The driver and a passenger were unharmed in the incident on North Point Road shortly before noon.

Heavy weed growth masked the sharp edge of the narrow road, contributing to what the driver called a slow-motion rollover.

The driver said he told his 8-year-old son, riding in the truck’s passenger seat, to hold on as a tire slipped off the edge of the pavement and the truck began to tip.

When the fully loaded truck landed on its passenger side in a ditch, the driver grabbed his son, unbuckled the boy’s seatbelt, and helped him climb out the driver’s side door into a heavy rain, he said afterward.

News Photo by Julie Riddle Weeds and earth cling to the underside of an overturned garbage truck on North Point Road in Alpena Township on Monday.

The driver’s phone was lost in the water of the ditch, and he wasn’t sure how to get help on the rural road. A passerby stopped and called for help a few minutes later, the driver said.

News Photo by Julie Riddle A driver inspects the underside of his truck on North Point Road in Alpena Township on Monday.

News Photo by Julie Riddle With police and firefighter help, a driver inspects a garbage truck that toppled on North Point Road in Alpena Township on Monday.