Truck Injury Lawyer Blog : Truck Accident Lawyer & Attorney: Morgan Adams : Contingency Fee Truck Accident Lawyer

Truck manufacturers have successfully lobbied to keep roof crash standards, required for passenger cars, from applying to the cabs of tractors. The light weight cabs made by some in the trucking manufacturing industry have long been known to put driver's lives at risk. Trucking companies buy these cabs on the simple math of less weight equaling lower fuel costs, resulting in greater profits for the trucking company. Thus there is a rush to the bottom by cab manufacturers who ignore safety of the driver for greater profits for the trucking company. Simple and common safety improvements such as adding a roll cage, or strengthening the cab roof support structure, would cost only a few dollars and would reduce fuel efficiency by a minuscule amount. Because of this I would have thought that cabs would have soon been made stronger in America. In fact I have previously posted on the need for roof crush standards in the US. I was surprised to see that instead of making cabs safer, Volvo and Daimler were planning on cutting additional steel from the cabs of the tractor trailers they manufactured. In fact the folks at Daimler (who also own Frieghtliner) made no bones about cutting out steel in the cabs they make.

According to Transportation Topics, a trucking industry magazine, Kathrin Fritz (a Daimler spokeswoman at the the corporate headquarters in Germany) stated that Daimler would be offering weight saving features such as more aluminum in the cabs. Aluminum cabs are shunned in Europe for cost and crash worthiness reasons. (See generally: Transportation Topics, Equipment and Maintenance Update, November/December 2009, Page 12)

Crash worthiness is the ability of the cab to help a driver to survive a wreck. Using aluminum, while resulting in a lighter cab, would result in more drivers getting killed in wrecks as the cab would not be as strong as a steel cab and would be unable to protect the driver as well. I urge the NTSB to take a look at this issue and protect truck drivers by mandating a stronger cab. Cab crush is the leading cause of truck driver deaths in the United States according to studies and something needs to be done before the whole cab is replaced with plastic. 

 The Truck Accident Lawyers at the Law Offices of Morgan Adams concentrate in protecting the rights of those who were seriously injured or lost a loved one in an accident with a commercial truck or bus. 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 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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Training remains the number one way to prevent truck rollovers according to government and industry officials. A 2007 report by Battelle Memorial Institute for the FMCSA found “75% [of rollovers] are attributed to driver error.” The primary cause was running off the road, caused by driver fatigue or inattentiveness.”

Trucking companies could reduce rollovers by the following: Lowering a trailer 3” would reduce rollovers approximately 12% annually. A wider trailer track, from 96” to 102”, would reduce rollover’s 17%. The study found the average cost of a rollover was $600,000 and that for every dollar spent on stability control devices the company would save $2.20. According to Steve Niswander, vice president of safety and policy regulatory relations for Groendyke Transport, driver training is still the most effective way to present crashes. (See Transportation Topics, December 10, 2007, p11)

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In a Tractor Trailer rollovers, who is to blame is frequently a major issue. Federal regulations generally require the driver to bear responsibility for the loading, and faulty loading, of the trailer. However an exception is made for loads that are sealed. www.fmcsa.dot.gov/rules-regulations/administration/fmcsr/fmcsrruletext.asp Who then is responsible? Generally speaking it is the company that loaded and sealed the trailer. Frequently these companies point at the driver and blame him for excessive speed and allege this is the real cause of the collision. While this may be a cause in wrecks, there are a number where the driver is as much of a victim as any other innocent party and,  it is the company that improperly loaded the trailer who is truly at fault.

In 2002 new rules on securing cargo were adopted that went into effect  Jan 1, 2004. www.fmcsa.dot.gov/rules-regulations/truck/vehicle/cs-policy.htm The new rules require motor carriers to change the way they use cargo securement devices to prevent articles from shifting on or within, or falling from commercial motor vehicles. The changes may require motor carriers to increase the number of tie-downs used to secure certain types of cargo. If you have a case where a truck rolled over, or material fell off of a truck. these rules would also apply to those companies loading and sealing trailers. It is critical that experts be retained as soon as possible to determine if a cargo securement issue is involved in a collision, and to determine who is at fault for the improperly loaded trailer.

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