1. What’s Happening with Werner Enterprises Right Now

Werner Enterprises, Inc. (NASDAQ: WERN; U.S. DOT #53467; Motor Carrier authority MC-138328; headquartered at 14507 Frontier Road, Omaha, Nebraska 68138) is one of the largest Tier-1 truckload carriers in North America. Werner operates approximately 9,863 power units and 9,107 drivers per the FMCSA SAFER Snapshot pulled May 13, 2026. Across Texas, Werner runs heavy traffic on the I-10, I-20, I-35, and I-45 corridors. On June 27, 2025, the Texas Supreme Court reversed and rendered the approximately $89.7 million jury verdict in Werner Enterprises v. Blake, No. 23-0493 — the most important Texas trucking-plaintiff teaching case of the decade — in an opinion authored by Chief Justice Jimmy Blacklock. The Court denied the plaintiffs’ motion for rehearing on September 26, 2025. Werner closed its $282.8 million acquisition of dedicated-trucking carrier FirstFleet, Inc. (Murfreesboro, Tennessee) on January 27, 2026, inheriting 38 years of FirstFleet operational tail including the NTSB-investigated Banner v. Tesla / FirstFleet wrongful-death case from March 1, 2019.

For Houston families and victims, this matters because Werner runs heavy freight on I-10, I-45, the Sam Houston Tollway, and Beltway 8. Werner-trained drivers come through the Roadmaster Drivers School campus at 1224 Normandy Street in Houston. The underlying Blake trial was conducted at the 127th Judicial District Court in Harris County under the Hon. R.K. (Ravi) Sandill (Cause No. 2015-36666). The Texas Supreme Court opinion that reversed the Blake verdict came out of Austin.

Werner’s federal Safety Rating originates from August 8, 1995 — over 30 years old — and the most recent FMCSA review was November 15, 2024, which left the rating unchanged despite the documented $89.7 million Blake jury verdict, the $150 million Sulphur Springs settlement (May 24, 2020 Hopkins County, Texas crash killing two children), the $40.5 million Armijo verdict (Santa Fe, New Mexico, October 11, 2019), and the $36,075,000 EEOC verdict against Werner subsidiary Drivers Management, LLC (D. Neb. September 2023, affirmed 8th Cir. July 10, 2025).

Despite the Blake reversal saving Werner approximately $45.7 million in Q2 2025, Werner’s Q3 2025 insurance and claims expense JUMPED 37.5% year-over-year due to other large claims developing adversely. Werner’s Q1 2026 long-term insurance and claims accruals rose from $112.1 million (12/31/25) to $136.8 million (3/31/26) — a $24.7 million / +22% increase in a single quarter. Werner posted a 2025 net loss of approximately $14.4 million. Werner’s self-insured retention is $15 million per claim under the policy year beginning August 1, 2024 and held flat for the policy year beginning August 1, 2025, up from $10 million per claim under the 2018 Blake-era policy. Werner operates with no dedicated Chief Safety Officer at the C-suite level — safety reports up through President and Chief Legal Officer Nathan J. Meisgeier.

This page exists because the people harmed by Werner Enterprises and FirstFleet — workers, surviving families, contractors, pedestrians, cyclists, motorists, and adjacent-vehicle occupants — deserve to know what happened, what their rights are, what evidence to preserve, and what to do next. Whether or not anyone here ever calls our firm, the information is yours.

2. Why Attorney 911 — The Verifiable Houston Credentials

Below are the verifiable, externally-corroborated credentials of our Houston-headquartered firm and our two named attorneys. Every claim is independently verifiable through primary sources — the State Bar of Texas member directory, Texas court records, and external Houston-network media coverage. No claim appears on this page that has not been independently verified through external sources beyond the firm’s own website.

Verified credentials at the firm and attorney level

1. Ralph P. Manginello, Managing Partner — admitted to the State Bar of Texas on November 6, 1998 (Bar #24007597), 27+ years of active legal practice; also admitted to the New York State Bar and the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas. Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from The University of Texas at Austin; Juris Doctor from South Texas College of Law Houston.
2. Lupe Peña, Associate Attorney — admitted to the State Bar of Texas in 2012 (Bar #24084332), 12+ years of active legal practice; also admitted to the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas. Bachelor of Business Administration in International Business from Saint Mary’s University in San Antonio; Juris Doctor from South Texas College of Law Houston. Fluent Spanish at the attorney level.
3. Federal-court trial discipline in the Southern District of Texas (Houston). Both attorneys are admitted to the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas — one of the busiest federal trucking-litigation dockets in the United States. Werner — Delaware-incorporated with Nebraska principal place of business — has complete diversity from every Texas plaintiff and will move to remove every diversity-eligible case under 28 U.S.C. § 1441. Federal-court trial readiness in Houston is the firm’s operational baseline.
4. Bilingual representation at the attorney level. Most personal-injury firms in Houston have Spanish-language web pages. Far fewer have an attorney who conducts the full client relationship in Spanish — intake, investigation, deposition prep, settlement negotiation, and trial. Lupe Peña does. Hablamos español.
5. Twenty-four-hour live staff at the Houston headquarters. The number 1-888-ATTY-911 is answered live, every day, every hour, by a human being.
6. Contingency fee structure with all costs advanced. The firm fronts all costs — expert witnesses, medical record retrieval, court fees, deposition transcripts, accident reconstruction. The standard contingency is 33.33% before trial, 40% if your case goes to trial. You pay nothing if we do not win.
7. 4.9 stars across 230+ independent reviews on Birdeye, an external third-party review platform.
8. Five-network Houston broadcast coverage as plaintiff’s counsel of record. Attorney 911 is named plaintiff’s counsel in the November 2025 Bermudez v. Pi Kappa Phi / University of Houston $10 million hazing lawsuit (Harris County, filed November 21, 2025). The case was covered within a single week of filing by every major Houston broadcast network: KPRC 2 NBC “Only on 2” Exclusive, KTRK ABC13, KHOU 11 CBS, FOX 26 Houston, and Houston Public Media (NPR/PBS). Both Ralph Manginello and Lupe Peña were named on camera as plaintiff’s counsel.
9. Branded original legal-education content. The firm hosts Attorney 911, an original legal-education podcast on Apple Podcasts (Show ID 1773141988). The firm also operates an active YouTube channel at @Manginellolawfirm.
10. Three Texas offices. Houston headquarters at 1177 West Loop S, Suite 1600, Houston, TX 77027, plus offices in Austin and Beaumont.

How a Houston-headquartered firm handles Werner cases statewide and nationally

For Houston-area Werner crashes on I-10 + I-45 + Beltway 8 + Sam Houston Tollway, our Harris County District Court access plus Southern District of Texas federal-court admission means we operate from the most active Texas trucking-litigation venues. For Werner cases outside Texas, we associate with vetted local counsel and proceed via pro hac vice admission. Federal-court trial readiness in Houston carries over.

Free consultation, 24 hours a day: 1-888-ATTY-911 (1-888-288-9911).

3. Meet Ralph Manginello and Lupe Peña — Houston Headquarters

The two attorneys leading every Werner Enterprises and FirstFleet plaintiff matter from the Houston headquarters. Each carries State Bar of Texas membership verifiable through the texasbar.com member directory and federal-court admission verifiable through txs.uscourts.gov. The firm’s three Texas offices serve the entire state; Houston is the operational center.

Ralph P. Manginello — Managing Partner

• State Bar of Texas: Admitted November 6, 1998; Bar #24007597; active status.
• New York State Bar Association: Member.
• Federal Court: U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas (Houston).
• Education: Bachelor of Arts in Journalism, The University of Texas at Austin; Juris Doctor, South Texas College of Law Houston.
• Founded: Attorney 911 / The Manginello Law Firm, PLLC in 2001 in Houston.
• Active matter: Lead plaintiff’s counsel in Bermudez v. Pi Kappa Phi / University of Houston $10 million hazing lawsuit (Harris County, filed November 21, 2025), covered by KPRC 2 NBC, KTRK ABC13, KHOU 11 CBS, FOX 26 Houston, and Houston Public Media.
• Practice focus: Personal injury; truck and commercial-vehicle accidents; wrongful death; catastrophic injury including traumatic brain injury and spinal cord injury; federal-court trial practice.
• Contact: ralph@atty911.com · 1-888-ATTY-911.

Lupe Peña — Associate Attorney

• State Bar of Texas: Admitted 2012; Bar #24084332; active status.
• Federal Court: U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas (Houston).
• Education: Bachelor of Business Administration in International Business, Saint Mary’s University, San Antonio; Juris Doctor, South Texas College of Law Houston.
• Language: Fluent Spanish at the attorney level — full consultations, depositions, and client representation in Spanish.
• Practice focus: Wrongful death; trucking and commercial motor vehicle accidents; bilingual client representation.
• Contact: lupe@atty911.com · 1-888-ATTY-911.

Both attorneys practice from

with additional offices in Austin and Beaumont.

4. Your Next 72 Hours After a Werner or FirstFleet Truck Crash in Houston / Texas

The first three days after a Werner or FirstFleet crash are the most consequential. Engine Control Module data on Werner tractors (Detroit Diesel DDEC, Cummins INSITE) overwrites on the next ignition cycle or hard-brake event — often within hours. Samsara AI dashcam continuous recording cycles in days. Bendix Wingman Fusion SafetyDirect alert logs retain for industry-default 12 months. FirstFleet’s Discover Property & Casualty Insurance Co. (a Travelers Companies subsidiary) primary $1 million BIPD coverage triggers carrier-side investigation within hours. The steps below are what we tell families and victims who call our Houston office.

Hour 0 to Hour 12 — The immediate window

• Get medical care first. For Houston-area crashes: Memorial Hermann Texas Medical Center (Level 1 trauma), Memorial Hermann-Texas Trauma Institute, Harris Health System Ben Taub General Hospital (Level 1 trauma). For pediatric injuries: Texas Children’s Hospital, including the TBI Clinic.
• Tell the treating provider exactly what happened. Ask for written documentation of every injury and symptom — including delayed-onset symptoms (headache, confusion, neck pain, lower-back pain, numbness, vision changes) that can indicate traumatic brain injury or spinal injury not obvious immediately.
• Photograph everything you can safely photograph — your injuries, the Werner or FirstFleet tractor and trailer (the visible USDOT number, the company branding, the trailer numbers), the scene, any visible cargo, witnesses’ vehicles, license plates, road conditions, weather. Time-stamped phone photos are admissible evidence.
• Write down everything you remember while it’s fresh — the Werner or FirstFleet driver’s name and badge number if you can see them, statements anyone made, the exact time, the weather, the road, the lighting, the cargo. Keep one notebook from day one.
• Do not post on social media. Defense investigators monitor every public-facing platform from the moment a claim is filed.

Hour 12 to Hour 48 — The preservation window

• Collect every receipt, every medical bill, every prescription, every pay stub showing income you cannot earn during recovery, every text message and email from Werner, FirstFleet, the driver, or any insurance adjuster (Discover Property & Casualty Insurance Co., or any Werner self-insured-retention-layer carrier).
• Identify witnesses by name and contact info within 48 hours. Witness statements taken in the first 48 hours are dramatically more reliable than statements taken weeks later.
• Ask the hospital for copies of all medical records as they are created. You have the right to request your own records under HIPAA.
• Do not sign anything from Werner, FirstFleet, Discover Property & Casualty Insurance Co., or any insurance carrier without independent counsel reviewing it first. This includes medical authorizations, recorded-statement consents, releases, “interim” payment agreements, non-disclosure agreements, or settlement papers. Politely decline: “Thank you. I will review with my attorney and respond.”

Hour 48 to Hour 72 — The legal-response window

• Consider a free no-obligation consultation with Attorney 911 at 1-888-ATTY-911. The call costs nothing. The consultation creates no obligation. If we cannot help, we say so and refer you elsewhere.
• Begin a written timeline of events, conversations, and contacts. Date and time-stamp every entry.
• If you or anyone in your family is in mental-health crisis, call or text 988.
• For families dealing with traumatic brain injury or spinal cord injury, the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation Paralysis Resource Center (1-800-539-7309) and the Brain Injury Association of America — Texas Chapter (737-497-3566) provide free, non-legal family support.

Critical point about the next 72 hours. Werner-equipped tractors carry layered evidence on systems that overwrite within hours. Detroit Diesel DDEC or Cummins INSITE Engine Control Module “last-stop” data — the approximately 30-second pre-event record of speed, throttle, brake, and RPM — overwrites on the next ignition cycle or next hard-brake event. Samsara AI dashcam continuous recording cycles in days; only AI-flagged events are reliably retained in the cloud, and Werner’s specific Samsara retention configuration is not publicly disclosed. Bendix Wingman Fusion SafetyDirect alert logs retain for approximately 12 months per industry default. If your case involves any Werner or FirstFleet vehicle, equipment, facility, or driver, the spoliation letter we send to Werner Corporate Legal in Omaha plus FirstFleet HQ in Murfreesboro plus Platform Science, Samsara, Bendix, and Detroit Diesel Daimler should reach those parties within 24 hours of your call. See Section 21 below for what we preserve and how.

5. Free Family Resources (Phone Numbers That Work) — Houston + Texas

The most useful thing a Houston law firm can do in the first week after a serious incident is point families to the help that already exists. None of the resources below is a law firm. None pays a referral fee. They are listed because they are good and because we have verified the phone numbers ring through to a human being who can help. Houston-area resources lead; statewide and federal resources follow.

Houston community resources

• Houston 211 / United Way HELPLINE — dial 211 or 713-957-4357 (24/7).
• Catholic Charities Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston — 713-526-4611. Immigrant legal services, family assistance, refugee resettlement.
• BakerRipley — 713-273-3700. Wraparound services for Houston immigrant and Latino communities.
• Texas Children’s Hospital TBI Clinic — texaschildrens.org/departments/traumatic-brain-injury-tbi-clinic.
• Memorial Hermann-Texas Trauma Institute — Level 1 trauma center.
• Harris Health System Ben Taub General Hospital — Level 1 trauma center.
• Houston Volunteer Lawyers — 713-228-0735. Free legal aid for income-eligible Houston residents.

24/7 crisis lines

• 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline — call or text 988 (multilingual).
• SAMHSA Disaster Distress Helpline — 1-800-985-5990 (24/7, multilingual).
• Veterans Crisis Line — dial 988 then press 1.
• Poison Control — 1-800-222-1222.
• National Domestic Violence Hotline — 1-800-799-7233.

Catastrophic-injury, brain injury, and spinal cord injury support

• Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation Paralysis Resource Center — 1-800-539-7309 — christopherreeve.org. Free multilingual specialists.
• Brain Injury Association of America — 1-800-444-6443 — biausa.org.
• Brain Injury Association of America — Texas Chapter (BIAA-TX) — 737-497-3566.
• United Spinal Association — 1-800-962-9629.
• Amputee Coalition — 1-888-267-5669.
• Phoenix Society for Burn Survivors — 1-800-888-2876.

Trucking-specific victim support

• St. Christopher Truckers Relief Fund — 865-202-9428 — truckersfund.org.
• Truckers Final Mile — truckersfinalmile.org.
• Truck Safety Coalition — 202-921-9526 — trucksafety.org.
• OOIDA Occupational Accident plans — ooida.com/medical-benefits/occupational-accident/.

Federal agencies

• FMCSA Driver Hotline / National Consumer Complaint Database — 1-888-368-7238 — nccdb.fmcsa.dot.gov.
• OSHA Whistleblower Protection Program — 1-800-321-OSHA.
• DOT Office of Inspector General Hotline — 1-800-424-9071 (24/7).
• NHTSA Auto Safety Hotline — 1-888-327-4236.
• EEOC Public Information — 1-800-669-4000.

