News

The United States Department of Transportation has agreed to reinstate the allowance of Mexican commercial trucks crossing the border into the U.S. In response, Mexico will lift tariffs imposed on $2.4 billion worth of U.S. products. This dispute over cross-border long-haul trucks has a more than 15-year history. In 1995, the United States refused to…

Improperly loaded cargo in a commercial truck is a hidden danger on the road. Other drivers cannot anticipate problems with the truck’s load, and nor should they have to. One of the most preventable causes of accidents is improperly or poorly loaded cargo. The weight of a loaded commercial truck can be up to 80,000…

Regulation proposed by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration calls for electronic on-board recorders (EOBR) to be installed in all interstate commercial trucks to monitor the number of hours a driver is on the road. Much like the little black box on a plane, this device automatically records the amount of…

Fried Goldberg LLC has recovered millions of dollars in verdicts and settlements on behalf of truck accident victims. Our firm has taken our knowledge and experience in handling trucking cases and published Understanding Motor Carrier Claims, Fourth Edition as a legal treatise on trucking law. This resource is considered by many attorneys and practitioners to…

The turnover rate for truck drivers went up in the first part of 2011, according to the American Trucking Association (ATA). The rate for the first quarter of 2011 was 75 percent, nearly double the rate for the same quarter of last year. Industry experts do not anticipate a recovery anytime soon, with a still-flailing…

Out of the tragic story of Jason Rivenburg’s murder comes a proposed bill spearheaded by his widow that aims to protect other truck drivers from a similar fate. Jason was a truck driver who had stopped at a gas station in March 2009 while he waited to make a delivery. Jason had stopped to rest…

A “blind spot” is any area around a car or truck that the driver can’t see directly while they’re at the wheel. These exist in a wide range of vehicles, including passenger cars, vans, and trucks. Certain types of vehicles have little to no blind spots at all, such as motorcycles. Commercial truck blind spots…

Nevada State Legislature is considering Assembly Bill 188, a ban on triple trailers – semi-trucks with three trailers. Triple trailers are banned in 37 states already. By adding a rear trailer, the truck configuration can total up to 105 feet, which may be more dangerous than the common single and double trucks. Truck Drivers Support…

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has released the most recent statistics regarding truck crashes and resulting injuries and fatalities. In 2009, 74,000 people were injured, and 3,380 people were killed in crashes involving large trucks. This is a 20 percent decrease in fatalities from the previous year. Of those injured, 25 percent were truck…

One of the objectives of the trucking industries in the United States and Canada is to reduce the gap between the stopping abilities of passenger cars and those of heavy trucks. Trucks require more space to stop than cars, and when the space isn’t available an accident is nearly guaranteed. The National Highway Traffic Safety…