Trucking Company Liability Cases

Trucking companies are held liable for accidents caused by their drivers, as well as many other issues that may be at play in your case. Negligent hiring, improper vehicle maintenance and upkeep, poor or improper driver training, poorly secured loads, failing to repair safety defects, equipment failure, and overloaded cargo that exceeds weight limits are just a few of the ways trucking companies may be held liable in truck accidents.

It’s critical to discuss your case with an attorney that can help you determine who was at fault and how before proceeding with claim negotiations and accepting a settlement offer, as that may make an enormous difference in the payout available to you.

NO, you are not suing the truck driver personally. Many individuals and families hold off or never file suits or claims for trucking company liability because they don’t want to go after the truck driver or other individual that may be at fault, worrying that they are causing financial hardship to that person. This often leads to injured parties not receiving a fair or adequate settlement (or any settlement at all), resulting in their own financial hardship.

It’s important to understand two critical things in evaluating whether or not to move forward with a trucking company liability claim:

1. Trucking companies are required by law to insure their vehicles, their loads, and their drivers. These requirements are in place because accidents happen – even when drivers are careful and vehicles are properly maintained.
2. These insurance policies are designed to take care of injured parties and protect the trucking company’s owners and the truck driver involved from being personally responsible for damages. When filing a lawsuit that involves trucking company liability, you are in suit with the trucking company’s insurance carrier – not the driver.

You can think of this much like you would a life insurance policy. If you or your spouse passed away after paying life insurance policy premiums, it’s reasonable to assume you would collect the death benefit of that policy. That’s what it’s designed for, and you, as the policy owner, have been paying premiums to ensure those funds are paid out at your or your spouse’s death.

Trucking company accident, negligence, spill and other policies are designed the same way – to cover them and to provide payouts to you, the injured party, in the event of an accident. In most cases, you are simply collecting money from a policy that was designed to issue payouts for the qualifying accident you suffered from.

For starters, trucking companies are required to keep what’s called Black Box Data. This is the data recorded by systems in the truck that record key vehicle performance metrics in the time leading up to, during and after a crash. This includes speed of the vehicle, braking, airbag deployment, braking, and other mechanical factors that may help prove fault in an accident.

Trucking companies and drivers are also required to maintain detailed driver logs, including driving time, stops, duration of rest breaks, and more, as well as detailed vehicle maintenance records.

All of this information can be crucial in determining fault and trucking company liability in a truck accident. Trucking companies are legally prohibited from destroying any of this information for the same reason. The penalties for doing so can greatly alter the outcome of the case and any settlement offered or due to the injured party.