UPS Truck Crashes In Nashville; Manager Killed

NASHVILLE - Troubles for United Parcel Service went beyond the bargaining table just one week after the Teamsters union went on strike.

A UPS manager was killed yesterday in a highway accident in Nashville.

Miami police arrested four suspects, including two striking workers, in the stabbing of a driver who crossed the picket line there.

UPS manager Floyd Parta had been behind the wheel since the strike began. His truck was the last of several traveling from a railyard to a UPS distribution center in Nashville when it went over a 2 1/2-foot wall on an entrance ramp and fell onto Interstate 65.

The cab landed on its roof. Packages were scattered on the ramp, and debris was spread across the highway. Northbound traffic on the highway was shut down for hours.

Investigators did not speculate on a cause of the accident. Teamsters Local 480 President Ronnie Martin said the accident was tragic but avoidable.

"People are out there filling jobs they're not qualified to do," he said. "It's a time bomb waiting to happen."

Though he was UPS' regional health and safety manager, Parta, 48, of Mount Juliet, Tenn., was licensed to drive a tractor-trailer, the company said.

"We have approximately 50,000 managers who are working in our centers and in our hubs. Not all are driving trucks. Some are sorting and loading and doing various other things to keep things running," said Jennifer Jiles, a UPS spokeswoman at corporate headquarters in Atlanta.

In Miami, police said they arrested four suspects and were searching for two others in the stabbing of Roderick Carter, 31, who was making deliveries when he got into a fight last week and was stabbed five times.

Carter, a former University of Miami football star, was treated and released for wounds to his torso and back and is recovering at home.

Charged with attempted murder were Orestes Espinosa, 30, Angel Mielgo, 30, and Renigno Rojas, 28. Adrian Paez, 25, was charged with aggravated battery. Espinosa and Mielgo are striking workers.

"They have the right to strike and I have the right to work," Carter said. "Crossing the picket lines was an easy choice for me. My family is more important than a union or UPS."

Ten years ago, Carter played linebacker and helped Jimmy Johnson's Hurricanes win the college national championship. Carter was later drafted by the Dallas Cowboys but was cut and returned to his native Fort Lauderdale.