ILLINOIS — The family of Jamie Roth, a 34-year-old woman killed in a 2021 highway crash near Edwardsville, has secured a $5 million settlement in a wrongful death lawsuit that is now casting a spotlight on driver fatigue, cellphone use, and questionable practices in the commercial trucking industry.
Roth was struck and killed on March 18, 2021, after a tractor-trailer owned by NFL National Freight Ltd. slammed into her disabled car on Interstate 70. The truck, operated by Gursimran Singh, collided with Roth’s Scion TC around 12:41 p.m. during heavy rain while the vehicle was stalled in the right eastbound lane.
Crash Triggered by Alleged Distraction and Fatigue
According to a forensic investigation, Singh had been driving with cruise control activated in severe weather and was reportedly looking at a phone held in the center of his steering wheel. Witnesses also observed the co-driver, Lakhveer Singh, doing the same from the passenger seat.
Roth’s attorneys, Kevin Etzkorn and Nathan A. Steimel, told FreightWaves that both drivers had logged nearly 14,000 miles in just 17 days, suggesting potential violations of federal hours-of-service rules.
“Understand your surroundings, and if you see people staring at their cell phone, be extra careful,” Steimel said in the FreightWaves report.
Questions Raised About ‘Chameleon Carriers’
The case has also highlighted possible fraud and negligence in the broader trucking industry. Investigators found that NFL National Freight Ltd., based in Surrey, British Columbia, may be part of a “chameleon carrier” network—a term for companies that dissolve and reincorporate under new names to hide safety violations or legal problems.
The forensic expert, John C. Glennon Jr., identified 17 affiliated companies potentially linked to NFL using common management, employees, and trucks.
“The evidence shows this group of companies is an affiliated chameleon operation that is most likely ghosting loads for larger companies,” Glennon concluded in his report.
These findings raise larger questions about the integrity of cross-border freight operations and regulatory oversight by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA).
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Settlement Aims To Drive Industry Accountability
What makes this case even more unique is the family’s decision to unseal the settlement, a rare move in commercial vehicle lawsuits. Attorney Etzkorn said most large trucking settlements are hidden under strict confidentiality clauses, preventing broader public scrutiny.
“It benefits everybody if cases, when they do settle, are not sealed — then we can learn from mistakes,” Etzkorn said.
The case is now being cited by safety advocates as a wake-up call for federal and state agencies to investigate trucking companies that engage in deceptive business structures and ignore safety protocols to stay on the road.
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