They even conspire to do it deliberately.

4 Companies, 1 Dangerous Owner

Just this week, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration announced it had shut down 4 trucking companies based in Kansas. These were no ordinary trucking companies.

In the order shutting them down, the FMCSA wrote that the companies were “mere continuations” of one another, created when one company was hit with safety violations. One of the companies had been fined, and another had been ordered out of service. The FMCSA wrote that the man who owned all 4 companies “demonstrated a pattern of creating new companies to avoid the negative compliance history of old companies.”

Ironically – and perhaps unsurprisingly – even the other companies had established less-than-stellar safety records.

Chameleon Carriers

This happens often enough that there is a name for trucking companies that engage in this sort of illegal and dangerous behavior: “chameleon carriers.”

The FMCSA estimated that, in 2010, there were more than 1,100 such carriers in the U.S. That adds up to an awful lot of potentially dangerous tractor-trailers on our roads and highways.

It shouldn’t take years of enforcement and oversight to achieve a minimum level of safety. One advocate told the Associated Press last year that trucking is one of the easiest businesses to get into, yet one of the most dangerous to the general public. The harm posed by a trucking company that has no regard for laws in place designed to protect other drivers cannot be understated.

‘No Place on Our Nation’s Highways’

Government-mandated shutdowns even occur right here in Atlanta, where the Truck Accident Attorneys are based.

A month ago, the FMCSA ordered trucks operated by Atlanta-based Southern Transportation, Inc. out of service. According to the government, the company refused to hand over safety documentation it is required to keep and provide upon request. The order, dated March 29, said that without the documentation the operation of any company vehicles would pose “an imminent hazard to public safety.”

The FMCSA was given this authority to shut down companies that don’t provide safety records under a July 2012 law. In announcing the shutdown of Southern Transportation, Ray LaHood, secretary of the Department of Transportation, said companies that don’t cooperate with safety investigators “have no place on our nation’s highways.”

We agree. There can be no assurance of safety without proper documentation, and no one can ensure the validity of that documentation besides government officials well-versed in the rules and regulations that apply to these companies. But it’s rather shocking that it took that long for the agency tasked with overseeing trucking safety to be granted this power.

A Lack of Oversight?

A review by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution last year found serious problems with the oversight of the trucking industry. According to the research, when a trucking company is shut down, nothing stops its owner from opening up a different company with a different name. If they truck only within Georgia, the new company might never even see a safety review.

The Associated Press detailed a company involved in a 2008 accident that claimed the lives of 7 people. Officials shut the company and told its owner not to start another trucking company. But he did. Inspectors eventually found some 129 violations in roadside inspections of company vehicles and shut it down once again. This time, they charged the owner with a crime.

Taking Action

Trucking cases make up 95% of our work here at the Truck Accident Attorneys. We’ve seen enough cases to know that most trucking companies aren’t looking to deliberately skirt the law and get around safety regulations through devious means. But the fact is that some do. And when they do, innocent drivers who are following all the rules can be hurt.

These are the sorts of people we’re proud to represent, and we have a proven history of winning compensation on their behalf. Contact us today if you or a loved one has been hurt in an accident caused by a semi truck.

That’s because an ordinary pick-up truck can be subject to the same regulations as an 18-wheeler under certain circumstances, as the article explains. If an attorney handling a trucking accident case knows these regulatory ins-and-outs, it may be possible to build a stronger case for the client.

How the Regulations Are Applied

You probably know the biggest difference between a tractor-trailer and a pick-up truck – one requires a commercial driver’s license (CDL) to operate, while the other does not. But if a pick-up truck is pulling a trailer or other added weight and exceeds 10,001 pounds in total, it becomes a commercial vehicle in the eyes of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). That means a new set of regulations applies.

A large pick-up truck can weigh as much as 8,000 pounds alone. When you add a trailer for landscaping, construction, plumbing or other tools, the total weight is likely to exceed that threshold.