Texas state agencies

• Texas Department of Insurance Consumer Help Line — 1-800-252-3439.
• Texas Office of Public Insurance Counsel — 1-877-611-6742.
• Texas Workers’ Compensation Division — 1-800-252-7031.
• Texas Attorney General Consumer Protection — 1-800-621-0508.
• Texas Workforce Commission — 1-800-939-6631.
• Texas Civil Rights Project — 512-474-5073.

Hispanic and Latino community support

• LULAC — 202-833-6130.
• MALDEF — 213-629-2512.
• UnidosUS — 202-785-1670.
• Workers Defense Project (Texas) — 512-391-2305.

A more complete resources directory appears in Section 31.

6. Your Legal Options Under Texas and Federal Law

Texas and federal law together give Werner and FirstFleet crash victims, surviving families, and contract workers more than one way to recover. Texas state tort law, federal motor-carrier safety regulations (which are negligence per se in Texas state court), the Texas Supreme Court’s Werner v. Blake framework, and Texas’s own gross-negligence exception to workers’-compensation exclusivity all operate at the same time. A single case can usually go forward on more than one of these paths, and most victims pursue every path that fits the facts.

Path 1: Direct negligence claim against Werner Enterprises + the Werner driver (Houston / Texas filing)

For any non-Werner-employee injured by a Werner or FirstFleet tractor-trailer — a motorist, passenger, pedestrian, cyclist, or adjacent-vehicle occupant — the principal claim is direct negligence under Texas common law against (a) Werner Enterprises, Inc., (b) the Werner driver individually, (c) Drivers Management, LLC (the actual employer-of-record entity for many Werner drivers — named co-defendant in EEOC v. Drivers Management LLC and Abarca v. Werner Enterprises), and where applicable (d) FirstFleet, Inc. (Werner-acquired January 27, 2026). Pleading the in-Texas driver and any in-Texas Werner supervisor as individual defendants is the standard counter to federal-court removal under 28 U.S.C. § 1441. Harris County District Court (where the Blake case was tried before Hon. R.K. Sandill) is one of the most plaintiff-favorable Werner venues in the country.

Path 2: Wrongful death and survival actions (Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Ch. 71)

For surviving families of Werner or FirstFleet crash deaths, Texas wrongful-death law (§§ 71.001–.012) provides recovery to surviving spouses, children, and parents for the family’s losses. Texas survival actions (§ 71.021) provide additional recovery for pain and suffering the decedent experienced before death. Where the death results from gross negligence, exemplary damages are available subject to the § 41.008 cap and the § 41.008(c) carve-outs. Texas has no statutory cap on non-economic damages in ordinary personal-injury or wrongful-death cases.

Path 3: Negligent training, hiring, supervision, and retention claims — post-Blake framework

Pre-Blake, Texas plaintiffs commonly pled negligent hiring, training, supervision, and retention against trucking carriers without close tethering to the driver’s specific causal conduct. After Werner v. Blake (Tex. June 27, 2025), the proximate-cause chain must run from the corporate policy or training deficit, through the driver’s specific act or omission, to the harm. Roadmaster Drivers School — Werner’s own CDL training operation with four Texas campuses (Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, San Antonio) — is the post-Blake bridge that makes this connection viable. See Section 16.

Path 4: Products liability (Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Ch. 82)

Where a defective vehicle component, defective collision-avoidance system, defective trailer underride guard, or defective safety system contributed to the harm, the manufacturer is strictly liable. Tractor OEMs (Freightliner / Daimler Truck North America, Kenworth / PACCAR, International), trailer manufacturers, AEB system manufacturers (Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems, Detroit Assurance, Meritor), and underride guard manufacturers are all potential products-liability defendants.

Path 5: Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulation violations — negligence per se in Texas

Texas Transportation Code Chapter 644 adopts the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (49 C.F.R. Parts 350–399) as Texas law. A violation of an FMCSR by a commercial motor carrier or driver is negligence per se in Texas state court — meaning the violation itself establishes the negligent-conduct element, and the plaintiff need only prove proximate cause and damages. Werner’s specific exposure areas include 49 C.F.R. Part 380 (entry-level driver training), Part 382 (drug and alcohol testing), Part 383 (CDL standards), Part 391 (driver qualification), Part 392 (driving of CMVs, including § 392.14 hazardous conditions — the centerpiece adverse-conditions hook for Texas ice-storm cases like Blake), Part 393 (parts and accessories), Part 395 (hours of service and ELD), Part 396 (inspection, repair, and maintenance).

Path 6: Texas gross-negligence exception to workers’-comp exclusivity (Tex. Lab. Code § 408.001(b))

For families of Werner workers killed on the job in Texas, Tex. Lab. Code § 408.001(b) preserves the surviving family’s right to bring an exemplary-damages wrongful-death action against the employer whose gross negligence caused the worker’s death — even though Texas workers’ compensation generally bars employee suits against the direct employer under § 408.001(a). The gross-negligence standard requires (1) objective extreme risk and (2) the actor’s subjective awareness with conscious indifference. U-Haul International, Inc. v. Waldrip, 380 S.W.3d 118 (Tex. 2012).

Path 7: Federal-court diversity jurisdiction

Werner is Delaware-incorporated with Nebraska principal place of business. Complete diversity exists with virtually every Texas plaintiff. Werner will move to remove every diversity-eligible case to federal court under 28 U.S.C. § 1441 and § 1332. Plaintiffs counter by naming non-diverse co-defendants (the in-Texas Werner driver, in-Texas supervisor, in-Texas Roadmaster training staff) under fraudulent-joinder analysis pursuant to Smallwood v. Illinois Central Railroad Co., 385 F.3d 568 (5th Cir. 2004) (en banc).

Damages recoverable in a successful Werner case

• Past and future medical expenses
• Lost earnings and lost earning capacity (Ireland-framework forensic economics)
• Past and future pain and suffering
• Mental anguish and emotional distress
• Disfigurement and scarring
• Loss of consortium (spouse) and loss of companionship (family)
• Permanent disability
• Life-care plan costs (CLCP-credentialed, IALCP Standards)
• Funeral and burial expenses (wrongful death)
• Loss of inheritance (wrongful death)
• Pre-judgment and post-judgment interest
• Exemplary (punitive) damages where gross negligence is proven

7. The Statute-of-Limitations Calendar — Texas + Federal

Statutes of limitations are firm deadlines. Missing one generally extinguishes the claim. Below is the working calendar of every deadline that may apply to a Werner-related claim in Texas. Houston Werner crash families should apply early — the discovery rule, fraudulent concealment, and equitable tolling doctrines can extend deadlines but should not be relied on as a primary strategy. Do not rely on a single deadline.

• Texas personal injury (civil third-party claim): 2 years from date of injury — Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.003.
• Texas wrongful death (civil third-party claim): 2 years from date of death — Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.003.
• Texas products liability (Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Ch. 82): 2 years from injury, subject to a 15-year statute of repose from the date the product was first sold under § 16.012.
• Texas workers’ compensation claim filing: 1 year from injury — Tex. Lab. Code § 409.003.
• Texas death benefit claim filing: 1 year from date of death — Tex. Lab. Code § 409.007.
• OSHA Section 11(c) whistleblower retaliation: 30 days from the adverse action — the shortest deadline in federal labor law.
• STAA (Surface Transportation Assistance Act) whistleblower retaliation: 180 days from adverse action — 49 U.S.C. § 31105.
• Title VII / ADA / ADEA / Pregnancy Discrimination Act EEOC charge filing: 180 days from the discriminatory act, extended to 300 days in deferral states (including Texas).
• FLSA wage and hour claim: 2 years from the unpaid wages, extended to 3 years for willful violations — 29 U.S.C. § 255(a).
• Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.001: Disability tolling for minors (under 18) and persons of unsound mind.
• Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.063: Absence-from-state tolling.

If you are even considering a Werner-related claim, call 1-888-ATTY-911 today. The consultation is free.

8. Who Can File a Claim: Six Classes Affected by Werner Enterprises

The defense narrative in trucking-crash cases is consistently designed to narrow the class of “victims” to a small group of people physically present at the moment of the crash. The reality is broader. Below are the six distinct classes of people who may have actionable claims arising from Werner or FirstFleet conduct in Texas, Houston, or anywhere in the United States.

Class 1: Crash victims (motorists, passengers, pedestrians, cyclists)

The most common Werner plaintiff. Includes drivers and occupants of any other vehicle struck by a Werner or FirstFleet tractor-trailer, pedestrians or cyclists struck, and anyone injured in a multi-vehicle collision involving a Werner or FirstFleet truck. The Blake family, the Sulphur Springs decedents, the Armijo plaintiff, and Jeremy Banner (in the FirstFleet case) all fell in this class.

Class 2: Surviving family members of Werner-crash decedents

Spouses, children, parents (including adult-children claims under Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 71.004), and other dependents have direct wrongful-death and survival-action rights under Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §§ 71.001–.021, plus secondary-trauma and loss-of-consortium claims of their own. ICD-11 Complex PTSD, DSM-5-TR Prolonged Grief Disorder, and DSM-5-TR PTSD diagnoses for surviving family members are admissible evidence of recoverable damages.

Class 3: Werner and FirstFleet drivers and driver families

Werner is a non-union carrier with approximately 6,785 W-2 drivers and approximately 315 independent contractors (per Werner FY2025 10-K). FirstFleet operates with 3,261 drivers per FMCSA SAFER. Texas-employed Werner or FirstFleet drivers killed on the job may proceed under Tex. Lab. Code § 408.001(b)’s gross-negligence exception to workers’-comp exclusivity if Werner’s or FirstFleet’s gross negligence is shown.

Class 4: Roadmaster Drivers School trainees and trainee families

Werner-owned Roadmaster Drivers School operates four Texas locations: Houston (1224 Normandy Street), Dallas (8701 Peterbilt Avenue), Fort Worth (309 Successful Drive), and San Antonio (927 Eddie Road). Roadmaster trainees who are injured during training, or whose families are harmed when a Roadmaster-trained Werner driver causes a crash, have claims tied to 49 C.F.R. Part 380 (entry-level driver training) standards.

Class 5: Werner-IC and Werner-leased operators

Werner operates a three-track IC program — outright owner-operator, lease/lease-purchase, and truck-purchase. IC and lease/lease-purchase drivers have potential claims for misclassification under federal Bartels v. Birmingham economic-realities test (FLSA), California AB 5 / Dynamex ABC test (for any California operation), and the Texas common-law right-of-control test under Limestone Products Distribution, Inc. v. McNamara, 71 S.W.3d 308 (Tex. 2002).

Class 6: Werner wage-class members (Abarca certified class)

Werner drivers employed between June 4, 2010 and July 14, 2023 — with sub-classes for Nebraska and California — are members of the certified Abarca v. Werner Enterprises / Drivers Management LLC class settled for $18 million, with final fairness hearing July 24, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. before the District of Nebraska. Class members should monitor the settlement portal at truckerclassaction.com or call the settlement administrator at 1-800-406-7301.

If you fit any of these descriptions, call 1-888-ATTY-911. The consultation is free. Hablamos español.

9. Werner Enterprises v. Blake — The Texas Supreme Court Reversal and What It Means for Every Texas Trucking Plaintiff

Werner Enterprises v. Blake, No. 23-0493 (Tex. June 27, 2025) is the single most important Texas trucking-plaintiff teaching case of the decade. The Texas Supreme Court reversed and rendered the approximately $89.7 million Harris County jury verdict in a 5-3 decision authored by Chief Justice Jimmy Blacklock, holding that Werner driver Shiraz Ali’s conduct was not a substantial-factor proximate cause of the Blake family’s injuries as a matter of law. The Court denied the plaintiffs’ motion for rehearing on September 26, 2025. For every Texas trucking plaintiff post-Blake, the proximate-cause record must be built at the seconds-before-impact level — engine control module data, electronic logging device records, dashcam video, telematics speed/brake traces, and accident reconstruction tying the commercial driver’s specific act or omission to causation independent of any third-party tortfeasor’s conduct.

9.1 Full citation

Werner Enterprises, Inc. and Shiraz A. Ali v. Jennifer Blake, Individually and as Next Friend for Nathan Blake, and as Heir of the Estate of Zachery Blake, Deceased; and Eldridge Moak, in his Capacity as Guardian of the Estate of Brianna Blake, No. 23-0493, ___ S.W.3d ___ (Tex. June 27, 2025); motion for rehearing denied September 26, 2025.

9.2 The underlying crash

Date and place: December 30, 2014, during a Texas ice storm. Eastbound I-20 near Sweetwater, Nolan County, Texas (approximately 200 miles west of Dallas-Fort Worth, on the I-20 corridor between Abilene and Midland).

The crash sequence: A Ford F-350 pickup truck driven by Trey Salinas was carrying the Blake family eastbound on I-20. Salinas lost control on ice and crossed a 42-foot grass median. A Werner tractor-trailer driven by student driver Shiraz Ali (with trainer Daniel Wilkins per the Fourteenth Court of Appeals opinion) was traveling westbound on I-20 in its proper lane and below the posted speed limit. The two vehicles collided in the westbound lane.

The casualties: Zachery Blake (7 years old) was killed. Brianna (“Destiny”) Blake (12 years old) sustained traumatic brain injury and was rendered quadriplegic. Jennifer Blake (mother) and Nathan Blake (son) sustained serious brain injuries.

9.3 The Harris County 127th District Court trial verdict (Houston, May 2018)

Court: 127th Judicial District Court, Harris County, Texas (the Houston civil-court complex). Hon. R.K. (Ravi) Sandill presiding. Cause No. 2015-36666. Six-week trial.

Jury verdict: Total compensatory damages $89,687,994 (Jennifer Blake $16.5M; Nathan Blake $5M; Brianna Blake $68,187,994). Liability apportionment 70% to Werner, 14% to Ali, 16% to non-party Salinas. With pre-judgment and post-judgment interest, the judgment grew to approximately $100M–$116M.

9.4 The Fourteenth Court of Appeals affirmance (Houston, May 18, 2023)

The Fourteenth Court of Appeals in Houston (Cause No. 14-18-00967-CV) en banc affirmed the trial-court verdict on May 18, 2023, 672 S.W.3d 554. Held that legally and factually sufficient evidence supported Ali’s proximate-cause negligence, Werner’s negligent training/supervision/hiring, and gross negligence on Werner’s part.

9.5 The Texas Supreme Court reversal (June 27, 2025)

The 5-3 split: Majority opinion by Chief Justice Jimmy Blacklock; joined by Justices John Devine, Brett Busby, Evan Young, and Jimmy Sullivan. Concurrence by Justice Evan Young, joined by Justice Rebeca Huddle. Dissent (would have remanded for new trial) by Justice Jane Bland, joined by Justices Jeff Boyd and Rebeca Huddle. Justice Debra Lehrmann did not participate.

Holding: Werner driver Shiraz Ali’s negligence (if any) was not a substantial-factor proximate cause of the Blake family’s injuries as a matter of law. The crash was caused by Salinas’s out-of-control vehicle crossing the median; Ali was driving below the speed limit, in his proper lane, with insufficient time to react. Without proximate cause as to the on-duty driver, derivative theories of negligent hiring, training, supervision, and retention against Werner cannot stand. The Court reaffirmed that “substantial factor” causation requires more than a “happenstance of place and time.”

9.6 The rehearing denial (September 26, 2025)

The Blake plaintiffs filed a motion for rehearing on August 13, 2025. On September 26, 2025, the Texas Supreme Court denied the motion. Werner’s Q3 2025 10-Q confirmed reversal of the $45.7 million liability and the $79.2 million insurance receivable in the quarter ending June 30, 2025. The case is finally over in Werner’s favor.

10. What Texas Crash Victims Now Have to Prove After Werner v. Blake

Before the Texas Supreme Court’s June 27, 2025 ruling, a Texas trucking case against Werner could move forward on the general fact that a Werner driver was part of the chain of events that led to the crash. After Blake, that is no longer enough. A Texas victim and the victim’s lawyer must now be able to point to a specific act or omission by the Werner driver in the seconds before the collision — speed, lane position, attention, hours-of-service compliance, response to road conditions — and show that the driver’s specific conduct caused or contributed to the crash independently of anything any other driver was doing. The information that proves this lives on the truck itself and in Werner’s own systems: the Engine Control Module, the Electronic Logging Device, the dashcam, the telematics record, and the Bendix SafetyDirect alert log. Most of that information starts to overwrite or disappear within hours.

