TEXARKANA - A carrier company has filed a lawsuit seeking to recoup its losses after one of its tractor trailers loaded with cigarettes caught on fire.
Transcorp Carriers Inc. filed suit against Great Dane Trailers Inc. on Aug. 2 in Bowie County District Court. The defendant removed the case to the Eastern District of Texas, Texarkana Division on Aug. 5.
The accident occurred on Oct. 26, 2011, when a tractor trailer loaded with cigarettes caught fire on Interstate 30 westbound near New Boston. The fire consumed the trailer and its contents.
Transcorp purchased the trailer from Great Dane in February 2010. The trailer was equipped with an air tire-pressure monitoring system designed to monitor and maintain air pressure on the tires on the trailer.
According to the lawsuit, the trailer loaded with cigarettes was being pulled westbound along Interstate 10 near New Boston when the air tire-pressure monitoring system malfunctioned causing a fire in the rear of trailer that quickly consumed the trailer caused a total loss to the trailer and contents.
The defendant is accused of strict product liability, failure to warn, breach of implied merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose and negligence.
The plaintiff is asking for an award of $330,121 in damages, plus interest and court costs.
The plaintiff is represented by David L. Sargent and Collen McCoy of Hermes Sargent Bates in Dallas. A jury trial is requested.
U.S. District Judge Michael H. Schneider is assigned to the case.
Case No. 5:12-cv-00088
Suit filed after tractor trailer loaded with cigarettes goes up in flames
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