Wal-Mart cites trucking safety guidelines

Bentonville, Ark. — In the wake of an accident involving a truck driver for Wal-Mart Stores on the New Jersey Turnpike on Saturday, June 7 that left comedian Tracy Morgan critically injured and killed one of Morgan’s associates, comedian James McNair, Wal-Mart Stores has released a fact sheet about its trucking safety guidelines, as well an official statement regarding the crash.



According to Wal-Mat, it has one of the lowest Department of Transportation (DOT) accident rates and uses some of the strictest driver safety standards in the industry. These include a minimum of 250,000 lifetime miles in a tractor-trailer, no involvement in a fatal accident, no DWI/DUI/OUI/reckless driving convictions in the past 10 years, and no preventable accidents in the past 10 years.



In an official statement, Wal-Mart spokeswoman Brooke Buchanan said Wal-Mart believes driver Kevin Roper, 35, was complying with federal regulations regarding the number of consecutive hours a driver can work. Wal-Mart also has additional regulations governing maximum number of hours that can worked and mandatory rest times.



“With regards to news reports that suggest Mr. Roper was working for 24 hours, it is our belief that Mr. Roper was operating within the federal hours of service regulations,” said Buchanan. “The details are the subject of the ongoing investigation and we are cooperating fully with the appropriate law enforcement agencies. The investigation is ongoing and unfortunately we can’t comment further on the specifics. Federal law requires drivers to work no more than 14 hours for any shift and 11 hours of driving.”