Defendant / Third-Party Plaintiff defeated motion for summary judgment brought by third party Defendant who owned a flat bed trailer involved in an incident that occurred during the unloading of a shipment of commercial goods from that flat bed trailer. Moving party alleged that the load was under the control of an independent contractor over whom it had no control. In denying summary judgment, the court concluded that whether the party controlling the load was an independent contractor was a question of fact and further concluded that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Act, 49 C.F.R. §390.5, 391.5, 391.13 and 393.100 eliminates an independent contractor defense for motor carriers that lease trailers to third parties.
Boyd v. Cooperative Reserve Supply, Inc. v. FL Larson Trucking, Inc., Middlesex Superior Court, C.A. No.: 2011-0313 (Decision November 9, 2011) (Budd, J.)