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Posted in Truck Accident Litigation Blog

Duties of Truckers and Trucking Companies

August 10th, 2007 by Dawn Mefford

We all know that being a safe driver isn’t enough to protect you on the roads.  Whenever we travel the highways of our country, our safety is dependant both on our own safe driving, and the safe driving of others.  Every driver on the road owes a duty of care to the drivers around them.  The consequences of a driver violating that duty can be tragic. 

But when the driver who fails to fulfill that duty is a truck driver, the consequences are often much worse.  Drivers, truck operators, and pedestrians are twice as likely to be killed in a collision involving a semi than those involved in accidents between non-commercial vehicles.  That equals 100 fatalities each week in tractor-trailer collisions. 

Obviously, for accidents where the trucker caused the accident, he or she is the most culpable party.  But unlike those of us who use the highways to travel, commute or drive for pleasure, truck drivers aren’t on the road solely for personal reasons.  They are on the road to earning a profit for the companies who hire them. 

It is the responsibility of every truck driver to follow the rules and ensure the safety of those around him or her.  But the law also recognizes that there are things employers can do to help ensure the drivers they hire will conduct their job as safely as possible.  And trucking companies are responsible for not putting drivers on the road who are known to disobey safety regulations or repeatedly put the lives of other drivers at risk. 

The law makes employers responsible for the negligent acts of their employees.  When a collision is the result of simple negligence on the part of the driver, the driver and the company are both responsible for the injuries and damages sustained by the people injured in the collision. 

If a person is injured because the truck driver showed a wanton disregard for the safety and welfare of those around him or her, then the injured party can seek damages that go beyond the economic costs and their pain and suffering.  These additional damages are intended to punish the party who caused the injury and to serve as a warning to the responsible party, and all those like him or her, that they should not act so reckless in the future.  Examples of when these punitive damages are awarded is when a truck driver is drunk while operating his or her rig, or when a truck driver is dangerously passing other vehicles on a two lane road. 

Just as a truck driver can show a disregard for the safety of other drivers, the company that employs that driver can also show such disregard by hiring or retaining drivers who pose a known risk on the road.  Trucking companies who are liable for such damages are often said to be liable for either negligent hiring, negligent retention or negligent entrustment. 

Holding trucking companies liable for these claims makes common sense.  Would you loan your car to a complete stranger, without knowing if he is a good driver, or even licensed?  Most of us wouldn’t.  It seems even more irresponsible to turn over the keys of a truck that is substantially heavier, larger and more complicated than other vehicles to a driver whom a company knows little or nothing about.  In that same light, it is irresponsible for a trucking company to allow a trucker to keep driving if that driver has demonstrated through past violations or collisions that he or she is incapable of safely driving such a vehicle. 

Therefore, the law requires trucking companies to perform certain checks before hiring a new driver.  In an effort to ensure that all trucking companies are performing at least a minimum level of investigation on their new drivers, the Federal Motor Safety Regulations lay out certain procedures that an employer must go through before they hire a driver.  For example, a driver must always fill out an application before being hired.  During the hiring process the applicant must provide information on any and all accidents they’ve had in the last three years, a list of all related convictions they’ve suffered, and information about where they have been licensed to drive commercial vehicles and the status of termination for all past licenses.  Other regulations, including those pertaining to alcohol or drug convictions, automatically disqualify an individual from becoming a trucker. 

The potential employer must do background checks on that potential employee to ensure that the information given to them is accurate, and to see for themselves if there is any history that shows that the driver is incapable to safely drive a truck.  While the federal regulations are extensive, courts have been known to hold employers liable for failing to go above and beyond those regulations when certain drivers have a particularly glaring red flag in their past. 

These federal regulations, and other laws that apply to dangerous drivers already employed by a trucking company, help ensure that employers keep in mind the ultimate goal of getting their goods to their destination by the safest means possible.  They help ensure that trucking companies don’t put cheap labor or profits above the safety of the general public.  For more information, see the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s website at www.fmcsa.dot.gov. 

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