Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/566087
14 | Overdrive | September 2015 Logbook • Go online to www.iowa80.com and request your FREE CATALOG of the finest selection in Chrome and Professional Trucking Accessories! • Or Call Toll Free – 866-4-IOWA80 (866-446-9280) • Shop online today! www.iowa80.com Truck Accessories For The Professional Driver GET YOUR FREE CATALOG! OD 2015 IA80com OD 080715_Layout 1 8/6/15 8:32 PM Page 1 A jury in a Houston-based federal court last month found Swift Transpor- tation liable in a lawsuit brought by an owner-operator leased to the company who claimed negligent maintenance practices by Swift caused a trailer to run over his foot. The jury awarded the owner-opera- tor, Herbert Willoughby, $2.6 million for physical and mental pain, medical expenses and past and future lost wages. Though the jury deter- mined the owner-operator was partly to blame, it also found that Swift was most at fault in the June 2012 ac- cident in which Willoughby was, according to his attor- ney Wesley Ball, "adjusting a tandem unit attached to a trailer … when the trailer ran over his foot." The trail- er, freight included, weighed about 50,000 pounds, Ball said. Willoughby brought the suit in 2013, naming Swift, Home Depot and fellow Swift driver Jason Cribbs. Home Depot was not part of the settlement, however. Cribbs, who was driving the truck at the time, failed "to take proper evasive action," according to court documents, and did not "maintain a proper lookout," according to Willoughby's original suit. The trailer in question also was negligently under-maintained, Willough- by claimed, and Swift knew about the problems prior, he says in the suit. Moreover, Swift was re- sponsible for Cribbs' actions, the owner-operator claimed. – James Jaillet Jury awards $2.6M to Swift owner-operator for negligence Owner-operator Herbert Willoughby brought the suit in 2013, naming Swift Transportation, Home Depot and fellow Swift driver Jason Cribbs.