Opinion ID: 1759354
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 12

Heading: Cost of Deadhead Return Trip

Text: Skyview claims Phipps was not entitled to recover for the cost of the deadhead return trip, claiming that no provision of the agreement provides for the trucker being compensated for travel expenses upon delivering his last load and returning home. Skyview further asserts that Phipps could not have returned with a load because of the injury to his hand. However, the record shows that Phipps did drive the truck home, even though he was injured. The record indicates that the reason for Phipps' unloaded return trip was Skyview's improper termination of the agreement effective upon unloading at the Maryland jobsite. Phipps' unloaded return trip, resulting in additional expense to Phipps, is reasonably certain and naturally expected to follow Skyview's improper termination of the agreement. The trial court's award of damages for the deadhead return trip is supported by the evidence and bears a reasonable relationship to the elements of the damages proved and thus will not be disturbed on appeal. Hausman v. Cowen, 257 Neb. 852, 601 N.W.2d 547 (1999).