Spirit Kills TDOT Worker and Injures Four
Austin, TX (Law Firm Newswire) August 17, 2016 – San Juan Texas is home to Spirit Truck Lines, a company that allegedly has a record of at least 20 wrecks over the last two years and had been cited 66 times for violating hours of service laws.
One fatal accident involving Spirit Truck Lines occurred in Tennessee and resulted in the death of Tennessee Department of Transport (TDOT) worker David Younger. Younger, who was 65 years old, and three of his colleagues were working on the side of I-40 when a Spirit Truck lines driver hit and killed Younger and injured three others.
The police report indicated that trucker Candelario Castillo, the driver in question, kept two sets of logbooks. In one book he would record that he was resting and in the other he stated he was driving. According to the law, truckers must rest after driving a certain number of hours. Castillo’s false logbooks were in direct violation of the hours of service laws and were intentionally falsified to try and meet deadlines and make more money.
“Based on the stated evidence, if it turns out to be true, Spirit Trucking Lines, may face some serious ramifications, both for violation of the hours of service law and the wrongful death of a TDOT worker,” explained Austin trucking accident attorney, Bobby Lee of Lee, Gober & Reyna.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) rules and regulations regarding a truck driver’s record of duty status are located in the following section: https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/regulations/title49/b/5/3?reg=395.8
It clearly states the record must be true and paragraph (f)(7) spells out that requirement clearly:
“(7) Signature/certification. The driver shall certify to the correctness of all entries by signing the form containing the driver's duty status record with his/her legal name or name of record. The driver's signature certifies that all entries required by this section made by the driver are true and correct.”
While it is illegal to falsify a logbook, far too many trucking companies and drivers do just that. The load has to arrive on time and on budget. “Sometimes the only way to ensure that happens is to drive through legally mandated breaks. Being somewhere on time and on budget does not take into consideration the lives of others on the road travelling with a fatigued trucker behind the wheel of an 80,000-pound death machine,” said Lee.
Lee, Gober & Reyna
11940 Jollyville Road #220-S
Austin, Texas 78759
Phone: 512.478.8080
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