10.1 What the driver was doing in the seconds before the crash

The ECM “last-stop” record (the approximately 30 seconds before impact), the ELD record of duty status, the dashcam footage (forward-facing and cab-facing), the Samsara AI event log, the Bendix SafetyDirect collision-warning record, and the telematics speed and braking trace together build a second-by-second account of what the Werner driver was doing in the moments before the collision. That record is the foundation of a Texas case after Blake.

10.2 How reconstruction experts piece it together

A forensic reconstruction expert combines the truck-side data with the scene measurements, the surviving vehicles, and the physical evidence to model what the driver could see, when, and how long the driver had to respond. Olson & Sivak’s 1986 perception-reaction study, the AASHTO 2.5-second design value, and the standard stopping-distance physics for a fully-loaded Class-8 tractor-trailer at highway speed all go into that analysis. The full distance numbers for 55, 60, 65, 70, and 75 mph on dry, wet, and icy pavement are in Section 22.

10.3 How the training-and-supervision record connects to the driver

After Blake, evidence that Werner had a deficient training program or a supervisor who knew the driver was a problem only matters if it can be tied to the specific thing the driver did or failed to do in the crash. The path runs from the Werner policy, through the specific driver’s training file and supervisor record, to the act or omission that caused the crash. Werner’s Roadmaster Drivers School (campuses in Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, and San Antonio) is where most Werner drivers are trained, so the Roadmaster training file is usually the starting point. See Section 16.

10.4 Why the first 120 days matter — HB 19 bifurcation

Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 72.052 lets a trucking defendant ask the trial court to split the trial into two phases. The defendant has 120 days from filing the answer (or 30 days from any added claim) to make the request. If the request is granted, Phase 1 covers liability and compensatory damages; Phase 2 covers exemplary damages and the corporate-conduct evidence that supports them. Because the corporate-conduct evidence is held back until Phase 2, the driver-conduct discovery has to be gathered and locked in before the bifurcation window closes.

10.5 Where Texas Werner cases get filed

Under Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 15.002, a Werner case can usually be filed in (a) Harris County (the Houston civil-court complex, where the Blake case itself was tried at the 127th District Court), (b) the county where the crash happened, or (c) the county where the plaintiff lived when the cause of action accrued, if no other venue applies. In multi-plaintiff cases, the filing has to account for the possibility that any single plaintiff might settle out and take the venue basis with them.

10.6 Federal court — why Werner will try to move the case there

Werner is incorporated in Delaware with its principal place of business in Nebraska, so a Texas plaintiff filing in Texas state court is almost always going to trigger Werner’s right to remove the case to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas (or whichever federal court covers the venue) under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1441 and 1332. Naming the Texas-resident Werner driver, supervisor, or Roadmaster training staff as individual co-defendants keeps the case in state court if the federal court agrees those defendants are properly in the case (the fraudulent-joinder analysis under Smallwood v. Illinois Central Railroad Co., 385 F.3d 568 (5th Cir. 2004) (en banc)).

10.7 Werner’s own insurance disclosures and the Stowers Doctrine

Werner disclosed a $79.2 million receivable from its insurance carriers tied to the Blake judgment in its 2024 Annual Report (Form 10-K) — and reversed that receivable in June 2025 after the Texas Supreme Court ruling. Werner’s own public filings show its insurance architecture: Werner pays the first $15 million on every claim out of its own pocket before any insurance carrier above that contributes. Under the Texas Stowers Doctrine — G.A. Stowers Furniture Co. v. American Indemnity Co., 15 S.W.2d 544 (Tex. Comm’n App. 1929, holding approved) — a settlement demand within the insurance policy limits that Werner’s carrier refuses can later expose Werner to personal liability for any judgment above those limits. That is the standard pre-suit tool used to put serious settlement pressure on Werner in a Texas case.

11. The Largest Verified Werner Verdicts and Settlements

Below are the largest verified verdicts and settlements paid by Werner Enterprises or its operating subsidiaries. Every entry is sourced to a primary or credible-secondary public record. Status corrections (remittiturs, reversals, statutory caps applied) are reflected accurately. The aggregate exposure trajectory across the past decade — from the $150 million Sulphur Springs settlement in 2022 to the $40.5 million Armijo verdict in 2019 to the $36.075 million EEOC verdict in 2023 — establishes Werner as a documented nine-figure-scale Tier-1 trucking defendant. The Texas Supreme Court reversal of the $89.7 million Blake verdict in June 2025 changed proximate-cause doctrine but did not eliminate the underlying defendant exposure pattern.

1. $150 million — Sulphur Springs I-30 wrongful-death settlement. May 24, 2020 crash on Interstate 30 in Hopkins County, Texas at approximately 5:00 a.m., killing two children ages 9 and 7. Settled July 2022. Werner’s coverage included a $10 million premium-based excess layer; the balance (approximately $140 million) was paid from Werner’s self-insurance/uninsured retention. The largest publicly-disclosed Werner wrongful-death resolution in the company’s history.
2. $89,687,994 jury (REVERSED and RENDERED) — Werner Enterprises v. Blake. Harris County 127th Judicial District Court verdict May 17, 2018 (Hon. R.K. Sandill presiding); approximately $100M–$116M with interest. Affirmed by the Fourteenth Court of Appeals en banc 2023 (672 S.W.3d 554). Reversed and rendered by the Texas Supreme Court in a 5-3 decision June 27, 2025 (No. 23-0493). Motion for rehearing denied September 26, 2025. See Section 9.
3. $40.5 million — Armijo v. Werner Enterprises. Santa Fe County, New Mexico, First Judicial District, October 11, 2019 verdict. $30.5 million compensatory plus $10 million in punitive damages (uncapped because New Mexico has no statutory punitive-damages cap). Werner entry-level driver Jose Johnson on his 8th day of Werner driving post-Roadmaster Drivers School graduation crossed four lanes head-on. The case directly cited Werner’s training program (Roadmaster) as a basis for negligent training liability. See Section 13.
4. $36,075,000 jury verdict (reduced to $300,000 under ADA statutory cap; affirmed) — EEOC v. Drivers Management, LLC and Werner Enterprises, No. 8:18-cv-00329 (D. Neb.). Jury verdict September 1, 2023; 8th Circuit affirmed July 10, 2025 in No. 24-2286. ADA disability discrimination over the failure to hire deaf driver Victor Robinson. The injunction requires Werner to report deaf-applicant records to EEOC every six months for three years. See Section 14.
5. $18 million — Abarca v. Werner Enterprises / Drivers Management LLC, No. 8:14-cv-00319 (D. Neb.) (consolidated). $18 million gross wage-class settlement. Preliminary approval February 5, 2026. Final fairness hearing July 24, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. before the U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska. See Section 15.
6. ~$6.5 million — Pennsylvania distracted-driving settlement. Werner attribution confirmed by secondary case-summary coverage; specific county and date not publicly disclosed in retrieved sources.
7. Petrone v. Werner Enterprises (FLSA student-driver case) — Petrone v. Werner Enters., Inc., 121 F. Supp. 3d 860 (D. Neb. 2015); 940 F.3d 425 (8th Cir. 2019); 42 F.4th 962 (8th Cir. August 3, 2022). The 2022 ruling VACATED the district court’s judgment for Werner; the case did not end in Werner’s favor as some secondary sources misreported.
8. Williams v. Werner Enterprises — 770 S.E.2d 532 (W. Va. March 2, 2015). West Virginia Court of Appeals affirmed summary judgment for Werner on the intentional spoliation claim. Werner-favorable outcome.

For your own case, the question is not what Werner has paid before — it is what your case is worth on its own facts. Call 1-888-ATTY-911 for a free, no-obligation consultation from our Houston office.

12. The $150 Million Sulphur Springs Settlement (Hopkins County, Texas)

On May 24, 2020 at approximately 5:00 a.m., a Werner Enterprises tractor-trailer was involved in a crash on Interstate 30 in Hopkins County, Texas, killing two children — ages 9 and 7 — and severely injuring family members. Sulphur Springs is the county seat of Hopkins County and lies on the I-30 corridor approximately 80 miles northeast of Dallas. The case was settled in July 2022 for approximately $150 million. Werner’s coverage included a $10 million premium-based excess layer; the balance — approximately $140 million — was paid from Werner’s self-insurance/uninsured retention. This remains the largest publicly-disclosed Werner wrongful-death resolution in the company’s history.

12.1 The fact pattern — Werner’s defense had been STRONG

Per Werner’s own July 28, 2022 corporate disclosures, the fact pattern was highly defense-favorable. A passenger vehicle stopped in the I-30 travel lane at approximately 5:00 a.m. Three adults walked away from the vehicle, leaving two children inside. Shortly thereafter, the Werner truck (traveling below the speed limit) struck the parked vehicle. The two children died in the resulting collision.

The investigating officers placed NO FAULT on Werner or its driver. One of the adults from the passenger vehicle was criminally charged in connection with the deaths of the children. The parents subsequently filed a lawsuit. Werner “disputes the plaintiffs’ allegations but chose to voluntarily resolve this matter by settlement.”

12.2 The settlement strategic insight

Werner paid $150 million to settle a case where the police placed no fault on Werner, the driver was below the speed limit, the passenger vehicle was stopped in a travel lane, and a non-party occupant was criminally charged. This means Werner pays nine figures to dispose of CHILD-FATALITY cases regardless of liability facts. Two-decedent child fatalities + jury venue uncertainty + appellate-reversal-risk avoidance = nine-figure settlement irrespective of police findings.

For Texas families whose children were killed in a Werner-truck crash, the Sulphur Springs settlement is the publicly known example of Werner agreeing to a nine-figure resolution to close out a case rather than try it.

13. The $40.5 Million Armijo v. Werner Enterprises Verdict (New Mexico)

The October 11, 2019 verdict in Armijo v. Werner Enterprises in the First Judicial District Court of Santa Fe County, New Mexico, totaled $40.5 million — $30.5 million in compensatory damages plus $10 million in punitive damages. New Mexico has no statutory cap on punitive damages, so the full verdict stood. The Armijo trial is significant for Texas cases today because it is the clearest example of what the Texas Supreme Court would, six years later, require from every Texas trucking plaintiff in Werner v. Blake: the jury heard a direct connection between a specific Werner-trained driver’s specific conduct in the moments before a fatal crash and the documented training file at Werner’s Roadmaster Drivers School that produced that driver.

13.1 The crash and the driver

The crash occurred at approximately 8:00 p.m. on February 23, 2017, on Interstate 10 west of Las Cruces, New Mexico. Decedent: Kathryn Armijo, age 54. Werner driver: Jose Johnson. The driver was on his 8th day of Werner driving post-Roadmaster Drivers School graduation. The crash was a head-on collision.

13.2 The Roadmaster training-grade facts

Johnson’s Roadmaster grades: C’s in safety, road driving, defensive driving, and angle backing. Required to retake the “Basic” portion TWICE before issued a waiver. Despite documented struggles during coursework and during the exam, Roadmaster graduated Johnson. Werner’s trainer “Perez” was the named instructor. Between February 16 and February 23, 2017, Johnson drove approximately 64% of the time unsupervised. During Johnson’s first four days of Werner driving, neither Johnson nor Perez logged any observation time.

13.3 The jury finding and the strategic implication

The jury found Werner, the driver, and the driver’s instructor all negligent. Roadmaster Drivers School is owned and operated by Werner Enterprises (confirmed in multiple sources). The Armijo template is the post-Blake plaintiff bridge between corporate training conduct and individual driver causal action. Every Werner crash investigation should pull the driver’s Roadmaster training file, identify the trainer, compute the supervised-vs-unsupervised driving hours in the pre-crash window, and build the corporate-policy-to-driver-conduct-to-causation chain on the Armijo model.

14. EEOC v. Drivers Management LLC and Werner Enterprises — $36 Million Federal Jury Verdict

EEOC v. Drivers Management, LLC and Werner Enterprises, No. 8:18-cv-00329 (D. Neb.), produced a jury verdict of $36,075,000 on September 1, 2023, in an Americans with Disabilities Act discrimination case brought on behalf of deaf job applicant Victor Robinson. The 8th Circuit affirmed in EEOC v. Drivers Management, LLC, No. 24-2286 (8th Cir. July 10, 2025). The verdict was $75,000 compensatory plus $36 million punitive. The U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska reduced the jury award to the ADA statutory cap of $300,000 (42 U.S.C. § 1981a(b)(3)(D) — $300,000 for employers with more than 500 employees) plus back pay and prejudgment interest. The 8th Circuit affirmed all of the district court’s decisions.

14.1 The legal and strategic significance

First, the jury found Werner’s stated reason for refusing to hire Robinson — that he could not safely operate a commercial motor vehicle as a deaf driver — pretextual. FMCSA had granted Robinson a hearing exemption, and the verdict establishes that Werner’s facially-neutral safety claim does not defeat ADA disability-discrimination liability when the safety justification is contradicted by federal regulatory grant.

Second, the case names Drivers Management, LLC as the employer-of-record entity alongside Werner Enterprises. Drivers Management, LLC has been consolidated for SEC reporting (it does not appear in Werner’s FY2025 Exhibit 21) but remains a NAMED LEGAL ENTITY in active litigation including this case and the Abarca wage class.

14.2 The federal-court injunction

The injunction requires Werner to report records of deaf applicants to the EEOC every six months for three years and to retain records regarding such applications. That continuing federal oversight remains in the public docket.

15. Abarca v. Werner Enterprises / Drivers Management LLC — $18 Million Wage Class

Abarca v. Werner Enterprises, Inc., Case No. 8:14-cv-00319 (D. Neb.), consolidated with related California actions. The class includes all persons employed by Werner Enterprises and Drivers Management LLC as “qualified drivers” between June 4, 2010 and July 14, 2023, with sub-classes for Nebraska and California. Allegations: failure to pay minimum wage for all hours worked (sleeper-berth, on-duty-not-driving, rest breaks) under the Nebraska Wage Payment and Collection Act and California Labor Code §§ 226.2, 1194. Settlement: $18 million gross. Up to $8.25 million for attorneys’ fees and costs. $15,000 service awards to each of seven named plaintiffs. Final fairness hearing July 24, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. before the U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska. Settlement administrator phone: 1-800-406-7301. Settlement portal: truckerclassaction.com.

Werner’s own Q3 2025 10-Q records the $18 million settlement as a liability in other current liabilities. For any Houston or Texas Werner driver employed during the class period, the Abarca settlement remains the modern FLSA / state-law trucking-wage benchmark.

16. Roadmaster Drivers School — Werner’s CDL Schools in Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, and San Antonio

Many Werner drivers receive their commercial driver’s license training at Roadmaster Drivers School, a CDL training company that Werner owns. The Texas campuses are in Houston (1224 Normandy Street), Dallas (8701 Peterbilt Avenue), Fort Worth (309 Successful Drive), and San Antonio (927 Eddie Road). Roadmaster operates legally as two Werner subsidiaries — American Institute of Trucking, Inc. (Arizona) and Career Path Training Corp. (Florida) — both of which appear on Werner’s most recent SEC filing. Because Werner trains and graduates many of its own drivers, the Roadmaster training file for the driver involved in a crash is often a central record in a Werner case.

