"Mitigate Driver Litigation Risk with Evidence Preservation. Here’s How."
Jason Vuchinich authored an article for Modern Distribution Management online discussing strategies for distribution and logistics companies to mitigate litigation risk related to their drivers.
“Distribution and logistics companies regularly face litigation challenges. These challenges hinder operations and negatively impact company financials,” Vuchinich wrote. “Factors such as anchor bias; the development of the phantom damages industry; an increasingly collaborative plaintiffs’ bar; and inflation have recently contributed to the growth of these challenges. We have seen these factors materialize into nuclear verdicts, the inflated costs of claims and rising insurance premiums.”
With such elevations in risk to distribution and logistics firms, understanding strategies to address claims is more crucial than ever, and Vuchinich suggested that the simplest measure of risk mitigation is to develop and implement standard evidence preservation practices.
“These evidence preservation practices are best applied to three primary categories: driver hiring, driver training and forensic accident evidence,” he said.
For forensic evidence, it is imperative that preservation efforts begin immediately after an accident occurs. “These efforts should concentrate on a formal vehicle inspection with an accident reconstructionist engineer expert that can perform a data download from the vehicle’s engine and brake system, preservation of any on-board camera system data, telematics data, and an accident scene inspection to reveal physical evidence such as skid marks, roadway damage, or scattered vehicle components.” Vuchinich explained.
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