Articles Posted in Trucking Litigation

Recently I wrote about the truck driver who in a deposition referred to the trucking company’s safety director as the “safety moron.” Well, yesterday I went to the frozen north to take the deposition of that safety director. He admitted they had no idea when the trucker left the shipper, or when or if he…

A study of truck crashes conducted by the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board found that 31% of fatal-to-the-driver commercial truck crashes were caused by driver fatigue. That problem is worldwide. New studies in Canada, Australia and South Africa report a significant percentage of long-haul truck drivers average 4 hours sleep our of 24. (13% in…

TV lawyer shows never portray the tedious work of reviewing documents, researching law, and analyzing the effect of contracts and insurance policies. The recent decision of the Georgia Court of Appeals in Ryder Integrated Logistics, Inc. v. Bellsouth Tecomms. Inc. illustrates the sometimes mind-numbing work involved in figuring out who pays what after a catastrophic…

A U.S. District Court judge in Colorado has ruled that violation of the FMCSR driver log rule is negligence of a matter of law, but that the plaintiff must present evidence of a causal relationship between the violation and the wreck. In Hill v. Western Door, 2005 WL 2991589 (D.Colo.,2005), the court ruled: [T]he requirement…

The past couple of weeks I’ve been going around the country taking truck drivers’ depositions and racking up Skymiles. If nothing else, some have provided comic relief. — A truck driver whose CB handle is “Alabama Outlaw” swore that no state or federal motor carrier rules apply to him, even though he was driving a…

Washington, 12/2/05. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s regulations governing minimum standards for entry-level truck driver training are inadequate based on the record developed during the rulemaking process, a federal appeals court ruled today. The minimum requirements adopted last May by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration involve only classroom education and in only four…

The Administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), outlined a new effort on the part of the agency to concentrate more on truck driver-related issues. As part of this shift of emphasis, FMCSA plans to start work on the following in 2006: Development of a Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) learner’s permit with a…

Lawyers preparing a suit against an interstate motor carrier have an investigation tool that many overlook. The Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C., Section 552, may be used to obtain records about a trucking company from the U.S. Department of Transportation. A request may be addressed to John H. Schnackenberg, FOIA Program Officer, U.S. Department…

In Weaver v. Chavez, decided 11/7/05, a district appeals court in California held that a trial court’s failure to instruct the jury on the standard of care of “extreme caution” in adverse weather, pursuant to 49 C.F.R. § 392.14, rather than the negligence standard under state traffic law, was reversible error. This is significant because…

A southbound tractor trailer ran over Robert Groves’ Jaguar near Valdosta on August 16th, killing him and leaving just a pile of twisted metal. See news story. Law enforcement officials saw this as part of a trend. “We’re seeing a trend here lately with commercial motor vehicles, they seem not to be allowing enough stopping…