Truck Injury Lawyer Blog : Tennessee Truck Injury Lawyer & Attorney : Morgan Adams : Trucking Accident, Truck DUI DWI, Semi-Truck Accidents

As a truck accident lawyer I have posted on this topic several times because it is so important, see my prior posts. I am not the only one that is aware of this problem. A friend of mine just returned from The American Bar Association's Transportation Mega Conference, where insurance claims executives for trucking companies and insurance companies adjusters were speaking with the information straight from the horses mouth. According to Steve Gursten, a fellow lawyer who represents victims of trucking accidents, this is what was said:

Senior claims executives from a number of high profile motor carriers have done away with the adversarial “deny and defend” methodology in resolving truck accident disputes. Instead, these executives advocate an “apology program,” where the truck company will do anything possible to ease the pain of the accident victim and his or her family.

Trucking Companies Push Gifts to Settle Claims Fast 

While this may sound like an example of good public relations, in reality, the program is a backdoor approach to saving litigation costs at the expense of an accident victim’s right to a full recovery; especially since these cases can be worth millions.

According to stories shared by the commercial transportation panelists, trucking companies will stop at nothing to settle a claim as quickly as possible. One account had an executive rushing to a truck accident victim’s rusted mobile home, which rested upon broken cinder blocks leaning alongside a mountain. He came equipped with an apology, a check and an offer to buy the family a brand new house. Another story had a defense attorney visiting the home of a victim, whose vehicle was worth a paltry $500 prior to her horrific accident. After learning the victim “really liked the new Buicks” she’d seen on the road, the defense attorney was quick to take her car shopping for the day.

Other attempts at an “apology” are less blatant.  Some carriers will mail “apology letters” with offers for “any request necessary to help make the family whole once again.”  However these apologies are disguised, the end result is the same: Motor carriers and their insurers are taking advantage of unrepresented clients and offering them quick and easy money during these traumatic and difficult economic times

For more from Steve on this topic see his full blog post. It is critical to hire an experienced tractor trailer lawyer in a catastrophic trucking accident.

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Recently Swift Transportation was ordered to pay $23.5 Million for a wreck where one of its drivers was on drugs, specifically meth. Ken Shigley blogged about this case and his comments can be read here. Only when evidence of wrong doing is preserved can lawyers obtain justice for their clients like what occurred in this case.

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I have a client that was hit by a Swift Transportation Truck in mid-May 2009. Some weeks later, after my client left the hospital, I was hired. I sent a spoliation letter to Swift on June 5, 2009 by fax, mail, and certified mail alerting them to the fact my client was injured and they needed to keep documents that might help figure out who was responsible for the wreck. A spoliation letter is a letter that asks a company to preserve evidence that would show why the wreck happened. Often the major cause of a wreck is not the driver, but the trucking company. The trucking company is typically found at fault for failing to train its drivers, refusing to fire dangerous drivers or hiring them in the first place, failing to properly maintain trucks and not giving drivers the tools they need to drive safely, and for not supervising the drivers while they are on the road. Click her to see a sample spoliation letter.

Swift responded to this letter by stating they refused to save all the documents requested but only to "preserve information [Swift] believe is relevant..." If that isn't putting the fox in charge of the hen house I don't know what is! They went on to say "we will not preserve each and every item enumerated on your list. ...If you believe this response to your request is inadequate, you may wish to file a lawsuit..." They say they will only preserve documents "as required by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration..." which allows documents, relevant to determining fault in a wreck, to be destroyed in 30 days. (Specifically, post trip inspection documents are only required to be saved for 30 days according to  FMCSR 396.11(c)(2). ) Electronic material is frequently only kept for days and can be critical in a case. Many of the most important liability documents are destroyed in 6 months while a minority of documents are required to be kept for 3 years.

The ironic thing is that Swift will have insurance adjusters actively discouraging surviving family members from hiring a lawyer, even though the company itself is destroying documents which are critical to proving Swift was responsible for the wreck. Families typically are told to "wait and see what we offer before hiring a lawyer," even though the proof a lawyer needs to prove your case is actively disappearing." This is the worst sort of corporate abuse.

