Sometimes the most difficult part of any truck accident case is identifying who the responsible parties are. The responsible party at the very least is the motor carrier. The term “motor carrier” is defined in the Code as being the entities that provide motor vehicle transportation for compensation. Transportation is not limited simply to physical movement. Transportation is broadly defined to include services related to that movement, arranging for receipt, delivery, elevation, transfer, refrigeration, icing, ventilation, storage, handling, packing, unpacking and interchange of passengers and property. 49 U.S.C. § 13102(23)(b)
Truck Accidents Identifying Motor Carriers
You should begin your search for the motor carriers with a basic assumption. That basic assumption is that nothing is what it appears to be. You need to dig well beneath the surface. In digging beneath the surface, what you’re looking for is the following:
- Any potential employers, whether they’re referred to as being the employer or otherwise. It may be that simply the relationship between the employer and the driver is an agency relationship. The federal regulations have a broad definition of both employer and employee. Employee includes independent contractors. Ortiz v. Ben Strong Trucking, Inc., 2021 WL 927423
- It may include vehicle owners.
- It may include shippers who exercise a degree of control so that the contractor is not free to perform the work in their own way. Koch Refinancing Co. v. Chapa, 11 S.W.3d 153 (Texas 1999)
- It may include brokers who act as intermediaries if they control the motor carrier.
- It may include hidden motor carriers who subcontract the work out.
- It may include lessors in certain instances. The responsible party may try to hide behind the Graves Amendment by acting as a vehicle lessor to some affiliated operating motor carrier. That amendment may not apply. The amendment only limits vicarious liability for leasing companies.
- You may have a situation where one LLC owns the trucks. Another leases the driver. A third handles logistics. A fourth serves as the holding company. You may have to either pierce the corporate veil or rely upon a successor liability theory to get to the real culprits.
To discover who the real actors are, at the very least you are going to need the following:
- Bills of lading, rate sheets, dispatch confirmations, master transportation agreements.
- Any documents evidencing how one entity controls the method, means and manner of transporting.
Motor Carrier Issues
Confirm the trucking company is a motor carrier engaged in interstate commerce.
Study the Federal Motor Carrier Safety (FMCS) Regulations. Also the International Fuel Tax Agreement. The FMCS Regs. require that drivers record duty status for a 24 hour period. Furthermore compare these types of logs with fuel receipts, bills of lading, delivery manifests, GPS tracking info and accounting records. This will tell you where the driver was at any time. They will show for how many hours he has been on the road. Most motor carriers have a license issued pursuant to the International Fuel Tax Agreement. This statute requires quarterly reports. They show fuel receipts. Likewise this will show you the extent of driving during any particular period.
Application
The FMCS Regs. apply to the following types of vehicles used in interstate commerce: (1) gross vehicle weight rating or gross combination weight rating is over 10,000 pounds; (2) it is designed to carry between 9 and 15 passengers for compensation; (3) it is designed to carry 15 or more passengers regardless of compensation; (4) it is transporting hazardous materials.
The FMCS Regs. have adopted a model CDL manual. Gather books used by truck driver schools or defensive driving schools as useful sources of info.
Truck Accidents-Identifying Motor Carriers-A Deep Dive
Sometimes identifying the true motor carrier may be a function of looking at who owns the technology on the truck. The technology may consist of a multitude of things:
- Forward collision warnings.
- Automatic emergency braking.
- Lane departure warnings.
- Onboard cameras.
- Driver monitoring algorithms that look for inattentive or distracted driving.
You need to find out whether any of these crash mitigation systems were in fact in use. If they were not in use, you need to find out why. The NTSB has recommended that all manufacturers install these types of systems. data.ntsb.gov/carol-main-public/sr-details/H-15-008
In looking at these systems, you need to know:
- Are they providing any effective driver training as to the use of these systems
- What the driver is taught about instances of override of the automatic emergency braking when the hazard clears and a sudden stop may be unsafe
- All training manuals, modules, policies, curriculum and acknowledgements that the driver has been trained as to these systems
- All EDR logs and telematics
- All data for the fleet relating to these same issues
- All training as to how the driver retakes control safely during emergencies as to autonomous vehicles
- All disengagement reports when the driver needs to retake control
- All AI outputs as to anything relating to the vehicle
All of this information may provide important data as to who is the responsible party.
There are several other posts on this site dealing with the topic of truck accidents:
