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Truck Accident Lawyers

A collision with an 80,000-pound tractor-trailer is not a bigger car accident. It is a different case, against a company with a rapid-response team, federal record-keeping duties, and far more insurance at stake.

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Why truck cases are won in the first two weeks

Commercial carriers are regulated by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, and the FMCSA rules create a paper trail no ordinary driver leaves: hours-of-service logs and electronic logging device data, driver qualification files, pre- and post-trip inspection reports, maintenance records, drug and alcohol testing results, dispatch and load documents, and the engine control module — the truck's black box, which records speed, braking and throttle in the seconds before impact.

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All of it has a retention period, and some of it is measured in months.

That is why the first thing we do in a truck case is send a spoliation letter demanding preservation of every one of those records, and, where the injuries are severe, move for an inspection of the vehicle before it is repaired or sold.
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The second reason these cases differ is who pays.

The driver is rarely the only defendant. The motor carrier is liable for its employee, and often independently liable for negligent hiring, training or supervision, or for pressuring a schedule that could not be run legally. Then there is the trailer owner, the broker, the shipper who loaded it, and the maintenance contractor. Federal minimum coverage for an interstate carrier is $750,000 and commonly runs to $1,000,000 or more — which matters when an injury is catastrophic and a personal auto policy would never have covered it.

Truck cases we handle

Tractor-trailer collisions

Crossovers into oncoming traffic, jackknifes and underride crashes. The firm recovered $1,000,000 for occupants of a vehicle struck by a tractor-trailer that crossed into oncoming traffic.

Box trucks and delivery vans

The vehicles that dominate Long Island and Queens streets. Delivery pressure and untrained drivers are recurring themes.

Loading and unloading injuries

A truck driver struck while unloading at the roadside produced a $2,000,000 verdict for this firm — reported among the Top 100 verdicts in the New York Verdict Reporter for 2011.

Driver fatigue and hours-of-service

ELD data against dispatch records frequently shows a schedule that could not be run within the legal limits.

Improper loading and shifting cargo

Liability can rest with the shipper or the loader rather than the driver.

Maintenance and equipment failures

Brake and tire failures trace back to inspection records the carrier is required to keep.

Verdicts and settlements

Truck and commercial vehicle recoveries

$7,500,000

Verdict for wrongful death, against landlord, caused by fire that spread through apartment that was without smoke detectors.
$4,400,000

Verdict for motor vehicle accident causing spinal injuries requiring surgery.
$4,000,000

For a truck driver struck in the rear by a bus sustaining a brain injury.
$3,090,000

For a construction worker that fell from a mobile crane platform and sustained a pilon fracture.
$2,000,000

(Top 100 reported verdict for the New York Verdict Reporter for 2011) For a truck driver struck by a passing motorist while unloading his box truck on the side of the road sustaining injuries to his lumbar spine.
$1,000,000

For occupants of vehicle struck by a tractor trailer that crossed into oncoming traffic.

All results

Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Every case is different, and the result in any case depends on its own facts.

Truck accident questions

Not answered here? A lawyer will answer it, free and at any hour.

Ask us directly

The trucking company already called me. What should I do?

Be polite and say nothing about the accident or your injuries until you have a lawyer. Carriers dispatch adjusters and investigators within hours, and their job is to lock in a version of events and a low number before anyone knows how badly you are hurt.

How is this different from a car accident case?

The evidence is regulated and time-limited, there are usually several potentially liable companies rather than one driver, and the available insurance is much larger. The investigation is also far more technical — ELD downloads, black-box data and maintenance histories.

I drive a truck and I was the one hurt. Do I have a case?

Yes. Several of this firm's largest published recoveries were obtained for injured truck drivers, including $4,000,000 for a driver struck from behind by a bus and $2,800,000 for a driver who herniated a disc loading a truck. Workers' compensation and a third-party lawsuit frequently run together.

How long do I have?

Three years for personal injury, two for wrongful death. But the FMCSA records you need have their own retention periods, some as short as six months. The legal deadline is not the deadline that matters most here.

Where we handle these cases