Nissenberg on Too Much Weight Kills: Legal Consequences of Driving an Overweight Big Rig
The recent collapse of the Minneapolis I-35W bridge serves as a dramatic reminder of how excess weight on a load-bearing surface can have disastrous consequences. Excess weight in connection with big rigs can initiate a catastrophic chain of events and is often overlooked as a cause of truck accidents. Truck-accident litigation expert David Nissenberg takes a look at the many issues that arise when a big rig tractor trailer exceeds prescribed weight limits. Nissenberg analyzes the damage that overweight rigs can do to bridges and highways, examines the impact of excess weight on a truck's operation, discusses the enforcement of current weight laws, and raises the possibility that hauling with excess weight might be deemed an unlawful business practice that could subject the drivers and trucking companies to substantial fines and injunctive relief. He writes:
As a matter of good practice, an attorney handling an accident case involving an overweight issue that bears on causation should always seek to ascertain the nature of the cargo being transported, how it was distributed in the trailer or container, and whether there was compliance with the very specific rules on protection against shifting or falling cargo as set forth in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations.
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Oftentimes in logging or mining operations, suppliers of wood, logs, minerals, or rocks do not have scales on their premises. As a consequence, these businesses frequently release overloaded trucks onto a state highway in violation of state weight laws. The company to which the load is being transported, which may be a mill or other similar facility, depending on the product being transported, will customarily weigh the load when it arrives in order to determine how much to pay the suppliers. Thus, the actual weight of the load becomes known at the truck’s destination point. As stated in the Technical Release 01-R-7 of the Forest Resources Association, Inc., “Wood consuming companies that consistently accept overweight loads can be accused of being ‘negligent’ in a tort liability case involving a log truck accident. Mills may have their scale house records subpoenaed to find out whether a log truck driver involved in an accident had consistently hauled into the mill overweight.”
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Aside from fines and other penalties meted out by the courts to guilty drivers and trucking companies, there is anecdotal evidence that trucking companies whose trucks regularly receive overweight tickets are also being targeted by city and county authorities for violating state unfair competition laws. Defense attorneys representing these trucking companies report that their clients face unfair competition allegations that carry hefty penalties and allow for injunctive relief. For example, unfair competition under the California law includes any unlawful business act or practice. The logic is simple. Driving overweight trucks is unlawful. Those who comply with the law in this scenario become economically disadvantaged when they have to compete with other suppliers or trucking companies who consistently haul overweight loads. Therefore, those who abide by the law should receive the protection of the unfair competition laws that are on the books.
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