A must read for Noobs....

[BigDiesel]

I was able to catch the last few minutes of Crash and Roll's opening statement and the plaintiffs first witness, a forensic investigator. It appears to me that CRE is trying to place the blame on the crash victim.... The plaintiffs expert was explaining to the jury on how logs and HOS works, it was entertaining that the expert was wrong on numerous occasions regarding HOS and Duty status, but CRE did not dispute the expert's explanation.... The driver was not in court and CRE stated he would give his testimony over the phone, the Judge had no part of that and ordered CRE to fly him to Portland from Puerto Rico so he can be on the stand Wednesday......

[AC120]

I was able to catch the last few minutes of Crash and Roll's opening statement and the plaintiffs first witness, a forensic investigator. It appears to me that CRE is trying to place the blame on the crash victim.... The plaintiffs expert was explaining to the jury on how logs and HOS works, it was entertaining that the expert was wrong on numerous occasions regarding HOS and Duty status, but CRE did not dispute the expert's explanation.... The driver was not in court and CRE stated he would give his testimony over the phone, the Judge had no part of that and ordered CRE to fly him to Portland from Puerto Rico so he can be on the stand Wednesday......

Do you plan to go again?

[wsclinger9869]

So if these so-called training companies are doing this sort of thing, where is the best place for someone to get their training, get their finishing, and drive for a decent company? I'm 52 and REALLY want to hit the road for the rest of my working career. I enjoy traveling, the outdoors, driving, and being on the move...so fill me in on what to do next? By the way, I live and currently work in Delaware, OH, just north of Columbus, OH or the I-70/I-71 interchange...

[BigDiesel]

Do you plan to go again?

Thursday, if the trial is still in session...

[AC120]

Thursday, if the trial is still in session...

Interesting stuff. I'd go if I had time. 'Preciate the thread.

[Bumper]

When I was a Background Investigator at my PD, we had a big sign in our work area:

"The best indicator of future performance is past performance".

It was true then, and it is true now.

[repete]

So if these so-called training companies are doing this sort of thing, where is the best place for someone to get their training, get their finishing, and drive for a decent company? I'm 52 and REALLY want to hit the road for the rest of my working career. I enjoy traveling, the outdoors, driving, and being on the move...so fill me in on what to do next? By the way, I live and currently work in Delaware, OH, just north of Columbus, OH or the I-70/I-71 interchange...

Just look around here and start researching. Ton's of info already here on just about every company

[LightsChromeHorsepower]

Why should the shipper get some of the liability? They hired CRE to haul a load for them, It was CRE's responsibility to have a safe, competent driver take the load from point A to point B. Now, If the shipper loaded the load overweight or in a manner that caused the trailer to tip and be a factor in the crash then maybe.

I think the shipper needs to be aware of of the safety record of whoever it hires. If shippers were accorded some liability freight wouldn't automatically go to whoever is willing to haul it the cheapest, which IMHO would be a good thing for the entire industry.

[GMAN]

I think that there are a few shippers and brokers who do check safety records before tendering a shipment to a carrier. I have had 2 or 3 in recent years to mention to me that the reason they called was my safety record. I don't think it is very widespread. It may have had something to do with the product they were selling, although I don't recall anything special about any of the products of those who mentioned my safety record. Any way you can take away some competition would be good for rates.

[Glad Hand]

I think it is important to note that a lawsuit only presents one side of the story and it is the lawyer’s jobs to make the defendants in the lawsuit seem as guilty as hell. Not to mention that generally speaking the more outrageous and the greater negligence involved the greater the jury award.

In this case, the lawyer along with the aid of the writer is definitely doing a damn good job of vilifying CR England, the driver, and the circumstances, while CR England is trying to avoid making their case in the court of public opinion. It would be nice, however, to hear their side of the story for perspective.

In any event, it does seem that the driver had some serious issues with managing his time productively and with keeping his truck on the road. It will be interesting to learn if CR England called him in and made him attend logbook classes and other safety classes relative to his preventable accidents.

In addition, he apparently had at least one preventable accident for running off the road in Georgia, but the article claims he also had another preventable accidents without giving the details regarding the second incident. I would be interested to learn if the lawsuit’s accusation with respect to no additional training, drug, or alcohol testing is accurate.

