No statistics are available, but I’m beginning to suspect that the new hours of service rules adopted by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration may be helping to reduce the incidence of fatigue related truck crashes. This is just an impressionistic hunch and extremely preliminary, but there may be a trend. For nearly a year…
Continue reading ›Last month the U.S. Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision that initially appeared to be catastrophic for injury victims whose employee health benefit plans had paid medical expenses. In Sereboff v. Mid Atlantic Medical Services, Inc., 126 S.Ct. 1869 (U.S.,2006), Chief Justice Roberts wrote for the court that an ERISA benefit plan could sue in…
Continue reading ›Washington State Patrol troopers say that a recent rash of intoxicated truck drivers hauling heavy loads down Washington highways has them stepping up efforts to get impaired truckers off the road. One truck driver was hauling a 140,000 pound load (limit is 80,000 pounds) and hisbreath test registered over .08 , which is more than…
Continue reading ›Topeka, KS. The driver of a semi truck crossed the median and collided with another tractor trailer about 1:00 a.m. Monday morning. Both vehicles caught fire and both drivers were killed at the scene. The most likely hypothesis in this scenario is that the driver who crossed the median fell asleep. Investigation should include examination…
Continue reading ›The U. S. House Appropriations Committee has directed the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to report by March 1, 2007, on how it will revise the compliance review process to improve detection of motor carriers with poor safety practices and shut them down. The request was included in the committee report (House Report 109-495) accompanying…
Continue reading ›Atlanta, 6/7/06. Randy Carnes, 47, of Winston, Georgia, was killed in a dramatic crash on the shoulder of I-285 just north of Cascade Road. Mr. Carnes was a mechanic for UPS working on a UPS truck that was stalled on the shoulder of the highway. A tractor trailer driver apparently fell asleep and drifted out…
Continue reading ›The Georgia DOT is consideirng a proposal for a private consortium to add toll lanes for trucks to portions of I-285 and I-20 in metro Atlanta. The proposal would have the investment banking firm Goldman Sachs, the engineering firm PBS&J and the law firm McGuire Woods to help develop and finance a possible expansion of…
Continue reading ›Perry, GA, 6/6/06. A Perry man injured when rear-ended by a tractor-trailer on Ga. 247 died Tuesday night at a Macon hospital. Duane Rothe, 55, of Perry, suffered a serious head trauma and internal injuries in the 9:50 a.m. accident, Houston County sheriff’s Cpl. Sean Alexander said. Rothe was transported to The Medical Center of…
Continue reading ›While there are no published decisions adopting this position, it is theoretically possible to hold trucking company owners and officers personally liable for their personal participation in dispatching drivers on trips that cannot possibly be lawfully completed. Violations of Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations provide applicable standards of care, breaches of duty, and evidence of…
Continue reading ›A Nashville reporter did an analysis of truck wreck data and found that truck drivers who violated hours of service rules, fell asleep and caused wrecks were seldom ticketed and fined. Out of 64 truckers who were reported as “apparently asleep” and either injured or killed someone, 70% did not even get a ticket. Of…
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