Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/566087
20 | Overdrive | September 2015 Logbook The root cause of the fatal June 2014 crash involving a Walmart trac- tor-trailer and actor Tracy Morgan was a tired truck operator, the Na- tional Transportation Safety Board concluded following its yearlong investigation. Truck driver Kevin Roper, who has been charged with vehicular homicide in the case, had slept just four hours in the 33 hours preceding the crash. Roper had been awake in excess of 28 hours during that 33- hour period, NTSB said. The crash, which severely injured Morgan and others and killed comedian James McNair, sparked a firestorm of debate over truck opera- tors' hours of service limits last sum- mer and nearly derailed attempts by Congress to roll back some 2013-im- plemented rules governing the use of a driver's 34-hour restart. But as NTSB noted in its Aug. 11 report, hours of service limits "do not address off-duty choices," echoing the sentiment expressed last year by the American Trucking Asso- ciations following the crash and the debate surrounding it. According to an NTSB anima- tion of the crash released with last month's report, Roper was traveling about 20 mph over the posted 45 mph speed limit – a reduced limit due to construction. Traffic was moving at about 10 mph when Roper approached, and he was traveling roughly 65 mph when he came upon the Mercedes limo van in which Mc- Nair, Morgan and others were riding. Factors pointing to Roper's fatigue, NTSB said, include not slowing down to the reduced 45 mph limit and failing to react to the slow- er traffic ahead of him. He began to brake only about 200 feet before impact, the board said. Contributing to Roper's fatigue was the long commute he made the previous night in his personal car, driving about 800 miles from Geor- gia to Delaware. Since the crash, Walmart has set- tled civil suits with McNair's family and Morgan. – James Jaillet NTSB blames fatigue in Tracy Morgan crash A CALIFORNIA JUDGE upheld the state labor com- missioner's decision that a trucker misclassified as an independent contractor is owed back wages and expenses. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Ross Klein ruled that Laca Express Inc. owed driver Ho Woo Lee $179,390. CELADON TRUCKING agreed to pay $200,000 to settle a 2012 lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The Indianap- olis-based carrier violated federal law by subjecting applicants to medical ex- ams before offering them a driving job, EEOC said in its charges against the carrier. Applicants are pro- tected from such screen- ings by the Americans with Disabilities Act. A TRUCK DRIVER pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Lincoln, Neb., to intimi- dating a Federal Motor Car- rier Safety Administration employee. Ronald Mockel- men allegedly threatened bodily injury in retaliation for FMCSA's Nebraska Divi- sion issuing him a fine. DUELING LAWSUITS. J.B. Hunt sued transportation management system provider Mercu- ryGate for $3.1 million over software it says failed to meet the functionality agreed upon by the two par- ties. MercuryGate's response was to countersue Hunt for $5 million, saying the carrier violated a confidenti- ality agreement and stole intellectual property rights. Truck driver Kevin Roper had slept just four hours in the 33 hours preceding the crash that injured actor Tracy Morgan, NTSB said.