However, if the driver weren’t under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the accident, I would think it would be irrelevant in this case.

It’s obvious the lawsuit is trying to portray CR England in as negative a light as possible and as being a company that routinely places unqualified and dangerous drivers out on the streets. However, if CR England complied with all applicable regulations and if the driver passed all applicable tests then he most certainly wasn’t an unqualified driver.

Now all training companies that deal with newbie drivers, not just CR England, are guilty of putting poorly trained drivers on the road. It’s the nature of the beast and it’s also one of the main reasons for the 130 percent turnover rate in this business.

With respect to the driver being rushed. It’s hard to say without knowing how many hours the driver had driven and how many hours he had left to drive.

It does sound to me like that driver was definitely incompetent and needed to be fired ASAP, which CR England may have been planning to do as soon as he delivered that load.

Regardless of the lawsuit’s accusations and how negatively they portray CR England, I’m thinking that if CR England couldn’t document it did everything required according to the law that it would just settle the case out of court. However, the fact that this case seems to be heading to court makes me believe that CR England believes it can cover its ass in a court of law in this case.

I would be interested in seeing the outcome

[BigDiesel]

The trial is still happening today, I am going to catch the afternoon session.

[Glad Hand]

So if these so-called training companies are doing this sort of thing, where is the best place for someone to get their training, get their finishing, and drive for a decent company? I'm 52 and REALLY want to hit the road for the rest of my working career. I enjoy traveling, the outdoors, driving, and being on the move...so fill me in on what to do next? By the way, I live and currently work in Delaware, OH, just north of Columbus, OH or the I-70/I-71 interchange...

All of the training companies are crap really. Getting a good trainer is kind of like rolling dice. I went through 3 trainers during my training and all of them were crap. I basically drove all night without supervision while they slept for six weeks. I quit the first two trainers because they were crap. When the third one was crap too, I just basically held my nose and completed my training. However, I was always a motivated and determined individual, and basically trained myself once I went on my own.

That isn’t to say that there aren’t some really good trainers out there. However, they are far and few between and getting one of them is a roll of the dice.

Hell, I could be a hell of a trainer, but I refuse to live with another individual in a truck 24 hours a day. If I could drop the trainees off at the end of the day, then I wouldn’t mind doing it.

[mike3fan]

The trial is still happening today, I am going to catch the afternoon session.

We're waiting for the update?

[Bumper]

I think CR made the usual low ball offer and the family told them to stick SLC up their ***** and CR could end up paying out some serious money on this. Serious enough to hurt the company financially and seriously effect their insurance standing.

Personally, I hope it goes all the way so we do find out who gets what. If they make a settlement, it will surely be a closed deal and we will never know.

[BigDiesel]

It was all over by the time i got downtown this afternoon. I do not know the result. But I have a call and an email into the reporter who was covering the trial. Once I find out the result , it will be posted.

[AC120]

England won

[mike3fan]

Good thing they (CR) didn't settle like some suggested. I didn't catch the part in the first story where the lady was stopped in the intersection and hit the rear wheels of the truck, seems like too much was made of irrelevant info in this case.

[Orangetxguy]

I didn't read anything in either story from the links, that the woman was "stopped" at the intersection.

The first article had a line which stated she "punched into the truck's rear wheels". That would indicate to me that her car was moving.

Some information is missing. What did the video from the traffic cams at that intersection show? Yes....There are traffic cams at all the intersections there, all the way from two intersections east of I-5, to two intersections west of the WINCO warehouse area.

If something got CRE off in a Portland jury room, it was video evidence.


Portland folks are more liberal than Seattle folks!!!


Unless CRE got a bunch of Eastern Oregun Republicans bussed in to be on the jury!!!

[BigDiesel]

In my opinion the plaintiffs took the wrong tact.... What little I observed, they were focusing to much on the actual accident.... They should have been focusing on the HOS issues and the lack of training...

[Orangetxguy]

In my opinion the plaintiffs took the wrong tact.... What little I observed, they were focusing to much on the actual accident.... They should have been focusing on the HOS issues and the lack of training...

+1 To late to advise the lawyers now!!