Expert Witness Blog

Trucking accidents expert witnesses may testify on issues including federal motor carrier safety regulations, crashworthiness, truck maintenance, hours of service, and associated matters. The US Department of Transportation Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) maintains several Web sites that provide easy access to valuable safety-related information. Users only need a company’s name, USDOT number or motor carrier (MC) number to perform a search. The Company Snapshot is a concise electronic record of a company’s identification, size, commodity information, and safety record, including the safety rating (if any), a roadside out-of-service inspection summary, and crash information.

Read more: http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/safety-security/sites/company-safety.htm.

In A Comparison of Self-Funded and Insured Health and Welfare Plans, health benefits expert witness Mark Johnson, J.D., Ph.D., ERISA Benefits Consulting, Inc., writes:

Another form of health plan is the Multiple Employer Welfare Arrangement (MEWA). In a MEWA, a group of unaffiliated employers pool their contributions in a self-funded benefits plan for their employees. The contributions are based on the number of employees that work for each employer and the estimated costs associated with the plan. This arrangement is a way for smaller employers to get group health and other benefits for their employees.

Supporters of MEWAs typically represent the MEWA as an employee benefit plan covered by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and, therefore, exempt from state insurance regulation under ERISA’s broad pre-emption provisions.

Professional engineering expert witnesses may write reports and testify on issues involving engineering risk assessments, engineering document responsibility, registered professional engineers, and field engineering. In Consumer Guide to Professional Engineering and Professional Land Surveying, the California Board for Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, and Geologists writes:

Professional engineers do not have a duty to supervise your project during construction. In general, the engineer draws the plans and the contractor does the construction. The engineer has no responsibility to supervise the contractor. If you wish to add construction supervision to the engineer’s duties, you will need to include this in your contract. Such supervision usually consists only of periodic oversight of the project.

Read more: http://www.pels.ca.gov/pubs/consumer_guide.pdf

Trucking expert witnesses may writes reports and opine on the Department of Transportation, trucking accidents, roadway noise, gross weight, and associated matters. In The Fix We’re In For: The State of Our Nation’s Bridges Transportation for America writes:

In recent years, most transportation agencies have delayed needed repairs and maintenance while focusing their energy on new construction. In 2008, all states combined spent more than $18 billion, or 30 percent of the federal transportation funds they received, to build new roads or add capacity to existing roads. In that same year, states spent $8.1 billion of federal funds on repair and rehabilitation of bridges, or about 13 percent of total funds. States currently have the ability to “flex” or transfer out up to 50 percent of their bridge repair money into other projects or programs.

Read more: http://t4america.org/docs/bridgereport/bridgereport-national.pdf

Combustion expert witnesses may write reports and opine on explosions, flammable materials, and explosive limits. The National Institute of Standards and Technology Building and Fire Research Laboratory’s Fire Research Division offers Fire Experiment Results on their website:

The purpose of this web page is to present the results of fire experiments performed at BFRL in several different formats. Each example will:

1) present a plot of the fire’s heat release rate,

In The Advantages of Strategic Advisory Boards For Agency Owners insurance agencies expert witness Andres Barile, MBA, CPCU, writes:

Interviewing underwriters for your managing general agency – The objectivity of the strategic advisory director makes him suitable for the decision-making process in new hires for your managing general agency. MGA owners can turn to the director for one last interview before making a final decision.

Read more: insuranceexpertnetwork.com.

Trucking accidents expert witnesses may testify on issues including federal motor carrier safety regulations, crashworthiness, truck maintenance, hours of service, and associated matters. In Safety Is Good Business-Crashes Hurt Your Bottom Line, the US Department of Transportation Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration writes:

The good news is that many crashes are preventable. For example:

In 1997, 22% of large truck fatal crashes involving more than one vehicle were speeding-related. [Speeding Study]

Motor carrier fleet management expert witnesses may opine on truck drivers, truck driver qualifications, truck fleets, and correlated issues. In Effective Commercial Truck and Bus Safety Management Techniques, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration writes:

This research project focused on motor carrier fleet safety management, namely the problems fleet managers confront and the methods that are available to address these problems. The authors conducted a literature review, held discussions and did interviews with experts, and solicited suggestions from the TRB synthesis panel. Twenty discrete safety problems and 28 safety management methods were identified based on this research information and the knowledge and experience of the authors. Problems addressed encompassed driver safety, knowledge, skills, behaviors, alertness, physical/medical condition, and attitudes. In addition, several vehicle-related problem areas, such as vehicle maintenance and inspection, were considered.

Please see: http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/facts-research/research-technology/tech/Truck-and-Bus-Safety-Management-feb-2007.pdf

On his website, explosions expert witness William E. Gale, Jr., PhD, PE, CSP, CFEI, CFII, writes on Fire Testing.

Large scale and full scale fire testing typically involves recreating an entire section of the subject occupancy or involved structure – sometimes one room (compartment) will suffice or sometimes it may be necessary to recreate an entire commercial kitchen or residential house. This process depends on the extent to which pre-fire conditions can be established, such as materials of construction, construction details, ventilation provisions, furnishings, interior finish details, etc.

Truck driver qualifications expert witnesses may testify and write reports on trucking and transportation rules and regulations, federal motor vehicle safety standards, the Department of Transportation, as well as related issues. In a recent case, the EEOC reports:

New Prime, Inc., one the nation’s largest trucking companies, violated federal law by discriminating against female truck driver applicants when it required that they be trained by female trainers only, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit it September 22.

According to the EEOC’s suit, this policy resulted in qualified female applicants being placed on a waiting list due to a lack of female trainers, thus delaying or denying them employment, while New Prime provided training for male applicants without similar delay.