Fatigue suspected in fatal semitruck crash near Laramie

A pre-dawn semitruck crash south of Laramie left Roberto Barberena Gavidia, 43, of Centennial, Colorado, dead and a second occupant injured after the truck crossed lanes, hit a bridge guardrail and rolled onto its roof on an embankment along U.S. Highway 287.

The Wyoming Highway Patrol said the 2020 Hino commercial vehicle was headed north near mile marker 413 about 4 a.m. Monday, June 15, when it drifted into the southbound lane and then veered off the left side of the roadway. The truck struck the guardrail leading up to a bridge, and a piece of rail punctured the right fuel tank before the vehicle rolled off the bridge and came to rest upside down.

The impact sent the truck into the railroad tracks below the bridge, where it partially blocked the line before catching fire. Troopers said the passenger was able to escape, then was taken by ambulance to Ivinson Memorial Hospital, treated and released. Road conditions were dry and clear, and investigators said fatigue was the most likely cause rather than weather or speed.

For Albany County, the wreck hit more than one transportation link at once. U.S. 287 is a key north-south corridor south of Laramie for commuters, freight haulers and emergency responders, and the crash added a burning commercial vehicle, bridge damage and blocked railroad tracks to the kind of scene that can quickly slow response times and complicate access in a rural area. The vehicle’s rollover and fire also underscore how a lane departure on a two-lane highway can become a bridge and rail emergency in seconds.

The fatality was Wyoming’s 50th roadway death of 2026, compared with 46 at the same point in 2025 and 39 in 2024. Wyoming Department of Transportation crash data materials say lane- and road-departure crashes are a major safety focus statewide, and an annual highway safety report said rural lane-departure crashes made up about 26% of all traffic crashes from 2019 through 2023. State transportation crews are also widening U.S. 287 south of Laramie, a reminder that this corridor remains under pressure from traffic volume and safety concerns even before a wreck turns it into an emergency scene.