You see them around your neighborhood, and you pass them driving to and from work every day. The big brown UPS trucks and the white ones of their competitors, FedEx. These drivers rush around in the biggest hurry, dropping off packages all over the city all day long. They have ridiculously tight schedules and are often overworked, which leads to a higher chance of accidents. Any accident can be devastating, but accidents involving delivery trucks are notoriously more deadly. (more…)
Fatigue among commercial vehicle (CMV) drivers is among the leading causes of large truck accidents, as reported by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). But what causes truck driver fatigue, and what can the industry do to foster a safer environment for everyone on the road? In This Blog, We’ll Answer Questions Like… Why is truck driver fatigue so dangerous? What are the main causes of fatigue among professional drivers? What actions can the industry take to limit exhaustion in its CDL drivers? (more…)
States in the U.S. are generally described as no-fault or at-fault states when it comes to auto collision insurance. Washington is the latter. Another aspect of this is that states can have contributory negligence, comparative negligence, or comparative fault systems in place. These dictate if and how much a motorist who contributes to causing a crash can recover if they suffer injuries in it. Our state is a pure comparative negligence state. We will go into greater depth about how that impacts any settlement you may be entitled [...]
When any employee is working, they expect to take breaks and expect fair pay. But, when companies like Amazon and their third-party contractors push their drivers to their limit, garnishing their pay and requiring high delivery quotas, their employees will be stressed, exhausted, and distracted. In instances like this, delivery truck drivers will have a higher chance of accidents. The last thing you want is to be on the road around large trucks whose drivers aren’t at the top of their game. So, what happens when Amazon truck [...]
Being injured in a collision caused by a mail truck driver is not something most people worry about on a day-to-day basis. But, although rare, mail truck crashes can occur. So what happens if a mail truck gets into an accident? Key Highlights: Mail carriers are federal employees, and, as such, cannot be sued in the same way a typical at-fault driver would be. A law called the Federal Tort Claims Act may allow you to recover compensation after injuries and property damage caused by a negligent on-duty [...]
According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), there were 543,061 motor carriers operating both intrastate and interstate in Dec. 2017. While some of these trucking companies are small operations with only a handful of trucks working in a limited area, others employ hundreds of thousands of drivers to transport goods all over the country. Some trucking companies place a greater emphasis on safety than others. Motor carriers that have a high number of crashes may be less likely to engage critically in important safety practices, like [...]
Most of us readily recognize the term "interstate" as describing a fast-speed roadway that is free of traffic signals and riddled with exits for different stops along the way that connects one state to another. However, according to the title of this piece, you saw where the term interstate is used to describe a type of trucking in contrast with "intrastate" trucking. Interstate trucking describes any crossing of state or international borders. In contrast, intrastate trucking refers to a trucker who keeps within a specific state's borders, which [...]
Over half of drivers report feelings of anxiety or fear when traveling near a tractor-trailer on the highway. Given that big rigs weigh up to 40 tons and cause thousands of deaths each year, this is a reasonable cause of driver anxiety. It’s understandable, then, that the idea of several large trucks traveling en masse down the highway may strike fear in the hearts of many motorists. However, research indicates that this type of trucking formation—known as platooning—may be better for both the environment and the commercial trucking [...]
When fully loaded, the typical tractor-trailer can weigh as much as 80,000 pounds, compared to only 4,329 pounds for the average passenger vehicle. The sheer size and weight difference between big trucks and passenger vehicles means that in an accident, the most extensive property damage and most severe injuries are going to occur among occupants of the smaller vehicle. Getting your life back on track following a truck crash is not easy. It takes time, medical care, rest, and access to sufficient financial resources. But if you’re hurt [...]
Filing suit against fleet companies after a crash used to be complex yet easily handled by skilled attorneys. However, some states are making it increasingly harder for drivers to file lawsuits against trucking companies following crashes. Trucking industry lobbyists in states like Iowa, Montana, Louisiana, Missouri, Texas, and Florida have already been successful in passing new laws limiting truck crash victims' rights to sue trucking companies after collisions. While the lobbyists' efforts haven't altogether limited a victim’s ability to file lawsuits yet, it has resulted in caps being [...]