The following regulations apply to any truck or truck/trailer combination that weighs more than 10,001 pounds, even if the driver does not need or possess a CDL:

1. All drivers must be “qualified” before they can drive the truck. They must be:

• 21 or older
• fluent in English
• physically and mentally fit
• competent at driving the truck

They must pass a background check and be periodically “re-qualified.” Employers are required to keep a file on each driver.

2. Time records must be kept. Most non-CDL drivers are classified as “short-haul drivers” if they stay within a 150-mile radius of their job and return each day. This means they do not need to keep full time logs. The employer must still track total work time, however, and keep these records for 6 months. (CDL drivers, on the other hand, need to keep a log accounting for all their time on the job, even when sleeping.)

In the Trial article, Joe Fried notes that some drivers may moonlight in another driving gig. Hours of service regulations apply to all work combined.

3. Safe driving is still required. Employers are required to train drivers about driving cautiously.

These are regulations that are more stringent for CDL-holding drivers:

• CDL drivers are required to provide 10 years of employment history instead of 3 years for non-CDL drivers.
• Drug and alcohol testing policies do not apply to non-CDL drivers.

Keep in mind, however, that many companies hold their drivers to the same standards of behavior and professionalism whether they have a CDL or not. Not having or needing a CDL isn’t a pass to get away with negligence or dangerous driving.

Joe Fried’s Tips

In the Trial article, Joe offers tips to attorneys handling accident cases involving pick-up trucks that fall under these federal regulations due to their weight. Here’s a quick summary of his advice:

• First and foremost, know the full weight of the vehicle you’re dealing with. This can mean the weight of a pick-up truck plus the weight of a trailer. You need to know what category it is in to build your case.
• Get information on the carrier by using the vehicle’s Department of Transportation number. Submit requests under the Freedom of Information Act to the FMCSA if necessary.
•  Get detailed files on the driver from the company, and take note of what is missing. Incomplete documentation can help prove a case of negligent hiring or inadequate training.
• Study the CDL manual.

Know the Case

Knowledge of these regulations and when they apply is pivotal to putting on a good case. Trucking law is complicated, and it’s a different realm than car crashes. As Joe Fried wrote in Trial:

“These cases should be handled as trucking crash cases instead of car crash cases. Doing so will provide tremendous case development opportunities and maximize recoveries and results for clients.”

The Truck Accident Attorneys at Atlanta-based Fried Rogers Goldberg LLC have built their careers on handling trucking cases, and they make up about 95% of our caseload. Joe Fried is a former police officer, and he harnesses those investigative skills to do the best for his clients as their attorney. Contact Joe and the other Truck Accident Attorneys if you’ve been injured in a crash involving a commercial truck.

The article’s headline — “Measuring Success in Both Dollars and Safety” — speaks directly to our history of getting not only the best results for our clients, but getting results that help keep others safe, too. In the article, Joe Fried goes a bit deeper than the specifics of a crash to explain how each case has broader implications:

“When we get into a courtroom, we want the jury to understand that how they decide the case before them will affect the safety culture of the company and how all its drivers will act tomorrow,” he said in the article.

Truck Accident Attorneys in More Than Just Name

While many attorneys advertise themselves as experienced in truck accident cases, few of these attorneys truly devote a substantial portion of their workload to these cases. Many attorneys treat them like car accident cases. But they aren’t that simple.

The Truck Accident Attorneys wrote the book on semi truck liability litigation – literally – and it makes up roughly 95% of what we do. That’s why other attorneys seek us out and why we deliver lectures at conference on the subject.

$300 Million in Results

The total amount of compensation the Truck Accident Attorneys have secured for their clients stands at $300 million and counting. That’s part of the reason the Truck Accident Attorneys have been named one of America’s “Best Law Firms,” among other distinctions.

If you or a loved one has been seriously injured in an accident involving a tractor-trailer, you need to speak with The Truck Accident Attorneys to learn how we can help you seek compensation. Contact us today for a free consultation.