TORONTO — For most Canadian cross-border truckers there are very few unknowns about our neighbor to the south.

But ask any driver who’s been hauled in front of an American judge and jury to explain a trucking-related accident, and they’ll tell you that in some cases Cheyenne, Wyoming can feel about as familiar as Cyprus.

TIDA counters the hyper litigious culture
in the U.S. that targets truck drivers.

Many carriers — especially smaller fleets whose business counsel doubles as the family lawyer/brother in-law — are out of their depth after an incident in the hyper-litigious U.S., where, arguably, accident lawyers view truckers as their own private ATM machines.

For 20 years, there’s been a network of American carriers, insurers, and attorneys dedicated to the pre-emptive defense of truckers against this well-organized, litigious machine.

The Niles, Ill.-based Trucking Industry Defense Association (TIDA) provides resources in the handling of individual claims, assists members in reducing overall exposure, and offers information on expert witnesses, legal theories, and trucking-specific legal solutions. And now the 1,100-member group is moving north to Canada, partnering with the Ontario Trucking Association and folding into its network a handful of Canadian lawyers, insurers, and risk management professionals.

TIDA’s newly-created Canadian Relations Committee, chaired by Joel Schechter, a partner at Watson, Bennett, Colligan, Johnson & Schechter, LLP in Buffalo, N.Y.

Schechter says TIDA counters the powerful trial-lawyer community, which incites disproportionate judgments by advancing stereotypes and myths in court that truckers are reckless and inherently dangerous.

“You have groups who are organized in their own right on how to sue trucking companies; how to get the best experts to go after truckers on all sorts of issues, like driver fatigue,” says Schechter. “By having the programs we do, it gives companies the information they need before they’re even in an accident and offers a support network to guide a trucking company after an incident.”

Schechter explains further: “Say that there’s a trucking company from Toronto that’s in an accident in Houston. Members can go to our website and within seconds find an attorney that handles trucking cases in the area, as well as an adjusting company, and an accident reconstruction company. All are TIDA members, and all are committed to defending the trucking industry.”

The TIDA network gives truckers and fleets on site
legal and claims support in foreign territory.

Schechter insists every attorney in the TIDA network is hand-picked and very familiar with state-by-state trucking laws and federal compliance mandates, like hours-of-service.

“Law these days has become just as specialized as medicine. This group is very selective,” says Schechter. “For a company or firm to become part of TIDA they need a number of references from trucking companies that proves that they’ll be able to handle these sorts of issues and that they’ll be speaking truckers’ language.”

The fee to be part of TIDA is $125 a year, per carrier — whether the company has one, 10, or 1,010 power units. And there’s a corporate rate for multiple members within the same company.

For Canadian truckers in a jam in some obscure, unfamiliar town, it might be reassuring to know that someone on your side is just a phone call away.

— To read the complete story and get more info on TIDA be sure to pick up the April print issue of Today’s Trucking.