Who Investigates Truck Crashes in Middlesex County

The road decides who shows up first. State Police troopers patrol the Turnpike, the Parkway, I-287 and NJ 440. Town police work US 1, US 9, US 130, NJ 18 and the county roads. This page lists each agency, what it produces and how its file is obtained.

New Jersey State Police, Troop D: the Turnpike and the Parkway

Headquarters

Troop D Headquarters sits in Cranbury between Turnpike Interchanges 8 and 8A, at milepost 71.5. Troop D covers all 148 miles of the Turnpike and the Garden State Parkway.

NJSP Troop D page

Cranbury Station

278 Prospect Plains Rd, Cranbury, NJ 08512, (609) 409-1609.

NJSP Troop D page

Newark Station

14 Port St, Newark, NJ 07114, (973) 344-1099.

NJSP Troop D page

Which station covers your exit

NJSP does not publish which station covers Interchanges 8A through 12. Cranbury is the nearest station to the 8A–9 stretch; we confirm the station from the report itself.

NJSP Troop D page

Special units

Troop D runs Tactical Patrol Units assigned to high-crash areas and two Construction Incident Management Units per region, which also inspect commercial vehicles.

NJSP Troop D page

Share of the reports

630 of 638 reportable truck and bus crashes on the Middlesex Turnpike were NJSP reports (2021–2025, FMCSA crash file). Involving a truck does not mean the truck caused the crash.

2021–2025, FMCSA crash file

State Police, Troops B and C: I-287 and the non-toll interstates

Troop B

Troop B patrols 218 miles of North Jersey interstates, including I-287 and non-toll I-95. Its nearest listed station is Somerville Station, 790 US 22 East, Bridgewater, NJ 08807, (908) 725-0107.

NJSP Troop B page

I-287 in Middlesex

NJSP investigated the May 17, 2026 fuel-tanker crash on I-287 northbound at milepost 1.9 in Metuchen, which confirms NJSP handles I-287 here. NJSP filed 154 of 161 reportable truck crash reports on I-287 (2021–2025, FMCSA crash file).

NJSP; 2021–2025, FMCSA crash file

Troop C

Troop C covers central New Jersey; its northern boundary is in Middlesex County. None of its stations is in the county.

NJSP Troop C page

State Police units that examine the truck and close the fatal file

Commercial Carrier Safety Inspection Unit (CCSIU)

Specially certified troopers conduct roadside inspections and post-crash investigations of commercial vehicles. Their post-crash inspection report records brakes, out-of-service violations and similar findings, and it sits inside the NJSP file. It has to be requested by name. The unit runs a fixed scale on I-287 northbound at milepost 9.3 in Piscataway, 732-885-1539. Headquarters: (609) 452-2601 ext. 5907.

NJSP CCSIU page

Fatal Accident Investigation Unit (FAIU)

FAIU completes every NJSP fatal-crash case. Reconstruction reports, photos, statements and digital media come through the portal's $20 serious/fatal records request, and only with a subpoena or court order. Photos are released only after the case is closed.

NJSP crash report portal; NJSP records bureau

Hazardous Materials Passenger Transportation Enforcement Unit

Inspects hazmat loads and passenger carriers such as motorcoaches and school buses.

NJSP Transportation Safety Bureau

Town police: US 1, US 9, US 130, NJ 18 and the county roads

Off the toll roads and interstates, municipal police investigate. On US 1, 447 of 449 reportable truck crashes were town police reports; on US 9, all 339 were (2021–2025, FMCSA crash file). After the State Police, the departments that filed the most Middlesex truck and bus crash reports in that period were Edison, Woodbridge, South Brunswick, Old Bridge, Sayreville, North Brunswick and East Brunswick. Involving a truck does not mean the truck caused the crash.

