Expertly Unqualified - Warning On Expert Evidence

Lowe v Mack Trucks Australia Pty Limited [2008] FCA 439

• The significance of independent expert evidence and adequate pleadings are highlighted in this decision.

Lowe was a partnership, operating an interstate transport business carrying goods by truck along the east coast of Australia. It bought a new Mack CH Elite Highway prime mover and on the first run noticed problems with the prime mover. The litany of alleged complaints was so bad that Lowe approached Mack Trucks about the possibility of returning the prime mover on a walk-away basis. Lowe's complaints about the prime mover led to it being included in a group of vehicles selected for examination as part of an inquiry by the Federal Office of Road Safety into aspects of long-haulage road transport operation in Australia. Lowe eventually formed the view that the ongoing defects in the prime mover were so bad that it parked it and walked away from it.