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Experts point to communication and other aspects of company culture as key. (kali9/Getty Images)

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Motor carriers with a culture that prioritizes safety can protect themselves from frivolous lawsuits and help stave off the multimillion-dollar court settlements that make headlines in accident litigation involving trucking companies, safety experts said.

“Safety is a cultural thing,” Colin Sutherland, executive vice president of sales and marketing at vehicle tracking service Geotab, told TT. “If you’re given the keys to a company vehicle, you will be told, ‘Don’t be distracted, don’t use your cellphone while driving, obey the posted speed limit, wear your seat belts.’ Those are common employee safety policies.”

More states are passing legislation to help protect truck drivers from frivolous litigation. The Texas Senate unanimously passed a reform bill May 19 to reduce frivolous and abusive lawsuits targeting commercial motor vehicles. Montana, West Virginia, Louisiana and Missouri also have passed legislation targeting lawsuit abuse in recent months. The FBI has even investigated organized crime rings that staged dozens of accidents involving large trucks.

Sutherland

Still, managing risk is an area where the more carriers can do for themselves, the better. Sutherland noted that technology can help.

“Telematics data can record and tell supervisors which drivers are wearing their seat belt, their current speed,” he said. That is where coaching tools that inform drivers when they do something wrong can help, he said, as these tools can help establish longer-term habits. He also pointed to other tech solutions such as those that can disable cellphones when the truck is moving. But he noted that while supervising tools are useful, carriers must follow up to ensure drivers check their habits.

Attorney Angela Alexander Savino at business law firm Perez-Morris noted that thoughtful planning on the front end also helps fleets reduce risk.

“It’s important that there are reasonable transport schedules, reasonable expectations and that there is constant communication, which has only gotten easier through transportation management systems,” she said. Savino added that this is especially important when drivers encounter delays or other problems, “so that somebody isn’t trying to meet a deadline that’s going to be impossible.”

Savino also noted that it’s important for companies to establish plans and safeguards for situations when accidents do occur, with strong and clear contract language so everyone knows who is responsible for what. And they must gather data.

“Collect your information,” she said. “If you’re in litigation, you want to preserve the information. Start it early, get out there, get your accident reconstructionist there to the scene early, take your pictures, get your affidavit, assemble your witnesses, secure your documents. All those things you want to preserve early while it’s very clear to everyone what happened. Litigation not only costs money, it takes time.”

She added, “The risk is large. If there is litigation...the award isn’t just starting in the millions, it’s how many millions. It’s sometimes how many tens of millions.”

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