Trucking fleets that invest in safety technologies do so to reduce accidents and avoid litigation. However, an unintended consequence has emerged from all the videos and telemetry data generated by these systems: plaintiff attorneys are filing even more lawsuits.
“Companies can be safe, comply with all federal safety standards, and still be found liable,” the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) wrote in its latest report on trucking litigation published on Dec. 3
“Plaintiffs misleadingly present compliance with standards as inadequate, while using any above-and-beyond safety technologies or protocols against motor carriers in court,” ATRI said.
Fleets that take extra safety steps could still find themselves on the defensive if there is evidence that the carrier or driver failed to comply with their internal policies and procedures. “Training key safety and operations personnel in the nuanced art of documentation is a worthwhile investment,” ATRI said.
This incorporates emails and other internal communications. For example, coaching drivers can create documentation that plaintiffs could use as evidence. ATRI also urged caution if stipulating to liability before an accident investigation is complete, because it generally has not helped avoid larger verdicts.
To settle or not to settle
ATRI’s research found that settling often makes sense in cases with a proposed settlement or that are likely to yield a jury verdict of more than $5 million. And cases involving hours-of-service violations, cell phone use, fatigue, substance abuse, employer negligence, and improper hiring are all more likely to result in median jury awards above the national average.
However, in cases with total awards of less than $1 million, settlement amounts were higher than verdict awards. Research also showed that there was no significant difference between settling and going to trial in cases with total awards of $1 million to $5 million.
The time between an accident and the conclusion of a lawsuit is another factor fleets should consider. Settlements made after the three-year mark are likely to be as high as verdicts, meaning defendants who have invested time and money in litigation are unlikely to achieve a lower award by settling.
The location of the lawsuit also matters. Among U.S. states, California had the highest median jury total award, with Georgia, Florida, and Michigan also at the top of that list. Texas had the most total cases of any state and the most above-average awards.
“The states with the most nuclear verdicts across all tort types also had higher awards in tractor-trailer torts below the $10 million level, reiterating the fact that nuclear verdicts are associated with adverse state litigation environments rather than fluke juries or outlier crashes,” ATRI said.
Federal vs state courts
The report found the median trial award in state courts was more than $1 million higher than in federal courts, and that many trials eligible for the federal system are instead tried in state courts.
State courts are generally less favorable to the trucking industry than federal courts, in part because of local biases. “Jurists may fail to appreciate trucking’s role in their community and mistakenly view trucking companies as outsiders,” ATRI said.
The report estimated the trucking industry lost more than $100 million due to eligible cases not being removed to the federal court system in one year.
