Sealed Load of Bell Peppers Overturns in Alabama, Beer Cans in Truck Cab

Nearly 23,000 pounds of bell peppers en route from El Salvador to Canada spilled Wednesday when a tractor-trailer flipped, forcing authorities to close northbound lanes of Interstate 65 in northern Alabama for 15 hours. Alabama state troopers confiscated beer cans from the scene. See Decatur Daily article and WAFF News story.
49 CFR § 382.201 sets a higher standard regarding alcohol use by truack drivers that preempts state laws as follows: “No driver shall report for duty or remain on duty requiring the performance of safety-sensitive functions while having an alcohol concentration of 0.04 or greater. No employer having actual knowledge that a driver has an alcohol concentration of 0.04 or greater shall permit the driver to perform or continue to perform safety-sensitive functions.
49 CFR § 382.205 prohibits all on-duty use of alochol by commercial truck drivers. 49 CFR § 382.207 prohibits use of alcohol within four hours prior to performing any safety-sensitive function.

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).