Man crushed to death at Fresno trucking repair yard, sheriff says

A man in his 20s died after being crushed between a semi-truck and trailer at a trucking repair yard near Belmont and Lafayette avenues in Fresno, a fatal industrial accident that puts workplace safety controls and oversight in focus.

Deputies with the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office said the collapse happened shortly after 4 p.m. at the repair yard. The victim was found with major injuries and died at the scene. Authorities had not publicly identified him as of publication.

The sheriff’s office is investigating how the crush incident unfolded, including what protections were in place around the truck and trailer at the time. In heavy-equipment yards, the danger often comes from narrow swing and crush zones where a worker can be pinned if a vehicle shifts unexpectedly, a risk Cal/OSHA says should be addressed with clear work-area controls, barriers and warning signs such as “Danger - Swing/Crush Zone.”

The death lands in a part of the economy where California has repeatedly seen deadly work injuries. Transportation and material moving jobs had 110 fatal workplace injuries in 2024, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, and transportation incidents caused 65 of those deaths. State records show transportation incidents were the leading cause of occupational fatalities in California between 2013 and 2023, accounting for 1,492 deaths, or 32% of the total.

California recorded 439 fatal occupational injuries in 2023, with an overall fatal work injury rate of 2.5 per 100,000 workers, according to the California Department of Industrial Relations and Cal/OSHA data. That backdrop makes yard safety, worker training and vehicle separation especially consequential in Fresno County, where trucking, warehousing and repair operations are deeply tied to daily commerce.

For Fresno’s trucking and repair industry, the fatality is a reminder that one mistake around a semi-truck and trailer can turn an ordinary workday into a death scene in seconds. The sheriff’s investigation will determine what happened inside the yard and whether the protections around that heavy equipment were enough.