William Cassels founded Southeastern Freight Lines in 1950 in Lexington, South Carolina, starting with twenty employees and eleven trucks. By 1975, William’s son Bill Cassels became the company’s president. In 1996, the company expanded to a facility in New Orleans, Louisiana and then into Tyler, Texas, and 2005. By 2013, the company built a Houston facility in Lubbock.

Today, the company operates eighty-eight service centers in the Southwest, Southeast, and Puerto Rico. Southeastern Freight Lines also delivers internationally to the US Virgin Islands, Mexico, and Canada. The more than 4045 truck drivers operate over 3000 trucks in North America. The company does not transport hazardous materials. In 2018, Southeastern Freight Lines generated an annual gross revenue of $1,116,000,000.

Southeastern Freight Lines is primarily a Truckload (LT) carrier, meaning the company delivers one truckload containing similar products, goods, and materials to multiple locations. This type of trucking is the opposite of an LTL (less than truckload) carrier with a mixed freight.

Common Causes of Semi-truck Crashes

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), crashes with large commercial trucks in the US cause catastrophic injuries to passenger vehicles because of:

• Aggressive Behavior – Any driver operating their vehicle aggressively could cause severe injury or wrongful death of an innocent passenger or other motorists.
• Driving Under the Influence – Truckers must avoid consuming alcohol or taking illegal drugs, including stimulants, which can create a dangerous scenario for all those sharing the road.
• Drowsy Driving – Maintaining tight schedules often means the trucker must drive for hours on end, which can lead to fatigue and drowsy driving.
• Distracted Driving – There are many distractions inside a commercial vehicle, including quick access to a mobile device, changing the radio station, or looking at a GPS device.

Sometimes, a commercial vehicle driver will cause an accident because of erratic movements, or they were fatigued, having worked too many hours on a tight schedule. In these cases, the trucker and the trucking company should be held legally liable for causing the crash and all the costs associated with injuries or wrongful death of innocent victims.

Southeastern Freight Lines Accidents Involving Injuries and Fatalities

Regulations mandated by Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) require every trucking carrier to carry full insurance. The Trucking Industry and insurance carriers pay out over $20 billion every year to settle accidents involving semi-tractor-trailers that caused injury or wrongful death to truckers and others. Statistics show that there over 5000 deaths associated with commercial vehicles every year in the United States.

Southeastern Freight Lines, like all commercial vehicle companies in the trucking industry, must ensure that their deliveries reach their destination on time. Because of that, truckers must meet their deadlines under unrealistic scheduling, ensuring that they will work long hours behind the wheel. This heavy burden of on-time delivery creates an unsafe environment for the trucker and everyone sharing the roadway.