Remarkable Testimony in Truck Drivers’ Depositions

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 13 ton truck hauling cargo for hire on a bill of lading from a shipper in Georgia bound for an ultimate destination in California. Maybe he has found an “Alabama Outlaw” exemption to motor carrier safety rules.
— A Florida trucker who goes by the nickname and CB handle “Trash” smokes unfiltered Camels, has a skull and crossbones tattoo on his forearm, called the trucking company’s safety director the “Safety Moron,” and characterized the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations as a “pain in the butt.” He rearended a camper on I-75 in south Georgia about 5:30 AM after driving from Milwaukee and could not recall if he had had any rest stops before the wreck in south Georgia. No log book could be found when the State Patrol searched the truck cab after the wreck.
— In Macon, a dump truck driver swore that the fellow he rearended on a bridge had whipped off an exit ramp at high speed, pulled crooked into a lane in front of the dump truck on a bridge, and suddenly slammed on his brakes, causing the collision. Funny how the impartial eyewitnesses didn’t see it that way at all. It’s his story and he’s sticking to it.
— One trucker in Ohio, who other than his “Joe Dirt” hairdo does not fit the “comic relief” category at all, broke down crying in his deposition after making a remarkable confession. He admitted that his driver logs were completely falsified, that during the time period his log showed him “off duty” he had driven the truck to trips to Chicago and Atlanta, that he was behind the wheel 20 out of 24 hours prior to the accident, and was probably on cruise control when he ran over a family at 3 AM and killed their son. He further admitted that he lied to the State Patrol about the falsified logs to avoid criminal prosecution. I’m going to send a copy of that deposition to the District Attorney in the county where this wreck occurred.
Truckers are fallible humans, generally no better or worse than lawyers or people in most other occupations. Though I tend to see the ones who are somewhat lax about safety and create problems for innocent motorists, I recognize that they are a small minority.

The Shigley Law Firm represents plaintiffs in wrongful death and catastrophic injury cases statewide in Georgia, and in other states subject to the multijurisdictional practice and pro hac vice rules in each state. Ken Shigley was designated as a “SuperLawyer” in Atlanta Magazine and one of the “Legal Elite” in Georgia Trend Magazine. He is a Certified Civil Trial Advocate of the National Board of Trial Advocacy, Chair of the Southeastern Motor Carrier Liability Institute and former chair of the Georgia Insurance Law Institute. He particularly focuses on cases arising from truck wrecks and accidents (tractor trailers truck wrecks, semi truck wrecks,18 wheeler truck wrecks, big rig truck wrecks, log truck wrecks, dump truck wrecks).