Trucking Company Shut Down by Court in South Dakota

In truck crash litigation we sometimes find judges who fundamentally don’t understand interstate motor carrier law and refuse to learn. Therefore, it is refreshing to read of judges who do “get it,” and who are willing to act forcefully to protect the safety of the traveling public.

The U.S. District Court for South Dakota recently ordered Action Carrier Inc., of Sioux Falls, S.D., to halt operations due to its repeated refused to comply with federal motor carrier safety regulations.

Federal District Judge Lawrence L. Piersol granted  a temporary restraining order preventing Action Carrier from continuing to operate in interstate commerce.  The carrier’s operating authority was revoked by Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration because it did not have the necessary liability insurance required by federal law. Action Carrier has a history as a scofflaw.   Over the last year, FMCSA initiated three separate civil penalty proceedings for operating without insurance and operating after revocation of authority.

Ken Shigley in Atlanta served as chair of the Southeastern Motor Carrier Litigation Institute, co-sponsored by the Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee and North Carolina Trial Lawyers Associations. He is now on the National Advisory Board for the Association of Interstate Trucking Lawyers of America, and is actively involved in the Interstate Trucking Litigation Group of the American Association for Justice. He  Shigley has won multi-million dollar jury verdicts in trucking cases and lectures on trucking and insurance topics at national continuing legal education programs. A Certified Civil Trial Advocate of the National Board of Trial Advocacy, he serves as Secretary of the 40,000 member State Bar of Georgia.