A tractor-trailer carrying 32,000 pounds of toothpaste containers wrecked on U.S. 52 North Sunday morning jamming traffic in the northbound lanes for hours.

Pablo Rodriguez Jr., 33, of 1616 Waughtown St., Winston-Salem, was driving a truck for Swift Transportation northbound at about 9 a.m. when he drifted off the right side of the road and hit the guardrail just north of the Armstrong Road overpass and south of the I-74 connector split on U.S. 52 North, according to Trooper Robbie Ellison of the North Carolina Highway Patrol.

The cab and trailer rode the guardrail about 400 feet before coming to a rest with the trailer on top of the guardrail, which kept it from going down an embankment onto Arnder Road, Ellison said.

“He said he fought the thing the whole way,” Ellison said.

A crew with Northend Garage had to cut the guardrail out from under the trailer before pulling the trailer away from the guardrail, and then had to locate new tires to replace those on the back of the trailer, which were destroyed in the accident, before hauling the rig away.

The removal process took several hours, keeping U.S. 52 North down to one lane until shortly after 2 p.m., which backed heavy traffic up for miles.

Traffic was heavy due to Sunday travelers headed north as well as the normal highway traffic.

No one was injured in the incident.

In addition to Northend Garage and the Highway Patrol, crews from Bannertown Volunteer Fire Department assisted with traffic control on the scene.