Latest news with #CharlesZeisloft
CBS News
21-05-2025
- CBS News
Driver, homeowner recovering after crash that destroyed Woodbury Heights, New Jersey, home
It was a dramatic crash caught on a dashcam. A dump truck ran off the road and crashed into a home in Woodbury Township, New Jersey, after the driver lost control during a medical emergency. "It's a miracle that he's alive and through the grace of God," said Charles Zeisloft, the president of Zeisloft Trucking. Zeisloft said he raced to the scene moments after watching the dashcam video, which showed the horrifying moments when one of his drivers had a medical emergency behind the wheel. The footage shows the truck snap a utility pole, plow through several yards, and then — as the truck gained speed — smash into the home and nearly land in the basement. CBS News Philadelphia "My driver, he's an emotional mess right now. He's getting hit with a lot of stuff too, he just lost his livelihood. Knowing he had a seizure, he can no longer drive a commercial vehicle," Zeisloft said. "It was upsetting. All the guys in the shop, we just were speechless. We didn't know what to say," said Herb Foster, who works with the driver. Neighbors living on Woodbury Glassboro Road heard the impact Tuesday afternoon and raced outside to help. The homeowner's brother told CBS News Philadelphia that his brother was sitting in the living room when the truck made impact, and he was pushed into the bedroom. The driver was trapped in the cab with the weight of the house on top of his truck, and it took hours — and specialized crews — for both men to be rescued. "Both the homeowner and my driver are both stable, thank heavens, thank God," Zeisloft said. Zeisloft says the driver did everything right before having the medical emergency, and he has worked for his company for 25 to 30 years. Zeisloft also knows the homeowner personally. He says the man's deceased wife used to be his son's caregiver. "He did lose everything, but there are some bright spots. Linda was his wife's name. they found her urn in the debris so that was a positive thing that he was able to save and have her urn," Zeisloft said. The driver's wallet was also found in the debris. The home has been demolished.
The Drive
21-05-2025
- Automotive
- The Drive
Look at the Hole This 73,000-Pound Dump Truck Punched Through an NJ House
The latest car news, reviews, and features. Imagine you're sitting in your favorite chair when a dump truck smashes through your house like a 36-ton Kool-Aid man and sends you through two walls. That's what happened to one Woodbury Heights, New Jersey-native this past Tuesday. The driver lost consciousness at the wheel after suffering a medical emergency while hauling a load of concrete sand, and drove straight through the homeowner's house like it was tissue paper. Somehow, everyone made it out alive. In the dashcam video from ABC6 , you can see the moment when the driver loses consciousness, as the truck starts to veer left across the double yellow lines. According to Charles Zeisloft, owner of the trucking company, the fully loaded dump truck weighed about 73,000 pounds. The chaos such a truck can cause while out of control is unimaginable. And yet, the chaos was kept to a relative minimum. Outside of smashing through the house, the only damage caused by the runaway truck was to a telephone pole, which was snapped and uprooted like a toothpick after being hit by the massive hauler. Not only did it drive through the telephone pole as if it weren't there, but the impact didn't slow it down. You shudder to think what would have happened if it had a head-on collision with a car in oncoming traffic. Despite its potential for destruction, neither the driver nor the homeowner suffered any life-threatening injuries. While the homeowner was injured, he was conscious and able to call out to his neighbor, who came to help. 'I was able to make eye contact with him through a hole where the floor and well had separated, and I was able to talk to him for about 10 minutes until the paramedics got there,' neighbor David Keating told ABC6 . When you see the truck stuck inside the house, it looks like it just made a big hole. However, the house's structure was destroyed and shifted several feet off the foundation. After everyone was pulled out and sent to the hospital, and the truck was removed, the house needed to be torn down by a demolition crew. This could have been so much worse. Not only for the driver and the homeowner, but also for other drivers on the road, a woman who was reportedly walking her child down the same street moments earlier, or anyone who could've been hit by flying debris. Remarkably, no one was critically injured. And now I'm going to fear any heavy truck driving in the opposite direction to me. Got tips? Send 'em to tips@ Nico DeMattia is a staff writer at The Drive. He started writing about cars on his own blog to express his opinions when no one else would publish them back in 2015, and eventually turned it into a full-time career.
