Redux: Why I Love The Trucking Industry And You Should Too

For those of you who have graciously read my ramblings for some time may notice that I have not posted in a few months.  Which is blog taboo 101.  However, no one warned me what summers with a 4 and 6 year old would be like!  I remember when pre-kid summers were a time to recharge and relax a little bit…a slightly simpler way of life.  Boy that went to hell in a hand-basket quick!  But let’s be honest…if I hadn’t been busy with the family and work this summer…

But now, the kids are back in school, rhythms of life are beginning to take shape again, and I am committed to posting weekly again.  When I left off at the end of May, I had started a series on the Anatomy of a Trucking Case.  And I will pick back up next week.  But for now, I thought a revisit to my very first post was appropriate.

This morning I read an Opinion piece in USA Today called 18-year-olds driving 18-wheelers?: Our view.  And it infuriated me!  I encourage you to click and read the whole thing to get your adrenaline flowing.  But to give you an idea of the gist of the article, here is a blurb:

If the powerful trucking industry gets its way on Capitol Hill this month, interstate highways could be clogged with longer trucks, sleepier drivers and 18-year-olds behind the wheel of big rigs.  These troubling changes would be dumped on top of an already dangerous mix. On an average day in the USA, large trucks are involved in nearly 10 fatal crashes. The death toll rose every year from 2009 through 2013, the most recent year for which data are available. And in the majority of fatal accidents, occupants of the smaller vehicle died.

I love driving.  From the day I got my driver’s license, every chance that came up I was offering “hop in, I’ll drive”, or ” who’s driving?…come on, I got us”, etc.  Maybe its a control thing (which I admittedly have), but its the way I was and still am.  When I was in law school, I would even tell friends that if I wasn’t dating someone when I got out of law school, I was going to become a truck driver and explore the American countryside.  There was something about being able to see all different parts of our country and experience all that it had to offer.  Fortunately for me, I was dating someone by the time I got out and now have a lovely wife and two sons (although my wife probably wishes I would take off on the road sometimes!).  So much for long days and nights on the open roads.

Ironically, when I had the dream of driving of truck, little did I know that I would end up defending trucking companies as my primary area of law practice.  Funny how God molds and carries out our plans for us.  Let’s just say that I’m thankful He brought me here because in my mind, it is the best industry to work with, and the most important industry to our national economy and international stature.  In all my years of practice, I have never met a truck driver that didn’t take the utmost pride in his work and what he was accomplishing.  These guys and gals get it and they seek out to accomplish their jobs and it’s importance with the utmost integrity.  And the trucking companies themselves are just the same.  Even the largest carriers with hundreds and thousands of trucks on the road are really just like your small town “mom and pop” companies.

But here lies the problem…the general public, particularly juries, do not see truck drivers and trucking companies through the same rosy glasses that I do.  Instead, their perceptions are erroneously molded by trash articles like the one above.

Recent jury studies show that 78% of jurors, before ever starting trial, worry about their safety when driving near trucks.  Jurors automatically believe that big trucks are an accident waiting to happen, opposed to any fact based decision.  58% of jurors feel that drivers should be criminally punished when someone is killed in an accident, and 66% of jurors believe a case has merit just because it is going to trial.  And finally, 91% of jurors believe that punitive damage awards are the best way to change a trucking company/driver’s behavior.  If you haven’t picked up on a trend yet, juries don’t like us!  And we must work to change that.

I had a brief stint in welding fume litigation in which welders alleged to have been injured by years of exposure to toxic welding fumes.  And whether the allegations were true or not, one of the defenses was that “welding won the war” (referencing WWII and the massive ship building that welders accomplished).  And this defense worked.  Similarly, the trucking industry makes our economy and our lives go round. I challenge you to look around you and try to identify one product in your sight that wasn’t carried to you on a truck.

Juries need to know this. Juries need to know the care and safety that truck drivers and trucking companies seek to have when driving on the road. Juries need to know that the wrong message about trucking companies can have a ripple down effect to their own lives and wallets.  Juries need a trucking defense lawyer who can communicate the compassion and care that trucking companies have.  Make sure that your lawyers communicate that most trucking companies put in place well-thought out safety policies that are actually implemented.  The jurors will thank you for that.