Trucking safety experts estimate that about 30 percent of tractor-trailers and dump trucks are overweight. Studies show that overweight trucks are more likely to be in accidents. They also roll over more easily and need more time and distance to stop. A truck weighing 120,000 pounds needs 50 percent more space and time to stop…
Continue reading ›The Georgia DOT is holding public hearings on the proposal to build truck-only lanes on interstate highways in congested areas throughout the state. I can see merit in the concept of separating truck traffic from passenger car traffic. The devil, of course, is in the details. The Shigley Law Firm represents plaintiffs in wrongful death…
Continue reading ›We are seeing more concerns raised about safety of Mexican trucks coming into the US. Among the points raised recently are: • Full access has not been granted to the Mexican license record database. Border facilities have this access, but more than 15% of the time the records are missing entirely. • The Department of…
Continue reading ›Several weeks ago, the story broke that Progressive Insurance sent private investigators to join its own policyholders’ church and joined their home Bible study group under false presenses, hoping to uncover evidence inconsistent with the insureds’ injury claim. When the company was caught in that ruse, the CEO said what they had done “appalling.” Now…
Continue reading ›The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has stayed until the end of the year enforcement of its July order striking down the current FMCSR hours of service rule. This has been a point of controversy for years. In 2003, the FMSCA first released a set of rules that would allow truck…
Continue reading ›Late Friday, a fiery crash in a tunnel on I-5 at Santa Clarita north of Los Angeles consumed 28 tractor trailers and one passenger car, killing three people and injuring at least ten. It all began about 11 p.m. Friday when two big rigs collided on the rain-slickened highway. As crashes continued throughout the 550-foot-long…
Continue reading ›Yesterday the Georgia Court of Appeals held that a work-related cell phone call or distraction by such a call that a driver chose not to answer may be enough to support liability of the employer, even though the employee was driving to work from home and was not on a special mission for the employer. …
Continue reading ›We’ve seen a lot of controversy lately about the on again – off again commencement of the FMCSA program to allow Mexican trucking companies to operate nationwide in the U.S. under the terms of the NAFTA treaty. Now, according to a recent Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration enforcement memo, the FMCSA may actually start to…
Continue reading ›Recently I wrote about the crisis in judicial salaries. Today I got some private feedback from an old friend who went from a very successful private practice to a judgeship several years ago. I’m not even going to hint at who, where, or what level of court. This judge said that, other than retirement accounts, he…
Continue reading ›The latest twist in the controversy over opening US highways to Mexican trucking companies is that Qualcomm has contracted with the FMCSA to provide participating companies free access to its satellite tracking system for one year under NAFTA. The systems will be installed at no cost to the trucking companies and will be used to…
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