
An independent owner operator is being sued by a freight broker after nearly $100,000 worth of beef was stolen from his trailer overnight.
Truck driver Adrian Ortega Ramirez was sued in Deschutes County, Oregon Circuit Court on Monday, July 2nd by Sterling Truck Brokerage for a theft that occurred in July of 2012, reported The Bend Bulletin.
The incident began in that July of 2012 when Ramirez agreed to haul a load of refrigerated, boneless, organic beef to Los Angeles on behalf of a southern California meat processor.
After picking up the load, Ramirez drove the fully loaded semi truck to his home in Los Angeles, parking the big rig outside and leaving it unattended overnight as he enjoyed some home time, inadvertently allowing the truck and its contents to be stolen.
The semi truck was eventually recovered in good shape, but the $97,000 worth of beef was long gone.
Unfortunately, the theft was not covered by Ramirez’s insurance, as the policy contained exemptions requiring Ramirez to remain within 100 feet of the semi truck while inside Los Angeles city limits, as well as up to 50 miles outside the city limits.
“In metro areas, people watch what gets loaded onto those trailers. It’s a real problem,” said Rick Kirk, owner of Sterling Truck Brokerage.
“We’re spoiled here in Central Oregon; we don’t worry about that.”
Because of the lack of insurance coverage, Kirk and Sterling Truck Brokerage were left responsible for the repayment of the $97,000. Kirk then paid American Beef Packers, the owners of the beef, their $97,000 and worked out a repayment plan with Ramirez.
“I had to make that customer whole, because we do thousands of dollars of business with them every year,” Kirk explained.
Over the course of about five years, Ramirez worked with Kirk to pay off around half of the $97,000 he owed. But then in 2016, Kirk claims that Ramirez “went AWOL” by halting payments and not returning texts and emails after mentioning to Kirk that he would need over $15,000 to rebuild his engine.
“I suspect vehicle trouble upset Ramirez’s financial stability,” Kirk said.
“I didn’t want to break this guy’s back — he’s not a bad guy or anything,” Kirk continued.
“I think he might have felt he’d paid enough.”
As of Monday, July 2nd, Ramirez had still failed to return any calls made to his cell phone and has yet to be served with the lawsuit.