|
MR. WAGNER: According to the latest data from the U.S. Department of Transportation, 12 people die each day from truck accidents in our country. Countless more are injured on our highways from truck accidents.
GRAPHIC: [Photos of truck accident]
MR. WAGNER: At Wagner Reese and Crossen, we know that a lot of lawfirms claim to be the truck law firm. But we put our money where our mouth is. We went out and hired a truck expert, someone who worked in the industry for over a decade and understands the ins and outs of the truck industry. Chuck Stratus helps us win difficult truck cases.
CHUCK STRATUS: Hi, my name is Chuck Stratus. I work for the law firm of Wagner Reese and Crossen. I'd like to introduce you to the world of the professional truck driver. As you can see, these are behemoth vehicles. They weigh up to 80,000 pounds and are close to 65-foot long. It can take a professional truck driver 8 to 10 hours to unload one of these trailers. A driver is supposed to log this as On Duty Not Driving because it's hard work and it can fatigue a driver. Most drivers don't do that. The industry requires them to drive. They're required to deliver on time. So drivers typically log this as sleep - - time. The problem with that is when they get on the road they're fatigued. A fatigued driver is a dangerous driver.
MR. WAGNER: The Federal Motor Carriers Safety Regulations mandate that drivers keep track of their hours in a log book like this. The reason for the rule is simple; if you keep track of the hours and limit those hours, drivers won't be tired on the road and we'll have safer highways. Unfortunately, the pressures of the industry push drivers to violate the rules and when they do this, oftentimes they falsify their log books. With the help of Chuck, we can piece together how an accident happened, look at the origin of a trip, how long it should have taken to unload and the destination. And by doing so, we can determine whether or not there was actually a false log book. In the industry, outlaw truck drivers refer to the real log book and they refer to the comic book, the one they show the police if they get pulled over. With our expertise working on your case, we can uncover if there was a comic book and help prove and win your truck case.
CHUCK STRATUS: Currently, and there has been for many years, is a shortage of professional drivers. In these cases, a lot of the trucking companies that have contracts with some of your bigger shippers will put an unsafe driver behind the wheel, somebody that hasn't had the qualifications that are needed. The Department of Transportation mandates minimum requirements for truck drivers including three years of hands-on experience. Truck driving is a profession and you need proper training, proper skill, and proper equipment. If the driver is fatigued, lost, inexperienced, those are just some of the root causes of a truck accident. At Wagner Reese and Crossen, we have the ability to find out the root cause, not only did the crash happen but why did it happen and could we prevent this from happening again. That is one of the reasons Wagner Reese and Crossen is the law firm to call. If you are in a serious truck accident, if you are the driver or a passenger.
MR. WAGNER: Hire us and with Chuck's help we can win your case.
|
