The lawsuit stems from a November 2012 incident in which former Swift (No. 3 in the CCJ Top 250) trucker Jessica Baca claims she suffered āsignificant and permanent injuriesā to her hands, according to court documents, when attempting to use a Swift trailerās landing gear crank to raise the trailerās height.
A request for comment by Overdrive to Swift was not returned before this articleās publication. It will be added if it becomes available.
A malfunction of the crank, Baca claims in her suit, caused the crank to turn backwards and hit her hands, injuring her to the point where she could no longer work, the lawsuit alleges.
Swift and the shipperās facility where Baca was picking up a load āfailed to inspect and properly maintainā the trailerās landing gear and associated equipment, Baca claims. The carrier was also negligent in its direction to provide Baca with āsafe instructionsā after she reported to her dispatcher that there were mechanical problems with the trailer.
A jury in August recently sided with a former Swift owner-operator in a similar case, ordering trucker Herbert Willoughby to receive a $2.6 million settlement, though the ultimate amount of the settlement was not disclosed. Willoughby claimed negligent maintenance practices by Swift led to a severe injury of his foot, which was ran over and crushed by a Swift trailer.
