Were you seriously hurt or seriously injured by a DHL aircraft, delivery truck, van, or vehicle?
Ultimate Guide to Compensation for DHL Accidents
Car accidents with a DHL truck driver come with many issues if you want to get paid by the trucking company. If so, keep reading. I am DHL accident attorney Michael Ehline. I assist DHL truck drivers and third parties trying to pursue injury claims against DHL.
As a DHL delivery truck accident attorney, below, I will explore everything you need to know to win money for your DHL-related injuries after a trucking accident. DHL is an American-founded courier company that was absorbed into Deutsche Post. It’s headquartered remain, Bonn, Germany. Deutsche Post DHL maintains the distinction of being the world’s biggest postal service provider.
DHL’s revenue was above 63.3 billion euros in 2019. DHL operates in over 220 countries. Also, DHL remains the leading airfreight forwarder worldwide; as of 2019. They move a lot of freight. For example, in 2018 alone, the DHL “Supply Chain” and “Global Forwarding” divisions transported at least 2.1 million metric tons of airfreight to destinations across the globe.
Speaking of shipping, DHL took third place for ocean freight forwarding. DHL delivered over 3.2 million twenty-foot equivalents of seaborne freight during that period alone. DHL also provides third-party logistics (3PL) support worldwide. According to Dunn and Bradstreet, in 2019, revenue from DHL Worldwide Express exceeded $18,197,669,000 billion. DHL is the only carrier able to deliver to sanctioned nations, including North Korea.
It delivers over 1.3 billion parcels per year. Its current head, Dr. Frank Appel, oversees an operation that includes 550,000 employees and trainees. Some of its domestic non-freight service types are DHL SameDay Sprintline, DHL Express 9:00 Domestic, DHL Express 10:30 Domestic, DHL Express 12:00 Domestic, DHL Express 18:00 Domestic, and DHL Express Easy.
After forming an attorney-client relationship with our firm, we will investigate all DHL truck accidents with extreme focus. Part of our job as DHL vehicle accident attorneys is to utilize the legal system to help employees and third parties injured or killed during active business operations. Moreover, we don’t just help these victims get money. We also provide assistance and resources to get you a rental car and even a doctor or grief counselor. We know the methods of obtaining public assistance while legal cases are winding their way through the legal system. Courts call the people we help “plaintiffs.”
And fighting DHL is no easy task, even if you are a wounded DHL truck driver. Being a good lawyer entails doing your research on the defendants. DHL would be a defendant in cases where someone is hurt during work or a DHL employee causes a freeway or surface street accident during package transport—making sense so far?
DHL Express offers only international services; DHL Global Mail offers both international and domestic services. DHL Express U.S. remains based in Kentucky and Florida. And it deals with the express shipping of items weighing up to 100kg (predominantly). DHL Express is one of the smaller LTL interstate carriers and specializes mainly in the transport of general freight and parcels. Either way, truck drivers still wreck, and the trucking company is still on the hook.
DHL finally pulled back from U.S. express delivery back in 2008. And this was after a battle for the U.S. market and billions of dollars invested. Ultimately, UPS and FedEx won that battle. But DHL may end up winning the war. First, acquiring Airborne Express and fighting the regulatory battle over the German-owned DHS flying cargo aircraft into the U.S. steeled the company and showed its resolve.
Since just recently, the firm has focused on international parcel shipments, handing off domestic deliveries from its warehouses to the U.S. Postal Service. From a liability perspective, this is a genius move. The risks of employing even one negligent driver may be obviated by having another person deliver the package on behalf of DHL.
Since this article, DHL eCommerce now operates 21 warehouses in the U.S. Finally, DHS Express 2019 U.S. revenues reached $369.28 million. And they are now a key player in the domestic package delivery business. With the growth, so too is an increase in DHL truck accident claims against partners and others with money to pay your damages.
