Tonight on News 4 at Ten we're running a follow-up story to my 2005 investigation into those big trucks that haul gravel, rocks and building materials around San Antonio and other cities.
At the time, it was one of the most common complaints into the Trouble Shooters: angry drivers who'd had their windshields, hoods or fenders damaged by rocks and debris that bounced off those trucks as they sped down the highway. People were fed up and wanted to know if they had any rights.
The first thing we discovered was that Texas has a truck tarping law, requiring trucks hauling rock or construction materials to cover their loads with a tarp while on the roadways. These tarps cut down on the amount of debris that can bounce or blow out of the truck bed at high speeds.
But we also found that the tarp law prohibits trucks from having big gaps in the tail-gate area where rocks and debris can slip through and come bouncing back on the vehicles behind.
And finally, truck drivers are required to sweep the gravel and dust particles off of the outside surfaces of the truck bed after they pick up a load, so that it doesn't fly all over the place.
We also pointed out that those authoritative looking signs that truckers put on the back of their trucks ordering you to "keep back 200 feet, not responsible for damage to your vehicle", are a bunch of nonsense.
They can't tell you how closely you can follow them, and that has no bearing on their liability. If something flies off of their truck and damages your car, they are responsible. Period.
Ah, but here's the tricky part. Unless you have video of a rock coming off of their truck and smacking into your car, or a police officer witnessed it as it happened, you are going to have a hard time proving that the truck was to blame.
Most trucking companies are going to tell you to "take a hike", if you ask them to pay for the damage.
A couple of trucking companies we contacted for our story told us they have paid for damage in the past, if the person complaining took the time to write down the truck number involved or its license plate, along with the exact location and time when the incident happened.
Some viewers have told us they had success collecting from trucking companies after filling out a police report about what happened.
There was also a change in the tarp law that went into effect right after our investigation ran. The change makes it easier for police to issue tickets to uncovered trucks. I'll have more details on that in tonight's story.
