trucking accident

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Any lawyer who assumes that a large commercial truck crash is just a bigger car
wreck is dangerously naive. Investigation, discovery, technology and law involved in the
crashes of large commercial trucks are substantially different from other motor vehicle
accident cases.

Counsel must be familiar with a national body of trucking law based primarily on the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations, technology in the trucking industry, trucking insurance coverage issues, multistate discovery practice, and other aspects of investigation and discovery particular to trucking litigation.

Lawyers who are not prepared to invest the time required to master the intricacies involved should consider the ethical duty to associate other counsel.

Since many interstate trucking cases are removed to federal courts, competent handling includes and familiarity federal court practice and local rules.

As a trucking safety attorney in Atlanta, Georgia, I have found it is extremely important to network with other attorneys doing the same kind of work throughout the United States.

At the American Association for Justice convention in San Francisco last Saturday, I spoke at the Interstate Trucking Litigation Group seminar on Saturday and had dinner with the other members of seminar faculty that evening.

My bride and I had to leave for the airport before the time scheduled for the ITLG business meeting on Tuesday. But when we landed in Atlanta, I had a text message informing me that I had been elected to the national board of directors of the Interstate Trucking Litigation Group. This will involve being on the faculty of the four-day "Trucking Litigation College," writing a substantive article for the ITLG newsletter, and a lot more networking with other people around the country who are very good at what I do.

That sort of thing is good for my clients because it exposes me to the latest ideas on how to effectively handle these cases.

A  federal court jury in  Kansas has returned a $23.5 million verdict arising from a 2006 wreck in New Mexico, according to an article by Ron Sylvester of the Wichita Eagle. The court cut the amount to $15.3 million because the jury decided the driver of the Swift Transportation was only 65 percent at fault even though she was on methamphetamine.

The  Swift  driver was backing into the highway from a rest stop when she hit a Yellow Freight truck. The Swift driver  tested positive for methamphetamine. She claimed she was rear-ended but accident reconstruction proved her version of the incident was not true.

The  of the Yellow Freight driver was killed and the passenger / co-driver had a catastrophic spinal cord injury. This verdict was for the spinal cord injury victim. The wrongful death case is set for trail next spring.

Swift Transportation was hit with a $36.5 million verdict last year in an Arizona case brought by  the family of a man killed in a collision with a Swift truck.

At this firm we frequently represent truck drivers who are injured by the negligence of other truckers. We are always available to review such incidents.

As a trucking trial attorney, I see it all too often.  And now again.  Early yesterday morning a tractor trailer loaded with sand ran a stop sign in south central Florida, striking a van on the right side. and killing six men.  According to an Associated Press report by Christine Armario, investigators were still trying to determine while the West Coast Aggregate 18-wheeler failed to stop for the stop sign. Authorities were still seeking to identify the six victims who were thought to be HIspanic.

Cristela Guerra and Janine Zeitlin of the Fort Myers News-Press

reported that the tractor-trailer was  hauling sand out of Ortona Sand Co., five to six miles from where the accident occurred.  The van, registered to a farm labor contractor, was not authorized to transport farm workers and had not passed vehicle safety inspections. 

According to USDOT information, West Coast Aggregate Haulers is based in Venice, Florida, and reports operation of only one power unit, hauling aggregate on interstate trips only. In the past 24 months West Coast Aggregate had two truck inspections, failing one of them. 

Florida requires only $300,000 liability insurance for trucks of intrastate haulers with a gross vehicle weight of 44,000 to 80,000 pounds, compared with the minimum $750,000 required for interstate truckers and the measly $100,000 required for intrastate haulers in Georgia.  However, we often find in Georgia that trucks hauling timber and  building materials such as sand actually carry $1 million liability coverage due to contractual requirements.

As an attorney representing people catastrophically injured in trucking accidents in Atlanta, Georgia, I see speed as a safety problem as well as fatigue, illness, medication and equipment deficiencies.

The  Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is studying a proposal for a uniform nationwide speed limit for interstate motor carriers. If adopted, it may help hold down the top speeds, but will not alone deal with speeds that are too fast for traffic and weather conditions.

