In Tuong Vi Le v. Colonial Freight Systems, Inc., Case Number 1D18-39 (Fla. 1st DCA December 4, 2019), Florida?s First District Court of Appeals held that a semi-trailer owner is not responsible under a theory of non-delegable duty for negligent maintenance of the trailer. Rather, the Court held that the mechanic performing maintenance is responsible in negligence.
The plaintiff was injured in an accident with a semi-truck operated by Colonial Freight. The jury awarded total damages of $521,984.39 and found Colonial Freight responsible for only 23%. The other 77% of fault was attributed to an independent contractor responsible for the maintenance of the trailer involved, T.A. Operating, LLC. TA was not a party to the lawsuit, but Florida law allows fault to be apportioned top non-parties.
In 2010, the accident trailer had been the subject of a right rear axle fire in and it was alleged that the fire damaged the bearings. Plaintiff claimed that Colonial had ?a non-delegable duty to inspect, maintain, repair, and operate trailer #5427 in a safe condition under the common law and various trucking regulations.? The trial court found that no such non- delegable duty exists. Plaintiff thus objected to the allocation and appealed.
On appeal, the First DCA affirmed and upheld the trial court?s decision Thye Court pointed out that the plaintiff had a right to sue for common law negligence and that there was not an established legal theory of holding a trailer owner responsible for negligent maintenance performed by an independent contractor. As such, trailer owners, despite having a federal motor carrier license, are not insurers of their own trailers.
As an aside, the opinion notes that Le dropped all defendants except for Colonial Freight in 2016. One can assume that this was possibly due to a settlement that included TA but not Colonial. This may explain why plaintiff elected to pursue a claim for non-delegable duty rather than common law negligence for improper or inadequate maintenance.