16.1 Roadmaster Texas locations

• Houston: 1224 Normandy Street, Houston, TX 77015
• Dallas: 8701 Peterbilt Avenue, Dallas, TX 75241
• Fort Worth: 309 Successful Drive, Fort Worth, TX 76140
• San Antonio: 927 Eddie Road, San Antonio, TX 78219

16.2 Why the Roadmaster training file matters in a Werner case

Roadmaster is Werner-owned. Werner controls the curriculum, the instructors, the road-test scoring, and the decision to graduate or hold back any given student. The 2019 New Mexico jury verdict in Armijo v. Werner Enterprises (see Section 13) was built on the Roadmaster file of the specific driver involved in that crash — the documented C grades, the required retakes of the Basic portion, and the unsupervised driving hours during the driver’s first week behind the wheel. In a Werner case where the driver was Roadmaster-trained, the training file is usually one of the first records the victim’s lawyer asks for.

16.3 The federal training rules

49 C.F.R. Part 380 sets the federal minimum standards for entry-level driver training. 49 C.F.R. Part 383 covers the underlying CDL standards. Whether Roadmaster’s training met or fell below those federal minimums for any specific driver is a fact question that can be tested in litigation, usually with the help of a former FMCSA compliance officer, a CVSA-trained inspector, or another qualified trucking-standards expert.

16.4 What gets subpoenaed

The records typically requested in a Werner case where the driver was Roadmaster-trained include the curriculum in effect during the driver’s training, the road-test scoring rubric, the instructor qualifications, the trainee’s specific test scores, and the certification records. Those records are held by Werner through its Roadmaster subsidiaries.

17. Werner’s $79.2 Million SEC Disclosure + Self-Insured Retention

Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ: WERN) files quarterly and annual SEC reports that contain verbatim corporate admissions usable as plaintiff evidence under Federal Rule of Evidence 801(d)(2) party-opponent admissions. Werner’s FY2024 10-K disclosed a $79.2 million receivable from third-party insurance providers tied to the Blake judgment. Following the Texas Supreme Court reversal on June 27, 2025, Werner’s Q3 2025 10-Q reversed the receivable. Werner’s self-insured retention is $15 million per claim under the policy year beginning August 1, 2024, held flat for the policy year beginning August 1, 2025, up from $10 million per claim under the 2018 Blake-era policy. Werner posted a 2025 net loss of approximately $14.4 million. Werner’s Q1 2026 long-term insurance and claims accruals rose from $112.1 million to $136.8 million in a single quarter — a $24.7 million / +22% jump signaling adverse claim development on the existing case portfolio.

17.1 The $79.2 million Blake receivable

Werner’s FY2024 10-K disclosed verbatim: “As a result of this jury verdict, the Company had recorded a liability of $44.4 million and $39.8 million as of December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively. Under the terms of the Company’s insurance policies, the Company is the primary obligor of the verdict, and as such, the Company has also recorded a $79.2 million receivable from its third-party insurance providers in other non-current assets and a corresponding liability of the same amount in the long-term portion of insurance and claims accruals…”

Following the Texas Supreme Court’s June 27, 2025 reversal, Werner’s Q3 2025 10-Q recorded: “As a result of the June 27, 2025 decision, the Company reversed a $45.7 million liability (including interest) through insurance and claims expense on the statements of income during the three months ended June 30, 2025. In June 2025, the Company also reversed a $79.2 million receivable from its third-party insurance providers from other non-current assets and a corresponding liability of the same amount from the long-term portion of insurance and claims accruals…”

17.2 How Werner’s insurance is structured

Werner’s 2024 Annual Report describes the company’s liability insurance structure in plain terms: Werner pays the first $15 million on every liability claim out of its own pocket, with a $7.5 million annual cap on claims falling between $15 million and $20 million. Werner’s 2025 Annual Report confirms that the $15 million-per-claim figure held flat for the policy year that started August 1, 2025. Under the 2018 policy that was in place at the time of the Blake crash, Werner’s per-claim self-insurance was $10 million. The practical effect: Werner has substantial money of its own at risk on every serious claim before any insurance carrier above the $15 million level pays anything. That structure is what makes a within-policy-limits settlement demand to Werner — a Stowers demand under Texas law — a meaningful tool in serious cases.

17.3 Why Werner’s quarterly insurance numbers matter to victims

Werner reported on its Q3 2025 earnings call (October 30, 2025) that insurance and claims expense for the quarter was up $10.4 million — 37.5% — compared to the same quarter the prior year, driven by adverse developments on new claims unrelated to the Blake case. For the 2024 fiscal year, Werner spent $145.4 million on insurance and claims (4.8% of revenue), compared with $138.5 million in 2023 (4.2% of revenue). In Q1 2026, Werner’s long-term insurance and claims accrual rose from $112.1 million at year-end 2025 to $136.8 million as of March 31, 2026 — a $24.7 million / 22% increase in a single quarter. Those numbers are Werner’s own disclosures of the cost of the claims it is currently facing.

17.4 Werner’s safety reporting structure

Per Werner’s investor-relations disclosures as of May 2026, Werner’s executive team includes Derek J. Leathers (Chairman and Chief Executive Officer), Christopher D. Wikoff (Executive Vice President, Treasurer, and Chief Financial Officer), Eric J. Downing (Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer), Nathan J. Meisgeier (President and Chief Legal Officer), and Daragh P. Mahon (Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer). Mr. Meisgeier oversees Legal, Safety, Risk, Human Resources, and Government Affairs. Werner does not have a dedicated Chief Safety Officer at the C-suite level — the safety function reports up through the General Counsel.

17.5 Werner’s public statements about its own safety

Werner’s 4th annual Corporate Sustainability Report (November 2024) makes a number of public claims about the company’s safety record:

• “Relentless focus on safety” as a stated core ESG social goal
• A 2.5-million-training-hour commitment (27% achieved as of the report)
• “World-class training programs” (also stated in Werner’s 10-K)
• “Nearly all of our company-owned trucks have collision-mitigation safety systems, automated manual transmissions, and forward-facing cameras”
• “2024 — 20-year record lows in DOT preventable accidents per million miles, trailing only 2023”

Werner’s public claims about its own safety record are part of the picture in any Werner case where the specific facts of the crash differ from the picture Werner paints publicly.

17.7 Werner’s FMCSA Safety Rating — origin August 8, 1995; reviewed November 15, 2024

Per FMCSA SAFER snapshot for USDOT 53467 (retrieved May 13, 2026): the original rating dates to August 8, 1995 — over 30 years old. The most recent FMCSA review was November 15, 2024, which left the rating in place as “Satisfactory” (Type: Non-Ratable) despite the Blake verdict, Sulphur Springs settlement, Armijo verdict, and EEOC verdict all occurring during the intervening period. The 24-month inspection data (through 5/13/2026): 10,876 total inspections; vehicle OOS rate 20.1% vs national 22.26%; driver OOS rate 0.8% vs national 6.67%; hazmat OOS rate 1.9% vs national 4.44%. The 24-month crash data: 15 fatal, 218 injury, 484 tow, 717 total crashes.

18. FirstFleet, Inc. — Werner’s $282.8 Million January 27, 2026 Acquisition + 38-Year Successor-Liability Tail

Werner Enterprises acquired FirstFleet, Inc. on January 27, 2026 for approximately $282.8 million total ($245 million operating company all-cash + $37.8 million for 11 real estate properties). The acquisition added approximately 2,400 tractors to Werner’s Dedicated fleet, making Werner the fifth-largest Dedicated carrier in the United States. FirstFleet has operated continuously under USDOT #313891 since April 22, 1988 — 38 years of pre-acquisition operational tail that now attaches to Werner under Washington product-line successor doctrine (Hall v. Armstrong Cork, 692 P.2d 787 (Wash. 1984)) and parallel Tennessee successor-liability law. FirstFleet operates from approximately 130 customer sites and 37 properties nationwide, with annual revenue of $615 million pre-acquisition. The fleet: 2,972 trucks; 3,076 tractors owned; 11,683 trailers owned; 3,261 drivers. Industries served: grocery, bakery goods, and corrugated packaging. Customer-relationship structure: multi-year contracts with 17-year average tenure among top 10 customers.

18.1 FirstFleet corporate identity

• Legal name: FIRSTFLEET, INC.
• USDOT: 313891
• Motor Carrier authority: MC-193678
• SCAC: FFTI
• Headquarters: 202 Heritage Park Drive, Murfreesboro, TN 37129 (corporate); 1620 Gateway Boulevard, Murfreesboro, TN 37129 (operational)
• Phone: (800) 819-0905
• In business since: April 22, 1988
• Carrier operation: Interstate
• Hazardous materials: NO
• Primary auto-liability insurance: Discover Property & Casualty Insurance Co. (Hartford, CT — a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Travelers Companies, Inc., NYSE: TRV); Policy D004A00335; $1,000,000 BIPD/Primary effective April 1, 2009 through current
• Cargo insurance: Lexington Insurance Company (Boston MA — AIG subsidiary)
• Labor & employment defense counsel: Littler Mendelson, P.C. (Stevens, C., Nashville office, 333 Commerce St Ste 1450, (615) 383-3316)

18.2 FirstFleet FMCSA SMS BASICs — the Vehicle Maintenance hook

FMCSA SMS BASICs for FirstFleet as of May 2026 (24-month rolling window):

• Total inspections: 2,166
• Driver inspections: 2,164 (13 with OOS violation = 0.6% driver OOS rate)
• Vehicle inspections: 868 (183 with OOS violation = 21.1% vehicle OOS rate)
• Unsafe Driving BASIC: 269 violations; roadside performance .86; no Acute/Critical
• HOS Compliance BASIC: 60 violations; .09; no Acute/Critical
• Truck Driver Fitness BASIC: 14 violations; .05; no Acute/Critical
• Controlled Substances and Alcohol BASIC: 0 violations
• Vehicle Maintenance BASIC: 298 violations; roadside performance 3.08 (HIGH severity); no Acute/Critical

The Vehicle Maintenance BASIC roadside performance score of 3.08 is a documented FMCSA finding that FirstFleet’s vehicle-maintenance program shows measurable deficiencies in the federal data. The Vehicle Maintenance BASIC covers brake systems, tires, lighting, steering, suspension, body integrity, frame, exhaust, fuel systems, and cargo securement — each one a system whose failure can directly cause a crash.

18.3 FirstFleet 38-year continuous operating tail

Werner acquired FirstFleet 38 years into its USDOT 313891 operating history. Every pre-acquisition crash, every settled case, every OSHA / TOSHA citation, every EEOC charge, every NLRB filing through January 27, 2026 attaches to Werner via successor liability. The QuickTSI crash archive for USDOT 313891 spans 129 pages — approximately 1,290 historical reportable crashes. Page 1 of that archive (the most recent four months, Jan 3 – Apr 29, 2026) shows 10 reportable crashes including two Texas crashes (Forest Hill, Tarrant County, March 26, 2026; Fort Worth, Tarrant County, March 21, 2026) and one NONCOLLISION:EXPLOSION OR FIRE event (Asheville, NC, January 3, 2026).

18.4 FirstFleet’s 105-location continental U.S. footprint

Per the NTSB Motor Carrier Group Chairman’s Factual Report for the Banner case (HWY19FH008), FirstFleet has “105 locations throughout the continental United States.” Combined with the post-acquisition 130-customer-site framework and 37 properties, FirstFleet operates in nearly every U.S. region — concentrated in Tennessee (HQ), Texas (Forest Hill, Fort Worth, Waxahachie), Indiana (Bluffton — primary vehicle registration state), Ohio (Delaware), and the corridor states connecting major grocery + bakery + corrugated packaging customers.

18.5 FirstFleet labor-relations case in Waxahachie, Texas

National Labor Relations Board Case 16-CA-301538 against FirstFleet, Inc. was filed in August 2022 at FirstFleet’s Waxahachie, Texas facility (Ellis County), alleging that FirstFleet had disciplined an employee in retaliation for protected activity and had questioned employees about union-related activity, in violation of Sections 8(a)(1) and 8(a)(3) of the National Labor Relations Act. FirstFleet was represented by Littler Mendelson, P.C. (Nashville office). After approximately 20 months of NLRB investigation, the charging party withdrew the charge and the NLRB closed the case on April 15, 2024 without ever ruling on whether the allegations were true. The case is part of the publicly available FirstFleet labor-relations record and confirms a third FirstFleet operational location in Texas (in addition to Forest Hill and Fort Worth, both in Tarrant County).

18.6 FirstFleet’s own employee handbook on driver discipline after a fatal crash

FirstFleet’s Employee Handbook — which the NTSB pulled into the official Banner-crash investigation record as Motor Carrier Attachment ID 8890398 — lists 17 specific offenses that, under FirstFleet’s own written policy, lead to immediate termination of a FirstFleet driver. Item 10 of that list reads: “An accident involving serious property damage, bodily injury, or fatality.” Item 9 reads: “Non-compliance with DOT or state laws and regulations.” Item 14 reads: “Gross negligence.” Item 12 reads: “Conviction of a reckless or careless driving charge.”

The Banner crash (see Section 19) involved a fatality. Under FirstFleet’s own written rule, the FirstFleet driver involved in that crash was an immediate-termination employee. Whether the company actually terminated him after the crash is a record that comes out in litigation. Either result is informative: terminating the driver is the company recognizing that what happened met its own threshold; not terminating the driver is the company declining to apply its own rule.

19. Banner v. Tesla and FirstFleet — The Fatal Delray Beach Crash and the NTSB Investigation

On March 1, 2019 at 6:17 a.m. eastern standard time, a 2018 Tesla Model 3 driven by 50-year-old Jeremy Banner of Lake Worth Beach, Florida was traveling southbound in the right lane of the 14000 block of US Highway 441 (State Road 7) in Delray Beach, Palm Beach County, Florida at 69 mph in a 55-mph zone. A 2019 International truck-tractor in combination with a semitrailer, operated by FirstFleet, Inc., was traveling eastbound on a private driveway/access road belonging to Pero Farms LLC at 14095 US 441. The FirstFleet driver entered the highway WITHOUT STOPPING — NTSB’s primary-source language — slowed down for an approaching northbound vehicle, and was subsequently struck by the Tesla. Banner was killed instantly. The 45-year-old male FirstFleet driver was not injured. The NTSB determined the probable cause was the FirstFleet driver’s failure to yield right of way, combined with the Tesla driver’s overreliance on Autopilot. NTSB Accident No. HWY19FH008. The case proceeds in Palm Beach County Circuit Court before Hon. Reid Scott; Florida Fourth District Court of Appeal ruled Tesla cannot face punitive damages but FirstFleet’s liability remains live. Werner inherits this entire exposure under successor liability post-January 27, 2026.

19.1 NTSB Crash Summary Report — primary-source verbatim

From NTSB Crash Summary Report (Docket ID 8179524) verbatim: “The combination vehicle entered the highway without stopping, slowed down for an approaching northbound vehicle and was subsequently struck by the southbound Tesla. The Tesla under-rode the semi-trailer, shearing off its roof and continued south for approximately 1600 feet before coming to a stop in the median.”

The “entered the highway without stopping” language is the National Transportation Safety Board’s direct, primary-source description of what the FirstFleet driver did in the moment leading up to a fatal crash. As a federal investigative finding, it is admissible in the civil case arising from the crash.

19.2 NTSB Probable Cause Finding

The NTSB determined the probable cause: “the truck driver’s failure to yield the right of way to the car, combined with the car driver’s inattention due to overreliance on automation, which resulted in his failure to react to the presence of the truck. Contributing to the crash was the operational design of Tesla’s partial automation system, which permitted disengagement by the driver, and the company’s failure to limit the use of the system to the conditions for which it was designed.”

The NTSB listed the FirstFleet driver’s failure to yield as the first-named cause. NTSB highway-crash investigation findings are admissible as evidence in civil lawsuits arising from the crash.

19.3 The lawsuit — current status

Caption: Kim Banner, as Personal Representative of the Estate of Jeremy Banner, v. Tesla, Inc., et al. Circuit Court of the 15th Judicial Circuit in and for Palm Beach County, Florida. Trial judge: Hon. Reid Scott.

