The twisted guardrail is shown after a commercial truck hauling brine went off of Interstate 77 Wednesday morning just south of the Emerson Avenue exit to Parkersburg. The driver, 35-year-old Brandon Lovejoy, was found dead at the scene. (Photo by Evan Bevins)

PARKERSBURG — The driver of a truck hauling brine south on Interstate 77 was found dead after his vehicle went off the road and over a steep embankment Wednesday morning.

Brandon Lovejoy, 35, of Cambridge, Ohio, was the driver and sole occupant of the commercial vehicle, according to a release from the Wood County Sheriff’s Department.

The truck went off the right side of the road near mile marker 179.2, just south of the Emerson Avenue exit to Parkersburg. The truck struck a guardrail and came to rest in a creek in a wooded area at the bottom of the embankment, the release said.

The crash was reported to the Wood County 911 Center at 6:37 a.m., the release said. Sheriff’s deputies, the Wood County coroner, West Virginia Public Service Commission Transportation Law Enforcement and firefighters from Waverly, Williamstown and Vienna responded to the scene, along with St. Joseph’s and WVU Medicine Camden Clark ambulances.

Both southbound lanes were closed for a while before one was reopened as first responders and Pifer’s Towing & Recovery worked to remove the truck.

A tow truck, firefighters and other responders are seen at the site of a fatal accident Wednesday morning on Interstate 77 near the 179.2 mile marker at Parkersburg. (Photo by Evan Bevins)

The cause of the crash remains under investigation by the Wood County Crash Team, the release said.

Part of a truck that went off of Interstate 77 near the 179.2 mile marker at Parkersburg is seen beyond the broken guardrail at the bottom of an embankment Wednesday morning. The driver, 35-year-old Brandon Lovejoy, was pronounced dead at the scene. (Photo by Evan Bevins)

Firefighters and others responding to a crash Wednesday morning on Interstate 77 South just past the Emerson Avenue exit in Parkersburg look over an embankment to a commercial truck that ran off the road. The driver, 35-year-old Brandon Lovejoy, was pronounced dead at the scene. (Photo by Evan Bevins)