver was killed in southeast Nebraska after his vehicle was struck by a train. The crash, which occurred just before 2:30 p.m. on Friday, March 13, took place west of Grand Island, NE, on West Old Potash Highway between Ordinance Plant Road and 3rd Avenue.
The lone victim has been identified as 56-year-old Dale Hurley of Grand Island, NE. According to the Hall County Sheriff’s Department, Hurley was driving west on Old Potash Hwy in a semi-truck, a 2019 Freightliner, when he struck a train at the Old Potash Hwy Crossing. The Hall County Sheriff’s Department, Grand Island Fire Department, Grand Island Rural Fire Department, and Nebraska State Patrol responded. Hurley was pronounced dead at the scene.
Google Earth imagery from as recent as June 2023 shows that the crossing is not guarded with any active warning devices, such as lights and gates. Multiple curved tracks on both the north and south sides of the crossing pose the potential to create significant distractions to motorists using the crossing. Additionally, significant vegetation alongside the roadway leading to both approaches potentially obstructs sight lines and complicates motorists’ ability to timely observe oncoming traffic and safely come to a stop.
A similar crash occurred late last year in October, in which a semi-truck collided with a stationary train on a nearby section of the same rail line just south of the Old Potash Hwy location.
The Hall County crash investigators are continuing to investigate the collision.