Defendants named: Tesla Inc., the FirstFleet truck driver (individually), and FirstFleet, Inc.

Trial court status (Hon. Reid Scott): Tesla’s MSJ denied. Punitive damages against Tesla authorized at trial-court level.

Appellate court status (FL 4th DCA): Tesla’s appeal of punitive-damages availability succeeded. The three-judge panel found Tesla’s Autopilot features were “state-of-the-art and complied with all industry and regulatory standards.” Tesla cannot face punitive damages.

FirstFleet’s defense remains live. The Tesla appellate-shielded position does NOT extend to FirstFleet. Florida punitive damages (Fla. Stat. § 768.73 — greater of 3× compensatory or $500K; uncapped for specific intent or DUI; enhanced 4×/$2M for financial-gain conduct) remain available against FirstFleet.

19.4 NTSB-interviewed FirstFleet executives

The NTSB Motor Carrier Group Chairman’s Factual Report records interviews with FirstFleet executives:

• John Hellige — CFO/Vice President, FirstFleet
• Debra Houston — Director of Risk Management, FirstFleet

These are the documented FirstFleet executive contacts on record with NTSB. They are deposition targets in any subsequent FirstFleet litigation.

19.5 What Werner’s acquisition of FirstFleet means for the Banner case and future FirstFleet cases

Werner closed its acquisition of FirstFleet on January 27, 2026 — nearly seven years after the Banner crash. The Banner case was already filed and active before the acquisition. Under successor-liability law, Werner now stands behind FirstFleet for the same exposure FirstFleet had on the day before the acquisition closed. The Banner case continues. Several elements of the Banner record carry over to any future FirstFleet case anywhere in the country:

• The NTSB’s federal-investigation finding that the FirstFleet driver was the primary cause of the crash
• The specific driver conduct identified by the NTSB — entering an active highway from a controlled driveway without coming to a stop
• The fatal-injury outcome and the widow plaintiff’s standing under Florida’s wrongful-death statute (Fla. Stat. § 768.21)
• The presence of Tesla as a co-defendant, which substantially extends the litigation and the available recovery sources
• The general rule that NTSB highway-crash findings come into evidence at trial

20. The Werner + FirstFleet Data Trails — Platform Science, Samsara, Bendix, Detroit Diesel

Every Werner tractor and every Werner driver generates digital evidence across multiple integrated systems. Most of that evidence is subpoena-able. Some of it overwrites within hours of the next operational cycle. Werner is on Samsara’s 2026 North America Customer Advisory Board (alongside DHL Express, Old Dominion Freight Line, XPO, Sysco, Republic Services), and Werner’s “Cloud First, Cloud Now” strategy suggests consolidation toward Samsara as primary telematics platform — though Werner’s specific Samsara retention configuration is not publicly disclosed. FirstFleet operates with its own pre-acquisition telematics stack (vendor specifics not publicly disclosed in retrieved sources). Same-day spoliation letters to all data-holding vendors are essential within 24 hours of the crash.

20.1 ELD and Workflow — Platform Science

• Vendor: Platform Science, Inc., 10182 Telesis Court, Suite 200, San Diego, CA 92121
• Werner transition: From Omnitracs to Platform Science circa 2019–2020 (FMCSA granted temporary exemption during cutover)
• Federal regulation: 49 C.F.R. § 395.8 (RODS); §§ 395.20-.38 (ELD rule); § 395.11 (supporting documents)
• Retention: 6 months for ELD records of duty status under § 395.8(k)(1); 6 months for supporting documents under § 395.11
• Current status: Werner’s post-2024 Samsara consolidation may have absorbed Platform Science functions; specific Werner-current ELD platform is a discoverable subpoena target

20.2 AI Dashcam — Samsara

• Vendor: Samsara Inc., 1 De Haro Street, San Francisco, CA 94107
• Werner deployment: Samsara replaced Werner’s prior event-only dashcam system fleet-wide. Werner credits Samsara with a 22% reduction in accident rate in 2023 and a 19-year low in DOT preventable accidents per million miles
• Werner status: On Samsara’s 2026 NA Customer Advisory Board
• Capabilities: Continuous HD forward-facing + cab-facing video; AI event detection (following distance, harsh braking, distracted driving, lane drift, stop-sign violation, mobile-phone use); gated cellular upload
• Retention: Samsara publicly configurable retention options are 28 / 30 / 45 days or 4 years. Werner’s specific retention configuration is not publicly disclosed and requires litigation discovery
• Why this matters: The 8-to-30 seconds of dashcam footage from immediately before the crash is usually the single most informative piece of evidence about what actually happened

20.3 Collision Mitigation — Bendix Wingman Fusion + Detroit Assurance + Meritor OnGuard

• Vendor: Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems LLC, 901 Cleveland Street, Elyria, OH 44035
• Werner deployment: Per Werner’s 2019 disclosure, “almost every Werner tractor is equipped with a Collision Mitigation System from Detroit, Bendix or Meritor”; “all Werner tractors are equipped with a Lane Departure Warning system.” 2019 disclosure: 3,675+ tractors with forward-facing cameras feeding Bendix SafetyDirect
• Retention: Bendix SafetyDirect cloud — typically 12 months active per industry norm; Werner-specific retention not publicly disclosed
• Federal regulation: Pending NHTSA FMVSS 136 heavy-vehicle AEB rule (July 6, 2023 NPRM; no Supplemental NPRM published as of May 2026; no final rule)

20.4 Engine Control Module — Detroit Diesel DDEC + Cummins INSITE

• Detroit Diesel: Daimler Truck North America, 13400 Outer Drive West, Detroit, MI 48239 (DD13/DD15 engines in Freightliner Cascadia — Werner’s dominant tractor)
• Cummins: X15 engines on smaller Werner subfleet
• Capabilities: “Last-stop” data approximately 30 seconds pre-event (speed, throttle %, brake, RPM, cruise on/off, clutch). Hard-brake snapshot and sudden-deceleration triggers
• Retention: VOLATILE — data overwritten on subsequent events. Must preserve within hours via on-site DDDL (Detroit Diesel Diagnostic Link) download or Cummins INSITE pull
• Federal regulation: 49 C.F.R. § 390.5 (vehicle records); FRCP 37(e) (spoliation)

20.5 Roadmaster Drivers School training file

For any Werner-trained driver, the Roadmaster training file is one of the most important records in the case. The documents typically requested include the curriculum that was in effect during the driver’s training, the road-test scoring rubric, the instructor sign-offs, the trainee’s specific test scores, and the certification records. The governing federal regulation is 49 C.F.R. Part 380 (Entry-Level Driver Training).

20.6 Driver Qualification File

• Federal requirement: 49 C.F.R. § 391.51 — DQF retained while employed plus 3 years
• Contents: Application; 3-year MVR; road test; annual MVR review; medical examiner certificate; drug/alcohol testing records under 49 C.F.R. § 382.401 (5 years for positives, refusals, post-accident; 1 year for negatives)

21. The Evidence-Preservation Letter Sent the Same Day

Within 24 to 48 hours of a Werner or FirstFleet crash, a formal letter goes out to everyone who holds evidence that could disappear: Werner Corporate Legal in Omaha (14507 Frontier Road, Omaha, NE 68138), FirstFleet headquarters in Murfreesboro (202 Heritage Park Drive, Murfreesboro, TN 37129), Platform Science in San Diego, Samsara in San Francisco, Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems LLC in Elyria, Ohio, Daimler Truck North America (the Detroit Diesel Diagnostic Records Department), and FirstFleet’s insurance carrier Discover Property & Casualty Insurance Co. in Hartford. The letter puts each recipient on formal notice that specific categories of data must be preserved. Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37(e), a court can instruct the jury to draw an adverse inference if a defendant later loses electronically stored information after having been put on notice. The Texas Supreme Court’s ruling in Brookshire Brothers, Ltd. v. Aldridge, 438 S.W.3d 9 (Tex. 2014), sets out the Texas standard for the same kind of jury instruction.

21.1 The 15 preservation categories

The spoliation letter demands preservation of the following for the period 30 days pre-incident through 7 days post-incident:

1. The subject Werner / FirstFleet tractor and trailer (VIN specified) in post-incident condition at neutral secured facility with full chain of custody
2. All Engine Control Module data — last-stop record, hard-brake events, diagnostic codes, trip data
3. All Samsara AI Dash Cam triggered video, continuous-recording video, audio recordings, G-force telemetry, coaching event records — including events marked reviewed/coached/dismissed
4. All Bendix Wingman Fusion / SafetyDirect telemetry — FCW, AEB interventions, Lane Departure events, following-distance violations
5. All Platform Science (or Samsara) ELD Records of Duty Status, edit history, unassigned-driver records, and 49 C.F.R. § 395.11 supporting documents (toll, fuel, dispatch, payroll) for 6 months preceding incident
6. All PS Workflow data — dispatch logs, navigation routes, back-office annotations
7. Driver Qualification File per 49 C.F.R. § 391.51
8. Roadmaster Drivers School training file
9. All training records for driver and any supervising trainer
10. All DVIRs for the subject vehicle for 3 months preceding the incident per 49 C.F.R. § 396.11
11. Most recent Annual Periodic Inspection per 49 C.F.R. § 396.17
12. All maintenance work orders for 24 months preceding the incident
13. All dispatch records, supervisor messaging (email, Slack, SMS), shift logs for 30 days preceding the incident
14. All prior incident reports for driver and supervisor for 5 years preceding the incident
15. All cell-phone records for driver and supervisors for 30 days preceding the incident, subject to subpoena under Stored Communications Act, 18 U.S.C. § 2703

21.2 Send timing

Send the letter within 24 hours of the call. Confirm receipt. Document the date of demand. Adverse-inference becomes live the moment preservation is demanded — and any subsequent loss of evidence creates a permanent jury-instruction lever.

22. Forensic Engineering and Crash Physics

This is the engineering and physics arsenal that the post-Blake Texas plaintiff needs to build the driver-conduct proximate-cause record at the seconds-before-impact level. Driver perception-reaction time at highway speed, full stopping-distance kinematics for fully-loaded Class-8 at 55-75 mph dry/wet/ice, kinetic energy at impact, hours-of-service framework, cargo securement, Bendix Wingman Fusion alert hierarchy, trailer underride FMVSS 223/224, ice and adverse weather per 49 C.F.R. § 392.14 (the Blake-specific hook), and fatigue science. Each section feeds the plaintiff expert’s report and the cross-examination of the defense reconstruction expert.

22.1 Driver Perception-Reaction Time at Highway Speed

Olson & Sivak (1986), Perception-Response Time to Unexpected Roadway Hazards, 28 Human Factors 91 — the foundational study. 50th-percentile total PRT for younger subjects approximately 1.1 seconds; 95th-percentile approximately 1.6 seconds. Industry-standard 1.5-second perception + 0.5-second reaction = 2.0 seconds total. AASHTO Green Book design value: 2.5 seconds — exceeds the 90th percentile and is the floor for a professional CDL operator. AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety (Strayer et al., 2013) shows hands-free cognitive load extends reaction time to lead-vehicle braking.

22.2 Stopping-Distance Kinematics for Fully-Loaded Class-8

Total stopping distance = (PRT × v) + d_brake, where d_brake = v² / (2 μ g) and g = 32.2 ft/s². Using PRT = 1.5 seconds, μ_dry ≈ 0.7, μ_wet ≈ 0.3, μ_ice ≈ 0.15:

• 55 mph (80.7 ft/s): PRT distance 121 ft; brake distance dry 144 ft / wet 337 ft / ice 674 ft; total dry 265 ft / wet 458 ft / ice 795 ft
• 60 mph (88.0 ft/s): PRT 132 ft; brake dry 172 / wet 401 / ice 802; total dry 304 / wet 533 / ice 934 ft
• 65 mph (95.3 ft/s): PRT 143 ft; brake dry 201 / wet 470 / ice 940; total dry 344 / wet 613 / ice 1,083 ft
• 70 mph (102.7 ft/s): PRT 154 ft; brake dry 234 / wet 545 / ice 1,091; total dry 388 / wet 699 / ice 1,245 ft
• 75 mph (110.0 ft/s): PRT 165 ft; brake dry 268 / wet 626 / ice 1,251; total dry 433 / wet 791 / ice 1,416 ft

FMVSS 121 (49 C.F.R. § 571.121) at 74 FR 37122 (July 27, 2009) requires loaded three-axle tractors ≤ 70,000 lb GVWR to stop from 60 mph in 250 ft — a 30% reduction from the prior 355-ft standard.

22.3 Kinetic Energy at Highway Speed (80,000 lb GVW)

KE = ½ m v². m = 80,000 lb × 0.4536 kg/lb = 36,287 kg.

• 55 mph (24.6 m/s): KE = 10.97 MJ
• 60 mph (26.8 m/s): KE = 13.04 MJ
• 65 mph (29.1 m/s): KE = 15.34 MJ
• 70 mph (31.3 m/s): KE = 17.79 MJ
• 75 mph (33.5 m/s): KE = 20.39 MJ

Scale: 1 kg of TNT yields approximately 4.184 MJ. A loaded Class-8 at 65 mph carries the energy equivalent of approximately 3.7 kg of TNT.

22.4 Hours of Service Framework — 49 C.F.R. Part 395

• § 395.3(a)(2): 11-hour driving maximum following 10 consecutive hours off duty
• § 395.3(a)(3)(i): 14-hour duty-period limit
• § 395.3(a)(3)(ii): 30-minute break required after 8 cumulative hours driving without 30-minute interruption
• § 395.3(b): 60 hours/7 days OR 70 hours/8 days cumulative
• § 395.3(c): 34-hour restart
• § 395.1(g): split-sleeper-berth 7/3 or 8/2 splits
• § 395.1(b)(1): adverse-conditions exception
• § 395.1(k): Texas intrastate variations

22.5 Bendix Wingman Fusion Alert Hierarchy

Integration: 77-GHz forward radar + Mobileye camera + EC-80 ABS controller. Escalating alert hierarchy:

1. Following-distance alert (audible/visual when headway < ~2.8s and driver inattentive)
2. Impact alert (~3.5s TTC)
3. Collision-mitigation braking — first dethrottle, then up to 50% deceleration (~0.3g) for ACB engagement
4. Full service-brake application (up to ~0.7g) for AEB when collision imminent (~1.4s TTC)
5. Multi-lane AEB continues braking if driver steers into adjacent lane and new threat detected

22.6 Trailer Underride — FMVSS 223/224

• FMVSS 223 (49 C.F.R. § 571.223): rear-impact guard strength + energy-absorption
• FMVSS 224 (49 C.F.R. § 571.224): installation on trailers/semitrailers ≥ 10,000 lb GVWR
• July 15, 2022 final rule (87 FR 42214): upgraded survivable rear-underride at 35 mph for 50-100% overlap with compact/subcompact passenger cars
• June 27, 2024 final rule (89 FR 53686): periodic inspection requirements
• Side underride: ANPRM at 88 FR 24535 (April 21, 2023); no final rule as of May 2026

22.7 Ice / Adverse Weather — 49 C.F.R. § 392.14 (the Blake-specific hook)

Verbatim regulation: “Extreme caution in the operation of a commercial motor vehicle shall be exercised when hazardous conditions, such as those caused by snow, ice, sleet, fog, mist, rain, dust, or smoke, adversely affect visibility or traction. Speed shall be reduced when such conditions exist. If conditions become sufficiently dangerous, the operation of the commercial motor vehicle shall be discontinued and shall not be resumed until the commercial motor vehicle can be safely operated.”

This is the centerpiece adverse-conditions hook for Texas ice-storm cases like Blake. Werner publishes a Winter Driving Playbook on its driver portal acknowledging that black-ice conditions warrant shutdown — that publication becomes Exhibit A under any “violation of own policy” theory.

