Opinion ID: 3180361
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Mr. Ford’s Deposition Testimony

Text: Mr. Ford provided the following testimony regarding the training he received from Hunt: Q. So when you decide I want to go to work for J.B. Hunt, then tell me the steps you had to do to make that happen. A. [I did] orientation down there in Dallas. We spent four days down there training and going through all kinds of stuff. .... Q. So you had road tests? A. Yeah, yeah. Q. Did you take classes or have to listen to speakers about safety issues? A. We had to do all that and then we had to do the road test out on the road. Yeah, there’s a lot to it. .... Q. After you finished your four days down there in Dallas, then they say you’re hired? A. Well, I came back up here and had to go through the Moffett and all that stuff. . . . .... Q. Did you do the Moffett training at Heavener[, Oklahoma]? .... A. Yes. . . . ... Q. All right. So you get back to Heavener and you’re going to have the Moffett training. Do you have to have that before they can put you out in the field? A. Oh, yeah. I went through two weeks of training on the truck and the Moffett with another driver before I done anything. .... Q. When you were training on the Moffett, did you watch videos? A. Yes. I have, yes. .... Q. Do you remember the name of the video[s]? A. No, I don’t remember the name of [them]. .... Q. When you would watch these videos, would you have to take a test? A. Yes. Q. Did you pass your tests? - 18 - A. Yes. Q. At any point in time in any of your two-week training at Heavener, did you fail any tests? A. No. Q. And would you actually get on a [Moffett] and have to drive and demonstrate for your supervisor? A. Yeah, well, I did for that other driver and the supervisor there on the parking lot. Q. So they teamed you up with another driver and you rode with him? .... A. Yes. .... Q. So you would ride with him and go deliver to the chicken houses? A. Yes. App. at 1376-85. Mr. Ford testified that, on the day of the accident, he was accompanied by Mr. Mize, who was “summer help” hired by O.K. Farms, when he delivered the chickens to Mr. Gentry. Id. at 1397. He further testified: Q. . . . . once you’re loaded up, as a driver can you see where to go? A. You can’t see that right-hand side, no. Q. When you say right-hand side, that’s from where you’re seated on the Moffett? A. The seat sits on the left, you know, on them Moffetts. You can see down this side, part of your front, but you cannot see that other side. Q. So when you’re seated, looking forward, you have a blind spot to your right? A. You have a blind spot. .... Q. . . . When you’re headed up to the door of the barn to go into the house, when you kind of look at an angle to see what’s in front of you that’s going to be in your blind spot; is that right? A. Yeah. Q. Now, do you have a spotter? A. Well, that’s what Aaron was doing. . . . . .... Q. Do these guys, the summer help, are they trained as to what to do as a spotter? A. No. - 19 - .... Q. So when you’re in this barn bringing in this load, tell me what happens in the incident with Mr. Hill. A. . . . . I got up there close and started—I was slowing down real slow. That’s the way you go. You just crawl in anyhow. But I was going to stop short. The owner over here, Gentry, was telling me to come on up, come on up. Aaron was over on this side watching, you know, supposed to be. But he had me ease on up, and we got—I guess he stepped over the waterline. I don’t know. I can’t see that side. I don’t know what happened. Q. But you know at some point in time after the fact that you ran over Mr. Hill’s leg? A. Well, he stepped over in front of the tire or something while—yeah. . . . it hit his leg. Q. Now, you’re telling me the owner—that’s Mr. Gentry? A. Yes. Q. He was giving you hand motions? A. Yes. Q. He would have had to have been on your left side if you could see him? A. He was on my left side. Q. So he couldn’t have been able to see what was going on on the right side then? . . . . A. I mean, he could see more than I could, I thought. You know, I thought he probably could see. Q. . . . Well, where in relation to you on the seat, how far was Mr. Gentry from you? A. 8, 10 foot, I guess. Q. Right next to you, in front of you, behind you? A. No, he was in front of me. Q. Would he have been in front of— A. He was on the other end of the skid.[7] Q. Was he all the way clear of the skid? A. Yes. Q. And Aaron was on your right side? A. Uh-huh. Q. Was he parallel like right next to you or behind you or do you know? A. He was right at the end of the Moffett over there— Q. To the right-hand— .... 7 Earlier in his deposition, Mr. Ford had described a skid as a structure holding the stacks of chickens that the Moffett picks up. - 20 - A. At the end of the hood of the Moffett.[8] He could see—he ought to have been able to see anything over there, but I couldn’t. Q. There was nothing obstructing Aaron’s view is what you’re saying? A. No, shouldn’t have been. Q. And his only job at that point in time in the barn was to be your spotter? A. Yes, I mean. Q. Was there any other reason he would be in the barn except to spot for you? A. No, not really. .... Q. So when you’re going forward, you’re going forward all the way almost to the curtain, that’s when this happened, before you even started unloading that skid? A. Yeah, when he motioned me to come on forward. Q. And that was Roger Gentry motioning you? A. Uh-huh. The owner, whatever his name is. Q. And at some point in time did Aaron Mize say or do anything? A. Yeah, he hollered—when he hollered stop, we had already caught that ole boy’s leg. .... Q. When he hollered stop, did you know what you had hit? A. No. Q. Did you know you had hit anything? A. No, I didn’t know what I did. Q. But you knew you hit— A. He told me. Q. My question is when he hollered stop, did you feel something, that you had run over something? A. No. .... Q. . . . . As soon as you get off the Moffett, what do you see? A. Him laying over the waterline. .... Looked like he had tripped over the waterline is what he looks like, you know. Id. at 1400-05, 1410-11, 1416. 8 Mr. Ford had previously testified that the skids are located in the front of the Moffett. This testimony suggests the hood is located in the back of the Moffett, which is similarly depicted in the diagram admitted during Mr. Gentry’s testimony. - 21 - When asked further about Mr. Mize’s role in the incident, Mr. Ford stated, “Maybe he glanced off or something when he wasn’t supposed to. But anyhow, I can’t see that side. He was supposed to have been watching. I don’t know.” Id. at 1418-19.9