Lance P. Brown Personal Injury Law Blog on Lawyers.com

In the trucking industry today, the concept of running harder and faster is a brutal business reality. 

Many trucking companies treat the drivers they employ as commodities and ask them to push the envelope in unsafe ways for the benefit of the bottom line.  As far as these companies are concerned, drivers are a dime a dozen, and they treat them this way.  

For larger trucking companies, though, driver turnover allows this to be the case.  Driver orientation classes are often full.  A certain amount of turnover is expected and accepted as a cost of doing business.  Employers also try to extend their grip over drivers, providing the proper accounting, security, training, equipment and service, then considering their legal responsibility towards a driver complete. 

A higher standard
A professional truck driver is held to higher standard than other drivers. For instance, police absolutely do not hesitate to arrest and prosecute truck drivers who are responsible for injuries and fatal accidents.  Criminal prosecution often leads to civil actions, so the legal fallout of such an arrest could be extreme.

A truck driver cannot expect support from his or her employer in such a situation.  The employer and its attorneys try to place the majority of the blame on the driver and the driver’s actions in order to limit their exposure to punitive damages.  This common tactic often leads to battles on two fronts.  And even the driver can prove any threatening actions on the part of the employer, it often makes no difference.  A jury will have little sympathy for the driver or the driver’s legal argument if the driver causes an accident.

Is it worth it?So, with all this in mind, are the extra minutes gained by aggressive driving or overlooked legal regulations really worth it? Tailgating and cutting off other drivers are signs of extreme stress and exhaustion that often indicate a need for a break in order to reign in your emotions. 

As a professional driver, a truck driver should also never allow a dispatcher to force him or her into unsafe conditions.  Only the driver can decide whether it is safe to drive, and it is the driver’s logbook that will be called into question should an accident occur. 

And, the driver should always remember to recognize stress.  Driving under pressure can only lead to unfortunate consequences.  All of us have family and friends who share the roads with professional drivers.  Their lives are not worth a truck driver’s anger and frustration. 

Sam C. Mitchell & Associates - Illinois truck accident law firm

115 1/2 East Main Street
West Frankfort, Illinois 62896
888-899-1458