Opinion ID: 1714942
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Wheelwright's Claims

Text: Wheelwright presented evidence showing that it had purchased 44 trailers from Dorsey in October 1994 based upon contractual specifications and upon Dorsey's representations that the trailers were suitable to haul concentrated loads of 50,000 pounds at a point within a four-foot length on each trailer and that they would have a working life of 10 years. Although Wheelwright began using the trailers in December 1994, it did not attempt to haul concentrated loads approximating 50,000 pounds until 1998. During July of that year, one of the Dorsey trailers buckled during an attempt to load a 47,000-pound steel coil onto the trailer. A second Dorsey trailer also proved unable to haul the coil the next day. Thereafter, on December 23, 1998, and February 25, 1999, respectively, a Dorsey trailer experienced a rollover which Wheelwright attributed to design defects. Wheelwright discovered cracking in one of the Dorsey trailers on October 15, 1999, and subsequent inspections showed that 43 of the 44 Dorsey trailers were also experiencing cracking. Wheelwright removed all of the Dorsey trailers from service before the end of 1999. Wheelwright presented expert testimony from Dr. J. Harold Deatherage, a professor of engineering at the University of Tennessee, indicating that the trailers were defectively designed and that the cracking actually began shortly after they were put into use and worsened with continued use. Deatherage testified by deposition that the cracks would have been discoverable, with appropriate inspection techniques, as early as 1995, even if the trailers had been used until that time only to transport loads of less that half the weight of the steel coils. Deatherage could not state a precise date on which the cracking began or when it would have become evident. After the failure of the two Dorsey trailers to haul the steel-coil load in July 1998, Wheelwright determined that the trailers could not haul concentrated loads in excess of 45,000 pounds, and it ceased attempting to use them for those loads. Wheelwright presented evidence tending to show that it did not have the financial capacity to rent substitute trailers to haul the concentrated loads. It was therefore unable to accept business from four of its customers involving the hauling of steel coils and it was unable to develop any other business involving that type of cargo. With respect to proof of damages, Wheelwright presented evidence, including the deposition testimony of Dennis Westbrook, its vice president, showing that the rate for hauling concentrated loads of steel coils was higher than the rate for the freight Wheelwright was forced to accept because it had no trailers to accommodate the concentrated loads. Westbrook testified that because Wheelwright could not use its tractors to deliver concentrated loads, it lost profits because (1) it was forced to use the tractors to haul freight that paid less per mile, (2) it was forced to travel longer distances without loads (deadhead) because it could not service all of the hauling requirements of its existing customers, and (3) it was unable to establish shipping routes between its existing customers in order to maximize profits. In addition to Westbrook's testimony, Wheelwright presented, as an exhibit to its motion for a summary judgment, a report from Ralph Q. Summerford, a certified public accountant, calculating Wheelwright's losses caused by Lost Business Opportunities, which included profits it lost as a result of being unable to accept business requiring the hauling of heavy concentrated loads from its existing customers, to be in excess of $3,000,000. Wheelwright asserted that such damages did not include profits lost because of its inability to expand its hauling business to new customers.