Davis Law Group, P.S.

Trucking Company's Safety History Plays a Role in 15 Car Pile-Up

Yesterday’s 15 car pile-up on I-90 was caused by a semi-truck driver that allegedly has a history of violations in Washington State.

KOMO News reports that the semi-truck was owned by AP Transport in Blaine. The first vehicle that was hit by the semi was a logging truck driven by Mike Mullins.

"The other truck? Yeah, I remember him going way too fast for the traffic that was stopped in front of him," Mullins said. "All I seen was him come to the left a little bit as I was going by. And then I felt him hit me."

The safety of the trucking company definitely plays a role in this investigation. Officials will not specifically talk about the massive truck accident investigation at this time.

"In determining whether or not they have a history or maintenance issues or driver issues," said Det. Greg Wilcoxson of Washington State Patrol.

AP Transport’s inspection records showed fairly high records of defective vehicles, in fact 42 percent had been pulled from service.

There have been 52 random inspections on AP vehicles, based on state records. Of the inspected vehicle, AP had 24 maintenance violations that included seven problems with the brakes and four violations with the tires – severe enough that the state took an AP truck out of service 24 times, or 42 percent of the time.

Additionally, AP Transport was given an 84.7 percent overall safety rating from the U.S. Department of Transportation, but the best records should be between 1 and 20 percent.


Seattle trucking accident attorney Chris Davis believes that there five things that every truck accident victim should know. Click here to watch clips of the 15 car pile-up accident and to watch an interview with Mr. Davis.