22.8 Fatigue Science

The FMCSA Large Truck Crash Causation Study (DOT FMCSA-RRA-07-017, March 2006) coded 13% of crash-involved truck drivers as fatigued, with associated relative risk of 8.0. Foundational science: Dinges et al., 20 Sleep 267 (1997); Van Dongen, Maislin, Mullington & Dinges, 26 Sleep 117 (2003). Circadian nadir 0200-0600 produces approximately 2× crash-rate increase. Microsleeps (3-15 second involuntary lapses) documented in FMCSA Driver Fatigue and Alertness Study (Wylie et al., 1996).

22.9 FMVSS 136 — Heavy Vehicle Automatic Emergency Braking (current status)

NHTSA NPRM at 88 FR 43174 (July 6, 2023). The compliance timeline runs from “the first September 1 that is three (or four) years after the date of publication of the final rule.” No final rule has been published as of May 28, 2026. No December 2025 Supplemental NPRM was published. The plaintiff argument when a Werner truck has voluntary AEB but it didn’t prevent the crash: pre-existing voluntary deployment shows the technology was reasonably available.

23. Medical and Life-Care Planning Depth

The Blake case involved a quadriplegic adolescent (Brianna), a pediatric TBI (Nathan), and a 7-year-old fatality (Zachery). The Banner case involved a 50-year-old male decedent. The Sulphur Springs case involved two child fatalities (ages 9 and 7). The Armijo case involved an adult decedent. Each Werner catastrophic-injury case requires a medical + life-care planning framework specific to the injury type. Texas Children’s Hospital TBI Clinic (Houston) is the regional pediatric TBI center; Memorial Hermann-Texas Trauma Institute (Houston) is the regional Level 1 trauma center; Harris Health Ben Taub General Hospital (Houston) is the regional safety-net Level 1 trauma center. Houston-area families access these regional resources through the firm’s Houston intake protocols.

23.1 Traumatic Brain Injury Mechanisms

Primary brain injury = mechanical forces at impact (contusion, laceration, hemorrhage, diffuse axonal injury). Secondary injury = downstream cascade (edema, hematoma expansion, raised ICP, impaired cerebral autoregulation, inflammation, BBB breakdown, oxidative stress, excitotoxicity, neuronal apoptosis) unfolding over hours to days — often preventable with neurocritical care.

Diffuse axonal injury (DAI): inertial forces cause tissue deformation exceeding axonal tolerance. Axonal stretching triggers axolemmal disruption, neurofilament compaction, microtubule disassembly, ion flux, swelling, disconnection. Injury concentrates at gray-white junction, corpus callosum, dorsolateral brainstem. DAI is often invisible on initial CT; susceptibility-weighted MRI and DTI are required to detect microhemorrhages and white-matter tract disruption.

Classification: GCS mild 13-15, moderate 9-12, severe 3-8 (score ≤8 = coma). NIH-NINDS 2024 TBI Classification and Nomenclature Initiative introduced the four-pillar CBI-M framework: Clinical (GCS subscales, pupillary reactivity), Biomarker (blood-based), Imaging (pathoanatomical), Modifiers.

23.2 Cervical Spinal Cord Injury — ASIA Impairment Scale

Cervical cord = 8 segments (C1-C8). C3-C5 supplies the phrenic nerve (diaphragm); injuries above C4 typically render the patient ventilator-dependent. ASIA Impairment Scale: A = complete; B = sensory incomplete; C = motor incomplete (majority below NLI grade <3); D = motor incomplete (majority ≥3); E = normal.

Incomplete syndromes: central cord (most common; upper-extremity weakness > lower-extremity); Brown-Séquard (hemicord; best ambulatory prognosis); anterior cord (poor prognosis).

23.3 Pediatric TBI Pathophysiology

Immature brain differential vulnerability: incomplete myelination, higher water content, larger head-to-body ratio, thinner cranial vault, ongoing synaptic pruning. “Growing-into-deficit” trajectory: complex skills (executive function, social cognition, abstract reasoning) that have not yet emerged at injury may never develop normally. Nationwide cohort studies confirm pediatric TBI predicts premature mortality, psychiatric hospitalization, disability pension, welfare receipt, and low educational attainment. WeeFIM is the gold standard for pediatric functional rehabilitation outcomes.

23.4 NSCISC 2024 Lifetime SCI Cost Framework

• High tetraplegia (C1-C4): first year approximately $1,149,629; each subsequent year approximately $199,637
• Low tetraplegia (C5-C8): first year approximately $769,000; subsequent years approximately $113,000
• Lifetime cost at age 25: motor-incomplete $2.1–3.2M+; sensory-only-preserved $3.9–4.7M+; complete (no motor or sensory) $5.1–5.4M+
• Indirect costs (lost wages, fringe benefits, productivity): averaged $92,578 per year in 2023 dollars

A 12-year-old C4 quadriplegic with ventilator dependence commonly projects to $6M+ over the lifespan on attendant care and respiratory support alone. Brianna Blake’s $68.2M individual award reflects this lifetime-care reality.

23.5 Life-Care Planning Methodology (IALCP Standards)

Standards: International Academy of Life Care Planners (IALCP) Standards of Practice, 4th ed. (2022). Certification: Certified Life Care Planner (CLCP) credential issued by International Commission on Health Care Certification (ICHCC). Categories included: projected evaluations, therapeutic modalities, diagnostic testing, wheelchair needs and accessories, aids for independent function, orthotics/prosthetics, home furnishings, drug and supply needs, home/facility care, routine future medical care, transportation, health/strength maintenance, architectural renovations, potential complications, surgical intervention, orthopedic equipment, vocational/educational plan.

23.6 PEEDS-RAPEL pediatric vocational rehabilitation

For a 12-year-old plaintiff with no work history: PEEDS-RAPEL methodology (Parental occupation; Educational attainment; Educational level proposed; Developmental status / Rehabilitation plan; Status / Rehabilitation; Access to labor market; Placeability; Earnings capacity; Labor force participation). Vocational expert builds probability distribution of expected educational attainment using family socioeconomic background, sibling outcomes, and pre-injury academic/cognitive trajectory.

23.7 Survivor Guilt and Secondary Family Trauma

DSM-5-TR PTSD criteria: Criterion A trauma exposure + intrusion, avoidance, negative alterations in cognitions/mood, arousal/reactivity, lasting more than 1 month with functional impairment. Prolonged Grief Disorder (PGD): new DSM-5-TR diagnosis. ICD-11 Complex PTSD: three PTSD clusters + three disturbances of self-organization. Each diagnosis is admissible evidence for surviving family members in wrongful-death cases.

24. Multi-State Werner Footprint — 48 States Plus DC

Werner Enterprises operates across all 48 contiguous states. FirstFleet adds roughly 105 customer-site locations and 37 properties to Werner’s national footprint. Each state has its own rules on damages caps, insurance bad faith, CDL disqualification, anti-indemnity, evidence preservation, workers’ compensation, and wrongful death — and those rules control how a Werner case proceeds outside of Texas. Houston is the firm’s home venue (see Section 10). The states below come up most often because of how their damage-cap or bad-faith rules interact with serious trucking cases.

24.1 States outside Texas where damages caps are weakest in serious trucking cases

1. Arizona — Arizona’s state constitution (article II, section 31) prohibits damage caps. Werner operates one of its Roadmaster subsidiaries (American Institute of Trucking, Inc.) under Arizona law.
2. New Mexico — No statutory cap on punitive damages. This is the framework that produced the $40.5 million Armijo verdict against Werner in Santa Fe.
3. Pennsylvania — 42 Pa. C.S. § 8371 allows successful insurance-bad-faith plaintiffs to recover interest at prime plus 3%, attorneys’ fees, and punitive damages.
4. Tennessee — Tennessee’s statutory cap on punitive and noneconomic damages (T.C.A. § 29-39-104) was held unconstitutional in federal court in Lindenberg v. Jackson National Life Insurance Co., meaning federal-court plaintiffs in Tennessee effectively are not subject to the cap. FirstFleet is headquartered in Tennessee.
5. Missouri — Missouri’s punitive-damages cap (Mo. Rev. Stat. § 510.265) was held unconstitutional as applied to common-law claims in Lewellen v. Franklin, meaning common-law claims in Missouri are effectively uncapped.

24.2 Werner subsidiary states (FY2025 Exhibit 21)

Werner’s FY2025 Exhibit 21 lists 21 subsidiaries across multiple jurisdictions: Delaware (Gra-Gar LLC, Werner Receivables Company LLC, ECM Associated LLC), Nebraska (Werner Management, Fleet Truck Sales, Werner Global Logistics, Werner Transportation, Werner Global Logistics U.S., WECC, CG&G, CG&G II, Werner Leasing), Arizona (American Institute of Trucking — Roadmaster), Florida (Career Path Training Corp. — Roadmaster), Connecticut (NEHDS Logistics), Indiana (Fab9), Mexico (Werner de Mexico, Werner Leasing de Mexico, Werner Global Logistics Mexico), Canada (Werner Enterprises Canada), Barbados (Werner Global Logistics Barbados). FirstFleet, Inc. (Tennessee) is the post-FY2025 January 27, 2026 acquisition not yet in Exhibit 21.

24.3 Top federal district courts for Werner filings

1. D. Nebraska (Omaha) — Werner’s home forum; Robinson EEOC, Abarca, Petrone
2. S.D. Texas (Houston) — the primary Texas trucking-litigation federal venue
3. N.D. Texas (Dallas)
4. W.D. Texas (Odessa/Midland)
5. E.D. Texas (Marshall/Tyler)
6. C.D. California (Fontana terminal)
7. N.D. Illinois (Chicago)
8. M.D. Florida (Jacksonville/Lake City)
9. N.D. Georgia (Atlanta)
10. D. New Mexico (Armijo federal-removed actions)
11. M.D. Tennessee (Nashville) — FirstFleet HQ jurisdiction post-acquisition

24.4 State-by-state framework

For every U.S. state and DC, the framework includes punitive-damages cap, bad-faith framework, CDL DQ rule, anti-indemnity (motor carrier), spoliation doctrine, workers’ compensation framework, and wrongful-death statute. Texas is covered in detail in Sections 6-10 above. Other-state detail (48 states + DC) is documented in the firm’s internal Werner brainstorm. Any non-Texas plaintiff should contact our Houston office for state-specific guidance and local-counsel coordination via pro hac vice admission.

25. Werner’s Aurora Autonomous Trucking Partnership

Werner Enterprises has been in an active partnership with Aurora Innovation, Inc. since April 2022 on autonomous Class-8 freight. Per Aurora Innovation’s Q4 2025 and Q1 2026 shareholder letters, Werner is named as a commercial-revenue partner alongside FedEx, Schneider, Hirschbach, and Uber Freight. Aurora generated $3 million in commercial revenue in 2025. Aurora now operates 12 distinct driverless routes including Dallas-Houston, Fort Worth-El Paso, El Paso-Phoenix, Fort Worth-Phoenix, and Laredo-Dallas — directly traversing major Texas corridors where Werner runs heavy freight. Aurora has surpassed 100,000 driverless miles on public roads and plans hundreds of driverless trucks with next-generation Aurora Driver hardware in 2026.

25.1 Werner-branded autonomous-vehicle crash — legal liability framework

1. Motor carrier operational liability (Werner) — non-delegable duties under FMCSA regulations remain on Werner regardless of AI provider
2. Product liability against AI stack provider (Aurora) — design defect, manufacturing defect, failure-to-warn theories targeting perception/planning/control software, LiDAR/radar hardware, mapping data, remote-monitoring operator. Texas: Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Ch. 82; design-defect under Genie Indus., Inc. v. Matak, 462 S.W.3d 1 (Tex. 2015)
3. OEM liability — tractor manufacturer (PACCAR, Daimler, Volvo)
4. Negligent entrustment of autonomous-vehicle system — emerging theory
5. Insurance allocation — Aurora indemnification flows back for system-fault crashes; Werner SIR/excess covers driver-out crashes; allocation between Aurora’s commercial insurance tower and Werner’s $15M SIR is contractual and a major source of dispute

For Texas plaintiffs, any Aurora-driven Werner-branded crash on the I-20 / I-10 / I-35 corridors triggers this hybrid liability framework. The Texas products-liability framework + the Miller v. C.H. Robinson brokerage-broker liability framework + Werner’s $15M SIR + Aurora’s commercial insurance tower all stack.

26. What to Expect From Werner’s Defense — And What Your Lawyer Will Do

Werner is a large public company with a well-organized legal defense structure. Werner’s Corporate Legal department in Omaha is overseen by President and Chief Legal Officer Nathan J. Meisgeier. National trucking-defense law firms handle the actual case work; insurance carriers above Werner’s $15-million-per-claim self-insurance layer handle the funds above that. Victims and families do not need to learn all of this in detail — but knowing how Werner typically responds, and what your lawyer is going to do in response, helps you understand what to expect in the months after a serious crash.

26.1 How Werner is set up to defend a case

• Werner’s own funds at risk first. Werner pays the first $15 million on every liability claim itself (the policy year that started August 1, 2024 and the policy year that started August 1, 2025). Werner pays the first $2 million on every workers’ compensation claim. Annual cap of $7.5 million on the layer between $15 million and $20 million.
• Insurance above that layer. Commercial insurance carriers handle the layer above $15 million. Werner does not publicly disclose the specific carriers or limits.
• FirstFleet’s insurance. FirstFleet’s primary auto-liability coverage is $1 million through Discover Property & Casualty Insurance Co. (a Travelers subsidiary), in place since April 1, 2009.
• FirstFleet’s labor and employment defense. Littler Mendelson, P.C., out of Nashville, handles FirstFleet labor and employment matters.

26.2 What Werner typically does, and what your lawyer typically does in response

• Werner relies on the Werner v. Blake proximate-cause ruling. Your lawyer responds by gathering the Engine Control Module, Electronic Logging Device, dashcam, telematics, and Bendix SafetyDirect data that show what the Werner driver was specifically doing in the seconds before the crash, and by pulling the Roadmaster training file to tie corporate decisions to that specific driver conduct.
• Werner asks the court to split the trial in two under Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 72.052 within 120 days of filing its answer. Your lawyer collects the truck-side data and the driver-conduct evidence before that 120-day window closes, and preserves the corporate-culture evidence for the second phase of trial, where exemplary damages are decided.
• Werner agrees in writing that the driver was acting in the scope of employment (a § 72.054 stipulation) so that the first phase of the case is limited to the driver’s conduct. Your lawyer presents the first phase on the driver’s specific conduct and the truck data, and reserves the company’s broader safety culture for the punitive-damages phase.
• Werner removes the case from Texas state court to federal court under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1441 and 1332. Your lawyer responds by naming the in-state Werner driver, supervisor, and applicable Roadmaster staff as individual defendants, which can keep the case in state court if the federal court finds those defendants are properly joined under Smallwood v. Illinois Central Railroad Co., 385 F.3d 568 (5th Cir. 2004) (en banc).
• Werner’s lawyers challenge the qualifications of plaintiff experts under Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals. Your lawyer files corresponding challenges to the defense experts — typically the insurance-medical-examination doctors and the defense reconstruction expert.
• Werner argues that important truck data is no longer available because of the timing of the request. Your lawyer’s day-one evidence preservation letter — sent before the data could be lost — is what prevents that argument from succeeding, with the support of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37(e) and the Texas Supreme Court’s spoliation rule in Brookshire Brothers v. Aldridge, 438 S.W.3d 9 (Tex. 2014).
• Werner’s insurance carrier slows or refuses to negotiate. Your lawyer addresses this with a Stowers demand within the policy limits and, if appropriate, claims under Texas Insurance Code Chapters 541 and 542, which can add 18% annual interest and attorneys’ fees.
• Werner files a stack of motions to limit what the jury hears 60 days before trial. Your lawyer files corresponding motions to limit the defense’s evidence and to keep the focus on the facts of your case.