PLEASE DON'T THINK SWIFT, OR ITS INSURANCE AGENTS, IS ON YOUR SIDE. For more on problems caused by insurance adjusters see my prior post  "Insurance Companies Trick Victims in Trucking Cases"

The Law Offices of Morgan Adams concentrates in protecting the rights of those who were seriously injured or lost a loved one in a serious accident with a commercial truck. Our lawyers are based in Tennessee but serve clients throughout the nation. If you or someone you love has been seriously hurt by a careless truck driver, don’t sign anything the trucking company gives you -- contact us as soon as possible at 800-580-4878 or by email to learn more at a free, confidential consultation.

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One of the devastating issues involved with the bankruptcy of GM and Chrysler is what happens to the corporations liability for negligent manufacture of some cars, trucks, and SUV's? It appears the  the corporations may be immune from suit after the bankruptcy (although that has not been finalized at this time). The immunity provision was asked for by GM and Chrysler and is opposed in the bankruptcy court. If it does become part of the courts ruling it means if your family burns alive, and survives with millions of dollars in medical bills and in the future will require hundreds of thousands more in reconstructive surgeries GM and Chrysler can simply say sorry, we are immune and have your case kicked out of court.

I firmly believe that people, and corporations, need to be held responsible for their actions. I don't think I could own a car knowing that if the manufacture caused a defect, that caused harm to my family, they could simply walk away.

I am lucky as my wife bought a Ford, so we personally don't have to face this decision, and it may be that the government steps in and pays for this as it has for so much else (don't get me started on the wasted money in the stimulus package) or the court rules another way. But if I owned a Chrysler or GM car, SUV or Truck I would sell it before the market was flooded with cars from people moving away from these brands. I wouldn't wait to see what happens, by then it may be too late.

Finally, remember that this won't apply to GM or Chrysler/Fiat cars that were made after the companies filed for bankruptcy. So if you want to upgrade, please show your spouse this blog and tell them you have to upgrade "on my lawyer's advice!" 

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Recently, on May 15, 2009, the US District Court for the District of Columbia upheld a law that requires truckers to have observed drug tests if they have failed or refused to take a test as a condition of employment. I can't believe that the law was contested. Every member of the armed forces has observed drug tests at least annually. When you are in safety sensitive functions I think that a drug test, by a method that decreases the chance of cheating on the test, is only proper.

Perhaps I am biased in favor of these tests because for 22 years I had these tests in the USMC. Perhaps it is because I have dealt with the families who deal with the aftermath of a driver on drugs who cause a catastrophic wreck, or perhaps it is just because I know at least 2-3% of truck drivers are on drugs or alcohol on our roads every day and I just think more should be done to keep drunks off our roads.

Is there anyone who disagrees? Really? 

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Reddaway, a division of YRC, has stated they will guarantee the time of delivery for the loads it carries. This is a very dangerous practice I have blogged about before. It puts extra stress and pressure on managers, dispatchers, and the drivers to push to make the deadline, even if the deadline cannot be safely met.

Typically there are driver penalties for late delivery in these situations. Any driver from Reddway like to tell us what the penalties are for a missed delivery guarantee?

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One of the critical items to consider in every case is the "black box" data that many cars and trucks are equipped with. These boxes save data on speed, turn signals, braking, and other information that is very useful to determine in a wreck. Many is not all but that is soon to change. As of September 2012, NHTSA regulations (49C.F.R. 562) will require vehicle manufacturers to provide commercially available systems which can be used to retrieve event data recorder (black box) information. Moreover, the information will have to be available in a standardized format. At present, the Bosch Vetronix retrieval system is the only commercially available system. However, the Bosch system cannot be used on all vehicles.

 It is still critical to have an expert and lawyer who is familiar with these systems if you are involved in a wreck. And commercially available doesn't mean cheap, but after 2012 competent lawyers will have a much better chance of proving, scientifically and with objective proof, that their client was not at fault in causing a wreck.

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The toll of workplace injuries, illnesses and deaths remains enormous. Each year, thousands of workers are killed and millions more are injured or diseased because of their jobs. Nowhere is this more evident than in the trucking industry where unscrupulous companies often take advantage of drivers, forcing them to work beyond what is safe for both the driver and the public.

There is a reason that trucks are often called sweatshops on wheels.

The first Workers Memorial Day was observed in 1989. April 28 was chosen because it is the anniversary of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the day of a similar remembrance in Canada.

On April 28th please remember those who work, and have been injured and killed, to provide you the things you use every day.

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