Yes. DHL has a minor partnership with USPS, which allows DHL to deliver small packages to the recipient through the USPS network known as DHL Global Mail, now known as DHL eCommerce. It is also the sole provider for transferring USPS mail in and out of Afghanistan. DHL offers services, including deliveries to Iraq and Myanmar. As it is German-owned, DHL is not really affected by U.S. embargoes or sanctions. So it will even ship to Cuba and North Korea.
If you or a loved one was seriously hurt in a DHL Truck crash, we invite you to contact the accident attorneys at Ehline Law Firm right now for a free file and evidence review of your evidence. Does DHL Express Safety Data Show Improvement From 2017? We you in a DHL truck accident? It’s no wonder, and here’s why.
According to the Georgia law firm of Fred Goldberg LLC,
“In the 24-month period prior to December 3, 2017, DHL Express drivers were reported to have been involved in 16 crashes, involving 7 injuries and 1 fatality. From 2012, the number of crashes has increased by 100% and the number of injuries has increased by 75%.” (Source).
However, since that time, despite DHL Express and eCommerce getting into the domestic parcel game, DHL domestic accidents appear to have gone down. However, Ehline Law Firm believes that this is a deceiving drop, as will be discussed.
DHL Express USA Inc is allegedly one of the safest trucking companies in the U.S. according to data from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), the federal agency responsible for regulating the trucking industry in the United States, DHL Express’ over 1,500 drivers are often safer than many of their competitors. Put simply, past truck accident crashes are a good predictor of future crashes.
And it’s better for licensing, costs of liability insurance, and FMCSA rating, as well as stock value to have as few truck accident claims as possible on your carrier’s record. According to data compiled by the FMCSA, between August 2018 and August of 2020, DHL Express was subject to 154 inspections. Following those inspections, only one driver and two trucks were removed from service. In fact, all of the violations that DHL Express drivers were cited for were in the single digits, with the biggest issue being an inoperable required lamp. (7 citations.)
In that same time frame, DHL Express vehicles were involved in 11 “REPORTABLE” (learn more below) trucking accident claims \ including 7 tow away accidents, four accidents with at least one injury, and no accidents with a fatality. Even though DHL Express appears to be safe overall, and the debate is ongoing, even the best couriers can make bad judgments under pressure. DHL is leading the way in outsourcing its domestic delivery supply chain to other trucking companies. Our lead truck accident lawyer is at the forefront, as statistics establish DHL Express, in particular, may be considered safer than others but that the company may be fudging the numbers to impress regulatory agencies.
Sometimes, its contracted couriers will use unmarked, privately-owned courier vehicles. If they crash, there may be no way of knowing who’s on the hook to pay for the damages to another person on the roads. Because of this, unless your lawyer understands the law of vicarious liability, and work comp regulations, you could be limited in whatever insurance the courier driver maintained.
Saying everyone is an independent contractor keeps DHL’s federal accident reports looking far lower than they would be had DHL maintained a private delivery fleet. It also reduces the chances of an injury victim receiving adequate compensation for a terrible accident. For example, for someone with a severe brain or spinal cord injury, the delivery vehicle insurance of 1 million 5 million (Source) alone will not cut it.
But DHL has shielded itself from its liability by making everyone a contractor. Get it? What about the DHL driver who is now classified as something he or she is not?
Under the supply chain sketched out by DHL, a retailer that receives an order will prepare a package for pickup, a contracted driver will retrieve the parcel “for consolidation.” After that, routes will be assigned to drivers for further consolidation and delivery.
“With the others, you have branded delivery vans that say UPS or FedEx, and they’re wearing uniforms,” she said. “That’s not what DHL is doing here. They are basically partnering with a lot of local courier companies and doing local crowdsourcing. They are the ones that will be doing the last mile delivery. So it’s not going to be a branded DHL van pulling up to your house.” (Source).
In any event, profile reduction liability avoidance methods like this, as well as overall good driver’s training, could be the reason DHL appears to so much safer than FedEx or UPS in overall accident safety. Put that in the comments. Do you think DHL’s real accident numbers are fake or contrived? What about defective brakes? Why doesn’t the safety record of their independent contractor or defective vehicle parts get reflected in all their public disclosures?
