As we've noted before in this space, tractor-trailers are large vehicles that pose a serious danger to other motorists. But 18-wheelers can also pose dangers to the truckers who drive them, as a case far from Charlotte, North Carolina, demonstrates.

The case in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, involves a wrongful death lawsuit filed after a trucker was crushed by the cargo he was hauling.

The jury awarded $3.66 million to the trucker's widow and their four adult children. An appeals court recently upheld that judgment for the plaintiffs in their legal action against a global steel-processing and metals-related company.

Six years ago, a 64-year-old truck driver was hauling a tractor-trailer pulling a two-level flatbed trailer. On the trailer were large, empty propane tanks held in place in cradles. At a stop, the trucker climbed on to the top level of the trailer to attach a hook for a hydraulic crane used to unload the cradles.

A 2,600-pound cradle and empty tanks fell onto him, crushing him.

According to a media report, the company that owned the truck, cradles and tanks  argued that the driver should have been aware of the dangers involved in handling the cargo and that he alone was responsible for properly securing the cargo.

The plaintiffs argued that the driver wouldn't have been aware of the dangers -- he was a truck driver, not a tank-and-cradle expert.

The original judgment was in February of 2010 after a three-week trial.

A year later, the defendant appealed and now the appeals court has rejected their plea.

The company can continue its appeals; next time to the Ohio Supreme Court. It hasn't indicated whether or not it will do that.

Source: TimesReporter.com: "Court rejects Worthington appeal of wrongful-death award," Lee Morrison, Jan. 31, 2012