27. How Serious Werner Cases Get Resolved

Most Werner cases that involve serious injury or death do not go all the way through trial. Werner has settled large cases before — the $150 million Sulphur Springs case is the clearest example. Whether a particular case settles, and on what terms, depends on the strength of the record built in the first weeks and months. The work that produces a fair resolution is mostly done before any settlement conversation happens. The list below describes what that work typically looks like in a Houston or Texas Werner case. Most of it happens whether the case eventually settles or goes to trial.

27.1 Filing in the right Texas county

Most Texas Werner cases get filed in Harris County (the Houston civil-court complex, where the Blake case itself was tried) or in the county where the crash happened. Naming the Texas-resident Werner driver and the Texas-resident Werner supervisor as individual defendants in the same lawsuit keeps the case in Texas state court rather than allowing Werner to move it to federal court.

27.2 Sending the evidence-preservation letter the same day

The 15-category letter described in Section 21 goes to Werner’s Corporate Legal department in Omaha, to FirstFleet’s headquarters in Murfreesboro for FirstFleet-involved crashes, and to Platform Science, Samsara, Bendix, Detroit Diesel, and Discover Property & Casualty within 24 hours. The point is to make sure the truck-side data still exists when the lawyers can look at it.

27.3 Naming the people whose decisions are part of the case

In addition to Werner and the driver, supervisors and Roadmaster training staff with direct knowledge of the driver are often named as individual defendants where the facts support it. That keeps each person’s specific role and prior knowledge in the case rather than letting Werner present a single unified defense.

27.4 Pleading gross negligence with specific facts

Where the record supports it, the complaint pleads gross negligence with concrete facts drawn from FMCSA’s public safety database, OSHA inspection records, and prior litigation. Gross negligence findings are typically not covered by liability insurance in most states (Northwestern National Casualty Co. v. McNulty, 307 F.2d 432 (5th Cir. 1962)), which adds a layer of personal exposure for the company beyond the insurance.

27.5 The Stowers demand

A Stowers demand — a written settlement demand within the insurance policy limits, sent before suit is filed, accompanied by full medical records — is the standard Texas tool that can later expose Werner to personal liability above the policy limits if Werner’s insurance carrier refuses a reasonable demand and the case results in a higher judgment. Copies typically go to Werner’s General Counsel and to every disclosed insurance carrier in the case.

27.6 Pulling the public-agency records

FMCSA, OSHA, NHTSA, EEOC, and SEC records on Werner are public and can be requested within the first week. Werner’s own SEC filings — the $79.2 million Blake receivable, the Q3 2025 37.5% jump in insurance expense, the Q1 2026 $24.7 million increase in long-term claims reserves — are part of Werner’s own public picture of what its current claim load looks like.

27.7 Trial-readiness on the schedule, not at the end

The motions to limit defense evidence, the challenges to the qualifications of defense experts, and the trial subpoenas typically go on file 90 days before trial. That timing signals to Werner’s defense team and its insurance carriers that the case will actually be tried if it is not resolved.

27.8 Identifying the experts early

The plaintiff expert team in a serious Werner case typically includes a trucking-standards expert (often a former FMCSA compliance officer), a biomechanical expert, a Certified Life Care Planner (under the International Academy of Life Care Planners standards), and a forensic economist (typically using the Thomas Ireland framework for lost earnings and household services). Disclosing the expert lineup early shows the case is ready to be tried.

27.9 Spanish-language and Houston-media outreach when the family wants it

For families willing to share their story publicly, coordinated outreach to the Houston broadcast networks — KPRC 2 NBC, KTRK ABC13, KHOU 11 CBS, FOX 26, and Houston Public Media — and to Spanish-language outlets reaches both English- and Spanish-speaking communities. This is the same pattern that played out within one week of the Bermudez filing. Public coverage is always at the family’s discretion and never required.

27.10 A demand letter that reflects the firm’s actual trial record

When the demand letter to Werner’s defense team reflects a real trial track record, Werner’s counsel must report that to Werner’s Corporate Legal. A firm that has tried cases and that is preparing to try this one changes the math on the other side of the negotiation.

These steps are not a checklist to “force” anything — they are the standard work that puts a serious Werner case in a position to be resolved fairly, on terms that reflect the actual harm done.

28. En Español — Información Importante para Víctimas de Werner Enterprises y FirstFleet

¿Qué hacer si Werner Enterprises o FirstFleet le hizo daño a usted o a su familia?

Si usted, un familiar o un ser querido ha sido lesionado o ha muerto en un accidente con un camión de Werner Enterprises (NASDAQ: WERN, oficinas centrales en Omaha, Nebraska, USDOT #53467, MC-138328) o FirstFleet, Inc. (adquirido por Werner el 27 de enero de 2026, oficinas en Murfreesboro, Tennessee, USDOT #313891), llame al despacho legal Attorney 911 ahora mismo al 1-888-ATTY-911 (1-888-288-9911). Atención 24 horas al día, 7 días a la semana desde nuestras oficinas en Houston, Texas (1177 West Loop S, Suite 1600, Houston, TX 77027). La consulta es completamente gratis. Usted no paga nada a menos que ganemos su caso. Hablamos español.

El abogado Lupe Peña habla español con fluidez

El abogado Lupe Peña realiza consultas completas, depósitos, negociaciones de acuerdo y representación en juicio en español. Lupe Peña es licenciado por el Colegio de Abogados del Estado de Texas (número de licencia 24084332, admitido en 2012), también admitido al Tribunal del Distrito Sur de Texas. Bachillerato en Negocios Internacionales de Saint Mary’s University en San Antonio; Doctor en Jurisprudencia de South Texas College of Law en Houston.

Sus derechos sin importar su estatus migratorio

Las víctimas de accidentes en Texas tienen derechos bajo las leyes civiles de Texas sin importar su estatus migratorio. Las demandas civiles por lesiones personales y muerte injusta están disponibles independientemente del estatus migratorio. La elegibilidad para compensación de trabajadores en Texas tampoco depende del estatus migratorio.

El caso Werner v. Blake (Corte Suprema de Texas, 27 de junio de 2025)

El 27 de junio de 2025, la Corte Suprema de Texas revocó en una decisión de 5-3 el veredicto de aproximadamente $89.7 millones del caso Werner Enterprises v. Blake en el Tribunal del Distrito 127 del Condado de Harris, Texas (Juez R.K. Sandill). La decisión fue por motivos de causalidad próxima. La moción de reconsideración fue denegada el 26 de septiembre de 2025. El caso está finalmente cerrado a favor de Werner. Esta decisión cambia lo que cada víctima en Texas tiene que probar en cualquier caso futuro contra Werner — la conducta específica del conductor de Werner segundos antes del impacto.

El acuerdo de $150 millones de Sulphur Springs (Condado de Hopkins, Texas)

El 24 de mayo de 2020, un tractor-tráiler de Werner Enterprises estuvo involucrado en un accidente en la Interestatal 30 en el Condado de Hopkins, Texas, matando a dos niños de 9 y 7 años. El caso se resolvió en julio de 2022 por aproximadamente $150 millones. Esta es la resolución de muerte injusta más grande de Werner en su historia, incluso cuando los oficiales investigadores no encontraron culpa de Werner ni de su conductor.

FirstFleet, Inc. — adquirido por Werner el 27 de enero de 2026

Werner Enterprises adquirió FirstFleet, Inc. el 27 de enero de 2026 por aproximadamente $282.8 millones. FirstFleet ha operado bajo USDOT #313891 durante 38 años (desde 1988). Werner ahora hereda todos los reclamos pre-adquisición de FirstFleet bajo doctrina de responsabilidad sucesoria. El caso fatal Banner v. Tesla / FirstFleet (NTSB HWY19FH008) del 1 de marzo de 2019 en Delray Beach, Florida sigue activo en el Tribunal del Circuito de Palm Beach.

Plazos legales críticos

• Lesiones personales (demanda civil): 2 años a partir de la fecha de la lesión — Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.003.
• Muerte injusta (demanda civil): 2 años a partir de la fecha de la muerte — Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.003.
• Reclamo de compensación de trabajadores: 1 año a partir de la lesión — Tex. Lab. Code § 409.003.
• Reclamo de beneficios por muerte: 1 año a partir de la fecha de la muerte — Tex. Lab. Code § 409.007.
• Retaliación bajo OSHA Section 11(c): 30 días desde la acción adversa — el plazo más corto en la ley laboral federal.

Roadmaster Drivers School — el puente para responsabilizar a Werner por entrenamiento negligente

Roadmaster Drivers School es propiedad de Werner Enterprises. Tiene cuatro escuelas en Texas: Houston (1224 Normandy Street), Dallas (8701 Peterbilt Avenue), Fort Worth (309 Successful Drive), y San Antonio (927 Eddie Road). Después de la decisión Werner v. Blake, el archivo de entrenamiento de Roadmaster del conductor específico de Werner es el documento más importante en cualquier caso contra Werner. El caso Armijo v. Werner (Santa Fe, Nuevo México, $40.5 millones, octubre de 2019) es la prueba: el conductor Jose Johnson tenía C’s en seguridad, manejo en carretera, manejo defensivo, y retroceso en ángulo, tuvo que repetir la porción “Basic” dos veces, y manejó aproximadamente 64% del tiempo sin supervisión en los 8 días antes del choque fatal.

No firme nada

No firme ningún documento de Werner Enterprises, de Drivers Management, LLC, de FirstFleet, Inc., de Discover Property & Casualty Insurance Co. (la aseguradora de FirstFleet), ni de ningún administrador externo (TPA) sin que un abogado independiente lo revise primero. Esto incluye: autorizaciones médicas, consentimientos para declaraciones grabadas, acuerdos de pago “interino,” acuerdos de confidencialidad o documentos de acuerdo. El idioma de estos documentos está diseñado por abogados corporativos experimentados para proteger a Werner, no a usted. Cortésmente diga: “Gracias. Lo revisaré con mi abogado y le responderé.”

Recursos en español

• 988 Línea de Crisis — llame o envíe mensaje de texto al 988. Multilingüe.
• SAMHSA Línea de Ayuda por Desastre — 1-800-985-5990. 24/7, multilingüe.
• FMCSA Línea de Conductores Comerciales — 1-888-368-7238.
• Texas Workforce Commission — 1-800-939-6631. Asistencia en español.
• Texas Department of Insurance — 1-800-252-3439. Asistencia en español.
• LULAC — 202-833-6130.
• MALDEF — 213-629-2512.
• Workers Defense Project (Texas) — 512-391-2305.
• Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation — 1-800-539-7309. Recursos para familias con lesiones de médula espinal; especialistas multilingües.
• BakerRipley (Houston) — 713-273-3700. Servicios completos para inmigrantes y comunidades latinas en Houston.
• Catholic Charities Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston — 713-526-4611. Servicios legales para inmigrantes.

Si tiene cualquier pregunta sobre sus derechos, llame ahora al 1-888-ATTY-911. Hablamos español.

29. Frequently Asked Questions

What is Werner Enterprises v. Blake and why did the Texas Supreme Court reverse it?

Werner Enterprises v. Blake, No. 23-0493 (Tex. June 27, 2025) is a 5-3 Texas Supreme Court decision reversing and rendering the approximately $89.7 million Harris County jury verdict against Werner. The Court held that Werner driver Shiraz Ali’s negligence was not a substantial-factor proximate cause of the Blake family’s injuries as a matter of law. The motion for rehearing was denied September 26, 2025.

How does the Blake decision affect Houston and Texas trucking crash victims today?

Blake redraws the proximate-cause record every Texas trucking plaintiff must build. A plaintiff must prove the commercial driver’s specific act or omission was an independent substantial-factor cause of the crash. This requires ECM data, ELD records, dashcam video, telematics speed traces, and accident reconstruction.

How long do I have to file a Werner crash lawsuit in Texas?

For Texas personal injury and wrongful death civil claims, the statute of limitations is 2 years from the date of injury or death under Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.003.

Can I sue Werner if a family member was killed in a Werner truck crash in Houston?

Yes. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §§ 71.001–.012 provide wrongful-death recovery for surviving spouses, children, and parents. § 71.021 provides additional survival-action recovery. Where the death resulted from gross negligence, exemplary damages are available subject to the § 41.008 cap and § 41.008(c) carve-outs.

What is the Stowers Doctrine and how does it apply to Werner?

Stowers is a Texas doctrine that holds an insurer liable for any excess judgment when it fails to accept a reasonable within-policy-limits settlement demand. G.A. Stowers Furniture Co. v. American Indemnity Co., 15 S.W.2d 544 (Tex. Comm’n App. 1929, holding approved). A pre-suit Stowers demand creates personal exposure for Werner over its $15-million-per-claim self-insured retention.

What is HB 19 and how does it affect my Texas Werner case?

HB 19 (2021), codified at Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §§ 72.052–.054, applies to commercial motor vehicle suits in Texas. The defendant may move for a bifurcated trial within 120 days of original answer. Phase 1 covers liability and compensatory damages; Phase 2 covers exemplary liability and amount.

Can I sue Werner if I was injured by an inexperienced or entry-level Werner driver?

Yes. The Armijo v. Werner Enterprises verdict in Santa Fe, New Mexico (October 11, 2019) — $40.5 million ($30.5M compensatory + $10M punitive) — directly involved a Werner entry-level driver on his 8th day post-Roadmaster Drivers School graduation. The case tied Werner’s training program to the driver’s specific causal conduct.

What is Roadmaster Drivers School and why does it matter?

Roadmaster Drivers School is owned and operated by Werner Enterprises through subsidiaries American Institute of Trucking, Inc. (Arizona) and Career Path Training Corp. (Florida). Texas locations: Houston (1224 Normandy Street), Dallas (8701 Peterbilt Avenue), Fort Worth (309 Successful Drive), San Antonio (927 Eddie Road). Post-Blake, the Roadmaster training file is the bridge between corporate training conduct and individual driver causal action.

How does Werner’s insurance work?

Werner self-insures the first $15 million per claim on all liability claims (2024 and 2025 policy years, up from $10 million in 2018) with an annual $7.5 million aggregate for claims between $15 million and $20 million. FirstFleet (Werner-acquired January 27, 2026) carries $1 million BIPD/Primary with Discover Property & Casualty Insurance Co., a Travelers subsidiary.

What was the $150 million Sulphur Springs Werner settlement?

On May 24, 2020 at approximately 5:00 a.m., a Werner Enterprises tractor-trailer was involved in a crash on Interstate 30 in Hopkins County, Texas killing two children ages 9 and 7. Settled July 2022 for approximately $150 million. Investigating officers placed no fault on Werner or its driver; Werner settled to dispose of the case.

What is the $79.2 million Werner insurance receivable in SEC disclosure?

Werner’s FY2024 10-K disclosed a $79.2 million receivable from third-party insurance providers tied to the Blake judgment. Following the Texas Supreme Court reversal in June 2025, Werner’s Q3 2025 10-Q recorded the reversal. Despite this reversal, Werner’s Q3 2025 insurance and claims expense jumped 37.5% year over year.

Can I sue Werner if I am an undocumented worker in Texas?

Yes. Civil tort claims for personal injury and wrongful death are available in Texas regardless of immigration status. Workers’ compensation eligibility in Texas does not depend on immigration status. Lupe Peña conducts full consultations and representation in Spanish from the Houston headquarters.

What does it cost to hire Attorney 911 for a Werner case?

The initial consultation is 100% free, 24 hours a day. The firm works on contingency fee — 33.33% before trial, 40% if the case goes to trial. The firm advances all costs. You pay nothing unless we win. Hablamos español.

What is the cap on punitive damages in Texas trucking cases?

Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 41.008(b) caps exemplary damages at the greater of $200,000 or two times economic damages plus non-economic damages up to $750,000. § 41.008(c) removes the cap for knowing or intentional commission of certain enumerated felonies.

What did the EEOC sue Werner for?

