Because driver fatigue is one of the most pervasive safety issues in interstate trucking, trucking safety regulations for many years have included rules on how many hours a driver may drive and be on duty. In almost every serious trucking accident, the accuracy of paper driver logs becomes an issue.…
As a trucking accident trial attorney in Atlanta, I often see that the trucking companies involved in bad crashes have had terrible safety evaluations for a long time. Twice in the past few weeks I found in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration safety audits that the companies were cited…
Today I received the February issue of Trial magazine, which includes my article, When the Trucking Company Goes Under.” It’s based on a seminar paper I presented in San Francisco last summer. I’ve copied it below. Bankruptcy is on the rise for both companies and individuals, so don’t be surprised…
As a commercial trucking trial attorney in Atlanta, Georgia, I am often called after another lawyer has messed around with a tractor trailer or big rig crash case, not knowing what he is doing, for about eighteen months. By then, much of the evidence that would have been invaluable in…
The owner of a trucking firm has pleaded guilty to criminal charges arising from the maintenance of a defective and almost brakeless tractor-trailer rig that caused a fatal six car crash in Pennsylvania last January. He is the third man to face criminal sentences due to that wreck. They are:…
As a trucking trial attorney in Atlanta, Georgia, I occasionally have one of those “Perry Mason moments” when the defendant breaks down and confesses that his whole story was a pack of lies. Not often, but it does happen. According to a report in the Dallas Morning News, this week…
Not surprisingly, the “safety culture” of a trucking company is a huge factor in determining whether its drivers are involved in catastrophic truck crashes. The Transportation Research Board published a couple of years ago “The Role of Safety Culture in Preventing Commercial Motor Vehicle Crashes.” Some key points from that…
Corporate shell games to avoid accountability for injuring or killing people are all too common. We see it an a variety of contexts. Today I got an email outlining how attorneys for nursing homes are directing their clients to lower their insurance coverage to $100,000 and set up an intricate…
Today in Bartow, Florida, a jury returned a $65 million verdict — all compensatory damages, no punitives — in a truck crash case against Bynum Transport. I understand the case involved a stop light collision with contested liability. The damage award was apparently all to fund a huge life care…
When you or a loved one have been badly hurt in a catastrophic trucking accident, you may expect someone from the trucking company or its insurer to try to lull you into complacency. The objective is to avoid paying the value of the case, which they recognize is substantial. The…