A town department produces the NJTR-1 report, the officer's photos if any were taken, body-worn and dash camera video, the 911 recording and the computer-aided dispatch log. The report is sold through the records bureau or an online vendor; the rest is requested under OPRA. Our crash report guide lists all 25 departments, their vendors and their fees.

Three smaller agencies also appear in Middlesex files. Port Authority Police filed 3 of the 72 reportable truck crash reports on NJ 440 (2021–2025, FMCSA crash file) and are expected to handle crashes on the Outerbridge Crossing itself. Rutgers University Police cover the campus roads in New Brunswick and Piscataway. NJ Transit Police handle crashes involving NJ Transit buses.

Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office and County Hazmat

Prosecutor's Office

25 Kirkpatrick St, 3rd Floor, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, (732) 745-3300.

NJSP county prosecutors directory

Fatal Crash Unit

732-745-4328. The unit co-investigates fatal and serious truck crashes alongside the town department.

MCPO release, May 2026

Recent examples

The April 2024 tractor-trailer crash at US 1 and Ridge Road in South Brunswick, the September 2023 dump-truck crash on US 9 in the Parlin section of Sayreville, and the March 2026 tractor-trailer crash at NJ 18 and Paulus Boulevard in New Brunswick were all worked jointly by the local department and the Prosecutor's Office.

Middlesex County dossier §2c, §6

County Hazmat

Responds to tanker and fuel-leak crashes. Examples: the May 2026 fuel-tanker fire on I-287 in Metuchen, the February 2023 tanker collision on US 9 in Sayreville, and the September 2026 box-truck crash on Homestead Avenue in Woodbridge where a ruptured saddle tank leaked diesel.

Middlesex County dossier §2c, §6

When the driver is charged

If the Prosecutor's Office files charges against the truck driver, the crash file becomes part of a criminal case. The prosecutor controls it through criminal discovery, and NJSP's records bureau routes reports that are subject to criminal discovery to the prosecutor rather than selling them. A civil claimant usually waits, or subpoenas the file once a civil suit is on file.

Your civil claim does not depend on the criminal case. It runs on its own two-year clock, and the carrier's own records, including electronic logs, run on even shorter clocks. See evidence deadlines. Charges against a driver can be followed in NJ Courts' Criminal Public Access system, and the civil case is heard at the Middlesex County Courthouse in New Brunswick.

What's hard to do alone

While charges are pending, the prosecutor holds the file. Getting the reconstruction, statements and photos usually means a subpoena after suit is filed, timed so the shorter evidence windows are not lost in the meantime.
The CCSIU post-crash inspection, which records brake condition and out-of-service violations, is not sent with the crash report. It has to be named in the subpoena.
A single crash at the Exit 10 ramps can touch NJSP Troop D, NJSP on I-287 and Edison police. Each agency's records have to be requested separately.
Hazmat responses add DEP and County Hazmat records that no one hands to a victim unprompted.

“When we investigate these crashes, we focus on driver logs, electronic control modules, and dashboard camera footage.”
Garces, Grabler & LeBrocq, P.C.

What GGL does for you here

Identifies every agency that touched the crash: the reporting department, NJSP inspection units, the Prosecutor's Office, County Hazmat and DEP
Tracks the criminal case and times the civil subpoenas around it
Subpoenas the FAIU reconstruction file and the CCSIU post-crash inspection report by name
Coordinates with the Prosecutor's victim contact where appropriate, so the family is not calling three offices

Who Investigates a Truck Crash in Middlesex County

New Jersey State Police, Troop D: the Turnpike and the Parkway

State Police, Troops B and C: I-287 and the non-toll interstates

State Police units that examine the truck and close the fatal file

Town police: US 1, US 9, US 130, NJ 18 and the county roads

Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office and County Hazmat

When the driver is charged

What's hard to do alone

Related pages

Get your crash report

When a truck crash takes a life

Tanker and hazmat crashes

I-287

Turnpike Exits 10–12

Turnpike Exits 8A–9

What GGL does for you here

Call Today For A Free Consultation