EEOC v. Drivers Management, LLC and Werner Enterprises, No. 8:18-cv-00329 (D. Neb.) — ADA discrimination over the failure to hire deaf driver Victor Robinson. Jury verdict $36,075,000 on September 1, 2023, reduced to $300,000 under the ADA statutory cap. 8th Cir. affirmed July 10, 2025.

What is the Abarca wage-class settlement?

Abarca v. Werner Enterprises, Inc., No. 8:14-cv-00319 (D. Neb.) — $18 million gross wage-class settlement. Preliminary approval February 5, 2026; final fairness hearing July 24, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. Settlement administrator: 1-800-406-7301.

Has Werner acquired any other trucking company recently?

Yes. Werner closed its acquisition of FirstFleet, Inc. on January 27, 2026 for approximately $282.8 million total ($245M operating + $37.8M real estate). FirstFleet operates from Murfreesboro, Tennessee with 2,972 trucks and 3,261 drivers.

What is Banner v. Tesla / FirstFleet?

Kim Banner v. Tesla, Inc., et al., Circuit Court of the 15th Judicial Circuit, Palm Beach County, Florida (Hon. Reid Scott). NTSB Accident HWY19FH008. The FirstFleet driver entered US-441 without stopping from the Pero Farms LLC driveway; Tesla driver Jeremy Banner was killed. Tesla cannot face punitive damages per FL 4th DCA; FirstFleet’s liability remains live. Werner inherits the exposure as successor.

How fast does Werner’s ELD data overwrite?

ELD Records of Duty Status: 6 months under 49 C.F.R. § 395.8(k)(1). ECM last-stop data is VOLATILE — overwrites on next ignition cycle or hard-brake event, often within hours. Samsara dashcam continuous: 28-45 days default. Bendix SafetyDirect: 12 months default.

Should I sign anything from Werner or its insurance carrier?

No, not without independent counsel reviewing the document first. The language is drafted by experienced corporate counsel to protect Werner. Politely decline and consult a lawyer first.

Can I sue Werner in federal court in Houston?

Yes, in many cases. Werner is Delaware-incorporated with Nebraska principal place of business; complete diversity exists with Texas plaintiffs. Werner routinely removes Texas state-court cases to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas Houston Division.

Can I sue a Werner driver personally?

Yes — in Texas, an injured plaintiff can name the Werner driver, the Werner supervisor, and Roadmaster Drivers School training staff as individual defendants. Naming non-diverse individual Texas defendants in Texas state court can defeat federal-court removal under 28 U.S.C. § 1441.

What is FirstFleet and what does Werner’s acquisition mean for victims?

FirstFleet, Inc. is a Tennessee-based dedicated trucking carrier acquired by Werner on January 27, 2026. FirstFleet has operated 38 years (since 1988) with approximately 1,290 historical reportable crashes. Werner-as-successor inherits all FirstFleet pre-acquisition exposure. Vehicle Maintenance BASIC 3.08 (high severity).

What is the difference between Werner Enterprises Inc. and Drivers Management LLC?

Werner Enterprises, Inc. is the Delaware-incorporated parent company. Drivers Management, LLC was historically the actual employer-of-record entity for many Werner drivers. Drivers Management LLC has been consolidated for SEC reporting but remains a NAMED LEGAL ENTITY in active litigation.

What did the Texas Supreme Court rule about negligent training after Blake?

The Court did not address negligent training directly because it found Werner driver Shiraz Ali’s conduct was not a substantial-factor proximate cause as a matter of law. Without driver-conduct proximate cause, derivative theories of negligent hiring, training, supervision, and retention against Werner cannot stand. The post-Blake plaintiff response is to tie corporate-policy chain explicitly to the driver’s specific act or omission — particularly through Roadmaster Drivers School training records.

30. Full Resources Directory

This is the complete verified resources directory — every phone number rings through, every URL works, and none of these resources is a law firm or pays a referral fee. Use them whether or not you call our firm. Houston resources lead.

Houston community resources

• Houston 211 / United Way HELPLINE — dial 211 or 713-957-4357 (24/7)
• Catholic Charities Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston — 713-526-4611
• BakerRipley — 713-273-3700
• Houston Volunteer Lawyers — 713-228-0735
• Coalition for the Homeless of Houston — 713-739-7514
• Texas Children’s Hospital TBI Clinic — texaschildrens.org/departments/traumatic-brain-injury-tbi-clinic
• Memorial Hermann-Texas Trauma Institute — Level 1 trauma center
• Harris Health Ben Taub General Hospital — Level 1 trauma center

24/7 emergency and crisis

• 911 — fire, police, medical emergency
• 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline — call or text 988 (multilingual)
• Poison Control — 1-800-222-1222
• SAMHSA Disaster Distress Helpline — 1-800-985-5990
• Veterans Crisis Line — dial 988 then press 1
• National Domestic Violence Hotline — 1-800-799-7233
• RAINN National Sexual Assault Hotline — 1-800-656-4673
• Attorney 911 (24/7 live legal staff) — 1-888-ATTY-911

Catastrophic-injury, brain injury, and spinal cord injury support

• Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation Paralysis Resource Center — 1-800-539-7309 — christopherreeve.org
• Brain Injury Association of America — 1-800-444-6443 — biausa.org
• Brain Injury Association of America — Texas Chapter — 737-497-3566
• United Spinal Association — 1-800-962-9629
• Amputee Coalition — 1-888-267-5669
• Phoenix Society for Burn Survivors — 1-800-888-2876

Trucking-specific victim and worker support

• St. Christopher Truckers Relief Fund — 865-202-9428 — truckersfund.org
• Truckers Final Mile — truckersfinalmile.org
• Trucker Buddy International — truckerbuddy.org
• OOIDA Occupational Accident plans — ooida.com/medical-benefits/occupational-accident/
• Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association — ooida.com
• Truck Safety Coalition — 202-921-9526 — trucksafety.org

Federal agencies

• FMCSA Driver Hotline / Complaint Database — 1-888-368-7238 — nccdb.fmcsa.dot.gov
• OSHA Whistleblower Protection Program — 1-800-321-OSHA
• DOT Office of Inspector General Hotline — 1-800-424-9071 (24/7)
• NHTSA Auto Safety Hotline — 1-888-327-4236
• EEOC Public Information — 1-800-669-4000
• U.S. DOJ Civil Rights Division — 1-855-856-1247

Texas state agencies

• Texas Department of Insurance Consumer Help Line — 1-800-252-3439
• Texas Office of Public Insurance Counsel — 1-877-611-6742
• Texas Workers’ Compensation Division — 1-800-252-7031
• Texas Attorney General Consumer Protection — 1-800-621-0508
• Texas Workforce Commission — 1-800-939-6631
• Texas Civil Rights Project — 512-474-5073

Hispanic / Latino community advocacy

• LULAC — 202-833-6130 — lulac.org
• MALDEF — 213-629-2512 — maldef.org
• UnidosUS — 202-785-1670
• Workers Defense Project (Texas) — 512-391-2305

Civil legal aid

• Texas LawHelp — texaslawhelp.org
• Texas Legal Services Center — tlsc.org
• State Bar of Texas LRIS — 1-800-252-9690

Public records / FOIA

• FOIA.gov — foia.gov
• FMCSA SAFER — safer.fmcsa.dot.gov
• FMCSA SMS BASICs — ai.fmcsa.dot.gov/SMS
• SEC EDGAR — sec.gov/edgar
• NTSB CAROL — carol.ntsb.gov
• OSHA Establishment Search — osha.gov/ords/imis/establishment.html

32. Sources Cited

32.1 Texas Supreme Court and intermediate-appellate Werner authority

• Werner Enterprises, Inc. and Shiraz A. Ali v. Jennifer Blake, et al., No. 23-0493, ___ S.W.3d ___ (Tex. June 27, 2025). Opinion: txcourts.gov/media/1460821/230493.pdf.
• Supreme Court of Texas Orders Pronounced September 26, 2025 (Blake rehearing denied): txcourts.gov/media/1461356/supreme-court-of-texas-orders-09-26-2025.pdf.
• Blake v. Werner Enterprises, Inc., Fourteenth Court of Appeals (Houston), Cause No. 14-18-00967-CV, 672 S.W.3d 554, en banc affirmance May 18, 2023.
• Trial-court verdict: 127th Judicial District Court, Harris County, Cause No. 2015-36666, Hon. R.K. (Ravi) Sandill presiding, May 17, 2018.

32.2 Werner SEC filings (primary-source admissions)

• Werner Enterprises, Inc. FY2024 10-K (Accession No. 0000793074-25-000009; filed February 26, 2025).
• Werner Enterprises FY2025 10-K (Accession No. 0000793074-26-000071; filed February 26, 2026).
• Werner Enterprises FY2025 Exhibit 21 (subsidiary list — 21 subsidiaries): sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0000793074/000079307426000071/wern-20251231ex21.htm.
• Werner Enterprises Q3 2025 10-Q (Blake reversal + Abarca settlement disclosure).
• Werner Enterprises Form 8-K January 28, 2026 (FirstFleet acquisition).
• Werner Enterprises Q1 2026 10-Q (long-term insurance accrual disclosure).
• Werner Enterprises 2024 Corporate Sustainability Report (November 2024).
• Werner Enterprises investor relations: investor.werner.com.

32.3 Federal civil-rights and wage cases against Werner

• EEOC v. Drivers Management, LLC and Werner Enterprises, Inc., No. 8:18-cv-00329 (D. Neb.), $36,075,000 jury verdict September 1, 2023; reduced to $300,000 under ADA cap; 8th Cir. affirmance July 10, 2025, No. 24-2286.
• Abarca v. Werner Enterprises, Inc., No. 8:14-cv-00319 (D. Neb.), $18M wage-class settlement; preliminary approval February 5, 2026; final fairness hearing July 24, 2026. Settlement portal: truckerclassaction.com.
• Petrone v. Werner Enters., Inc., 121 F. Supp. 3d 860 (D. Neb. 2015); 940 F.3d 425 (8th Cir. 2019); 42 F.4th 962 (8th Cir. August 3, 2022).
• Williams v. Werner Enters., Inc., 770 S.E.2d 532 (W. Va. March 2, 2015).

32.4 New Mexico Armijo verdict

• Armijo v. Werner Enterprises, First Judicial District Court, Santa Fe County, New Mexico, October 11, 2019 verdict — $40.5M total ($30.5M compensatory + $10M punitive).

32.5 Sulphur Springs $150M Settlement

• Werner Enterprises corporate press release dated July 28, 2022.
• May 24, 2020 Interstate 30 crash in Hopkins County, Texas; two children killed (ages 9 and 7).

32.6 FirstFleet sources

• FMCSA SAFER snapshot for USDOT 313891 (FirstFleet) — pulled May 13, 2026.
• NLRB Case 16-CA-301538 — FirstFleet Inc. (Waxahachie, TX), filed August 15, 2022, withdrawn April 15, 2024.
• NTSB Accident HWY19FH008 (Banner v. Tesla / FirstFleet): NTSB.gov/investigations/Pages/HWY19FH008.aspx.
• NTSB Crash Summary Report Delray Beach (Docket ID 8179524).
• NTSB Motor Carrier Attachment — FirstFleet Progressive Discipline Policy (Docket ID 8890398).
• Werner Enterprises FirstFleet acquisition press release January 28, 2026.

32.7 Bermudez Houston multi-network coverage

• Bermudez v. Pi Kappa Phi / University of Houston — Harris County Civil District Court, filed November 21, 2025.
• KPRC 2 NBC “Only on 2” Exclusive (click2houston.com)
• KTRK ABC13 (abc13.com)
• KHOU 11 CBS (khou.com)
• FOX 26 Houston (fox26houston.com)
• Houston Public Media NPR/PBS (houstonpublicmedia.org)

32.8 Texas controlling authority

• G.A. Stowers Furniture Co. v. American Indemnity Co., 15 S.W.2d 544 (Tex. Comm’n App. 1929, holding approved).
• U-Haul International, Inc. v. Waldrip, 380 S.W.3d 118 (Tex. 2012).
• Brookshire Brothers, Ltd. v. Aldridge, 438 S.W.3d 9 (Tex. 2014).
• Limestone Products Distribution, Inc. v. McNamara, 71 S.W.3d 308 (Tex. 2002).
• Genie Indus., Inc. v. Matak, 462 S.W.3d 1 (Tex. 2015).

32.9 Federal authority

• Smallwood v. Illinois Central Railroad Co., 385 F.3d 568 (5th Cir. 2004) (en banc).
• Northwestern National Casualty Co. v. McNulty, 307 F.2d 432 (5th Cir. 1962).
• Miller v. C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc., 976 F.3d 1016 (9th Cir. 2020).
• 28 U.S.C. § 1441 (removal); 28 U.S.C. § 1332 (diversity).
• Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37(e) (2015 spoliation amendment).
• Federal Rule of Evidence 803(8)(A)(iii) (public records — NTSB highway-accident findings admissible).

32.10 Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (49 C.F.R.)

• Part 380 (Entry-Level Driver Training).
• Part 382 (Drug and Alcohol Testing).
• Part 383 (CDL standards).
• Part 391 (Driver Qualification).
• Part 392 (Driving of Commercial Motor Vehicles); § 392.14 (hazardous conditions); § 392.3 (impaired or fatigued operation).
• Part 393 (Parts and Accessories Necessary for Safe Operation), Subpart I (Cargo Securement).
• Part 395 (Hours of Service and Electronic Logging Device); § 395.8(k)(1) (six-month retention for records of duty status).
• Part 396 (Inspection, Repair, and Maintenance).
• FMVSS 121 (49 C.F.R. § 571.121); FMVSS 136 (heavy-vehicle automatic emergency braking — Notice of Proposed Rulemaking pending); FMVSS 223 and 224 (rear underride).

32.11 Texas statutory framework

• Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 15.002 (venue), § 16.003 (two-year statute of limitations), § 41.008 (punitive-damages cap), §§ 71.001–.021 (wrongful death and survival), §§ 72.052–.054 (HB 19 commercial-motor-vehicle bifurcation), Ch. 82 (products liability).
• Tex. Lab. Code § 408.001(b) (gross-negligence exception to workers’ compensation exclusivity), § 409.003 (workers’ compensation claim filing), § 409.007 (death benefit filing).
• Tex. Transp. Code Ch. 522 (commercial driver’s license disqualification), Ch. 644 (adoption of federal motor-carrier rules as Texas law), § 623.0155 (motor-carrier indemnity).
• Tex. Ins. Code Chs. 541 (Unfair Settlement Practices) and 542 (Prompt Payment of Claims).

32.12 Medical, engineering, and forensic standards

• NIH-NINDS 2024 TBI Classification and Nomenclature Initiative (CBI-M framework): ninds.nih.gov.
• National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center (NSCISC) 2024 figures.
• International Academy of Life Care Planners Standards of Practice, 4th ed. (2022).
• Olson & Sivak, Perception-Response Time to Unexpected Roadway Hazards, 28 Human Factors 91 (1986).
• FMCSA Large Truck Crash Causation Study (DOT FMCSA-RRA-07-017, March 2006).
• AASHTO A Policy on Geometric Design of Highways and Streets (the Green Book), 2.5-second perception-reaction design value.
• DSM-5-TR criteria for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Prolonged Grief Disorder; ICD-11 Complex PTSD.

32.13 Werner-specific operational sources

• FMCSA SAFER snapshot for U.S. DOT 53467 (Werner Enterprises): safer.fmcsa.dot.gov.
• FMCSA Safety Measurement System BASICs for Werner Enterprises: ai.fmcsa.dot.gov/SMS.
• Werner Enterprises Winter Driving Playbook (Werner driver portal).
• Aurora Innovation, Inc. Q4 2025 and Q1 2026 SEC Form 8-K filings.
• Samsara Werner Enterprises case study: samsara.com/customers/werner-enterprises.
• Roadmaster Drivers School: roadmaster.com.

Last updated May 28, 2026. If you need help with a Werner or FirstFleet crash, call 1-888-ATTY-911 — 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, from our Houston office.