Jack Phillips uninjured, after a steel beam his tractor-trailer is carrying breaks free and crashes into his cab, near Tualatin in Washington County.

A tractor-trailer driver was lucky to be alive after a steel beam strapped to his rig suddenly broke free and smashed through his cab while on an Oregon road.

Jack Phillips said he was driving his 18-wheeler down Southwest Nyberg Road in Tualatin when a dump truck cut him off near Interstate 5 about 4:20 p.m. Wednesday.

But when Phillips slammed the brakes, a load of rain-slicked steel beams on his trailer shifted forward.

“At that point, it was too late and I just ducked my head down,” Phillips said. “Next thing I know, I have steel going by my head out the front windshield of the truck.”

Phillips escaped without any injuries. But the wild wreck caused headaches for drivers stuck in traffic as workers used a crane to help clear the scene.

The driver said he was still shaken by the incident, but planned to go back to work the next day