Do you think many of its delivery carriers are employees being denied benefits and wage and hour rights? As far back as 2007, U.S. Congress was interested in DHL misclassifying employees as “independent contractors.” “[In regards to DHL]
But secondly, they make it, I believe, mandatory that every driver is an independent contractor. And I wondered, do you know of that situation? Mr. SOCOLOW. Congressman Payne, I would have to get back to you about that situation.” (Source – “THE MISCLASSIFICATION OF WORKERS AS INDEPENDENT CONTRACTORS: WHAT POLICIES AND PRACTICES BEST PROTECT WORKERS? BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON HEALTH, EMPLOYMENT, LABOR, AND PENSIONS, AND THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON WORKFORCE PROTECTIONS COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND LABOR U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED TENTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION HEARING HELD IN WASHINGTON, DC, JULY 24, 2007.“(Serial No. 110–56, page 65).
Here, it appears that DHL is avoiding listing reportable crashes and employment law compliance in one fell swoop. Moreover, this could be a reason they pulled out of U.S. domestic operations in 2008. Perhaps it was too hot for DHL at that time due to their taking on FedEx and UPS and gobbling up the competition. Either way, improper maintenance with their contracted, smaller independent interstate carriers must be considered when making a claim for yourself or your close family members.
As noted above, DHL, like other freight carriers, also benefits from the U.S. Safety Measurement System, or “SMS.” In a nutshell, the company can have accidents removed from its official record if the courier can prove the accident was not “preventable.” In that regard, companies will lobby to delete this crash data from their motor carrier’s records. (Learn More).
As noted, DHL farms so much stuff out you really don’t know how many deaths or injuries were incurred on their dime and time. So the next question is, “can I sue DHL for farming out work to an idiot?”
Or can that injured DHL Express driver make a work comp claim against DHL when he or she is unemployed from a delivery crash? Accidents are often due to an error in judgment or failure to take precautionary measures than deliberate recklessness or malevolence. If DHL is vicariously liable for an accident, it remains responsible for providing whatever compensation is needed. Here, compensation includes what it takes to replace the victim’s damaged property and pay for medical bills, rehabilitative therapy, and wages lost due to the inability to work or provide for his or her family.
And this remains true regardless of whether or not the trademarked emblem of DHL is emblazoned on the delivery vehicle. But only an experienced DHL accident lawyer knows how to navigate the legal system depending on your status as a driver or plaintiff in a case against the courier service guilty if service violations.
Most delivery vehicle accidents have catastrophic results, including risks of CTE on the victims because of the weight and g-forces exerted on the brain and body at the speeds generated by hurling, heavy trains, planes, and tractor-trailers.
2002 DHL Cargo Airplane Crash (Outcome – $30,000 to 36,000 Swiss Francs per death) – A Tupolev Tu-154 passenger jet flown by Bashkirian Airlines Flight, Number 2937, collided with DHL Flight 611, which was a Boeing 757-200 cargo jet. The incident happened at 35,000 ft (11,000 m) over the skies of Überlingen, Germany, with the loss of all 69 passengers (primarily school kids), the crew aboard the Bashkiran flight, and the two DHL pilots. Investigators concluded that both flight crews were following operational procedures as developed in their individual training philosophies, with one pilot responding to ATC instructions and the other following TCAS instructions. Because of this, the two aircraft crisscrossed one another, almost cutting each other in half. The outcome was increased uniformity in rules in following a Resolution Advisory (“RA”). Pilots must comply instantly with all RAs, even if the RAs go against ATC the general clearances or instructions.
In other words, pilots need to take personal initiative and not rely upon ground control for everything. “The RA has the highest priority because it will only be issued if other collision avoidance mechanisms, such as vertical separation by a controller, are not sufficiently effective or are incorrect. The manual intervention in the control of the airplane by the pilot must then take place without delay. Coordination with the controller or clarification of the situation by means of other airborne devices following an RA would question the purpose of TCAS. The time left in such a case could be too short for an avoidance maneuver and would increase the collision risk.”