State legislation introduced in the New Jersey Assembly would set a statewide 68 MPH speed limit for all trucks operating in that state. As written, the bill would require the retrofitting of any truck, regardless of its age, with devices to insure compliance with the state speed limit.  In Canada, proposed legislation in Ontario would require speed limiters on all trucks operating in that province.

The U.S.-based Truck Renting and Leasing Association (TRALA) has taken a position opposing both the New Jersey and Ontario proposals, urging instead that state and provincial governments await adoption of a uniform requirements for truckers operating throughout the US and Canada.

As a trial lawyer representing injury victims in trucking accident cases in Georgia, I’m always on the lookout for medications affecting driver alertness.  Another suspect medication has been added to the list.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration issued a warning Thursday on the anti-smoking drug Chantix, advising medical examiners "to not qualify anyone currently using this medication for commercial motor vehicle licenses." Chantix, made by Pfizer, Inc., was attacked in a study by a non-profit group on Wednesday for possible links to seizures, dizziness, heart irregularity, diabetes and more than 100 accidents. The U.S. Department of Transportation warned all of its agencies almost immediately after seeing the report which reported that Chantix was linked to 988 serious events in the last quarter of 2007.

For more information, see this article by Alicia Mundy and Avery Johnson of the Wall Street Journal.

As a Georgia attorney focused on representing folks hurt in trucking accidents, I hear a lot of stories about driver fatigue issues, and how the practices of dispatchers and shippers affect fatigue, from truckers from across the U.S. and Canada. That’s why I try to keep up with trucking industry news from all over North America.

The North American Fatigue Management Program, which was launched in Alberta, Canada, is designed to determine when truckers should be driving or whether they need to pull over, based on personal differences.  Recognizing some people have sleep disorders that are treatable, the program seeks to put an emphasis on individuals by analyzing the trucker’s own circadian rhythm, his scheduling, and lifestyle differences.  For example, some drivers are morning people, while others are not.  Some have sleep disorders; others do not.

The program was conceived in Alberta as a partnership between Alberta Infrastructure and Transportation and the province’s trucking association. It was inspired by a joint study on driver fatigue by Transport Canada and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) in 1999.

The study could provide new insights about nighttime driving, napping and sleep debt, and serve as a framework for modifying hours of service rules in the U.S. and Canada.

"We had a concept and there are all kinds of research out there regarding napping, circadian rhythm and sleep apnea. We put all the known aspects of fatigue together and built a comprehensive fatigue management program.  It includes dispatch guidelines, screening for sleep disorders, medical intervention [so a driver won’t lose their job due to treatment], and training," according to Roger Clarke, executive director of Vehicle Safety and Carrier Services with Alberta Infrastructure and Transportation.

As an attorney handling trucking accident cases in Georgia, I’ve seen a wide variety of violations of trucking safety rules. It’s a nationwide problem.  In 60,000 random inspections of tractor trailers in Arizona, 31% yielded safety violations serious enough to take the truck out of service. Fully 86% turned up at least one safety violation. That’s according to a report by Joe Ducey at KNVX-TV in Phoenix. The breakdown of violations in the Arizona report is as follows:

Types of Out-Of-Service Violations in Arizona in 2006:
False Report of Driver Record of Duty Status – 2,818
Inspection/Repair & Maintenance – 2,674
Driver Fail to Retain Previous 7 Days Logs – 1,500
No Driver’s Record of Duty Status – 1,396
15 Hour Rule Violation – 1,357
Brake Out of Adjustment – 1,194
Inoperative/Defective Brakes – 980
10 Hour Rule Violation – 921
No or Improper Load Securement – 717
Flat Tire or Fabric Exposed – 708
Stop Lamp Violations – 706
No/Improper Breakaway/Emergency Braking – 684
Tire Flat/Audible Air Leak – 590
Brakes-General – 582
Failing to Secure Vehicle Equipment – 546

Companies with Most Out-Of-Service Violations in 2006:
Swift Transportation Company Inc – 148 (out of 611 total violations)
Knight Transportation Inc – 51 (of out 137 total violations)
San Luis International Freight Services LLC – 50 (out of 259 total violations)