The Lawsuit – The Russian families of the children ultimately settled with compensation being around $30,000 to 36,000 Swiss Francs per death. Later, in 2001, a Swiss Federal Court ruled against the appeals from other relatives for a greater compensation amount. There were many reasons to settle, including the ground-based optical collision warning system being switched off for maintenance. Plaintiff Nielsen, the air traffic controller for ACC Zurich, was unaware of this. And the ground crew claims they were unaware the STCA warning system had been activated and even if it was, the Russians would not have had time to take evasive actions with only 32 seconds left before the collision.
The Swiss Federal Court turned down appeals from some relatives for higher compensation in 2011.
On appeal, the majority agreed with the plaintiffs that: “DHL exercised substantial control over MVP. Among other things, MVP’s fleet was used exclusively for DHL deliveries; DHL prescribed the make and model of the vehicles to be used by MVP, and MVP’s vehicles were garaged in DHL’s facility.”
So it appears the case was sent back to the lower court. We will keep you posted on how DHL’s insurers deal with this legal quagmire. So we are seeing a theme with the real number of DHL accidents as being much higher but cloaked by their agents. Only accidents involving fleet vehicles go into the official Report-able accidents section. (Go here to learn more about this case).
To recap, in many cases, like when a DHL van or even another unmarked vehicle hits you, you need a lawyer who understands insurance coverages and vicarious liability. But you also need a representative you get along with who explains the personal injury claims process succinctly. After all, DHL is notorious for saying the people they control to deliver packages are really not employees. Sometimes courts fall for this argument. Other times they do not. What matters to you is that if you are rammed into while stopped at a light and suffer a severe spine or brain injury, there is enough money to get you back into shape afterward. Sometimes these larger delivery trucks, vans, and even airplanes can set off chain reactions when they lose control and crash. Most of them had to go to the Emergency Room for medical triage. The only way to know if DHL or some other stealth carrier is on the hook for the injuries is with great legal assistance.
As an injured plaintiff, you may have the right to pay DHL for the collision’s pain, expenses, and costs. Even as an at-fault employee, significant labor law rights may be violated, including past overtime and damages for retaliation and constructive termination. The way to get this compensation is by the victim proving his or her burden that the defendant was negligent, which led to your injury. Moreover, this unreasonable breach of social norms had to lead to tangible and intangible damages. And if so, you have to prove the value of your damages.
So it’s no walk in the park to win a case like this. Next, we are going to get into FedEx accidents and see some similarities and differences in their accident claims and compensation processes.
Accidents involving DHL/DHL Express delivery trucks can be deadly wrecks involving permanent handicaps, or death. If a commercial driver, independent contractor, or another party was negligent, leaving you injured, it’s time to act by hiring professional legal counsel. Our dedicated California commercial truck accident lawyers have the knowledge and experience to assist you in a court victory.
Give our accomplished and compassionate staff and experts who are committed to battling for your rights. Doing so helps assure you that you’ll get the compensation you want.
While the end result of a delivery truck accident can be daunting, hiring the right lawyer helps even the odds of a legal victory. Our goal is to help you fully recover despite the gamesmanship of DHL and its insurers. You can learn more by calling us right now at (213) 596-9642.
Michael Ehline
Michael Ehline is an inactive U.S. Marine and world famous legal historian. Michael helped draft the Cruise Ship Safety Act and has won some of the largest motorcycle accident settlements in U.S. History. Together with his legal team, Michael and the Ehline Law Firm collect damages on behalf of clients. We pride ourselves in being available to answer your most pressing and difficult questions 24/7. We are proud sponsors of the Paul Ehline Memorial Motorcycle Ride, and a a Service Disabled Veteran Operated Business. (SDVOB.) We are ready to fight.
The premier Ehline Law Firm in Greater Los Angeles, California is a nationwide, award-winning plaintiff’s personal injury office offering legal help in multiple U.S. Courts and state courts.
Satisfied clients know our superior United States, California based personal injury attorneys have more than a decade of experience winning and maximizing their damages compensation awards in Los Angeles County courts and across the USA.
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