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Truck accidents can have severe financial, physical, and emotional consequences for people in lighter, smaller passenger vehicles. Victims may wonder if they can sue a trucking company to seek much-needed compensation.
You can pursue a claim against a trucking company, but you risk losing compensation if you don’t partner with an experienced truck accident lawyer. These cases involve trucking regulations, liability laws, and complex evidence analysis. Turn to NST Law to explain your rights and fight for compensation through an insurance claim or filing a lawsuit against a trucking company.
Key Takeaways
- You can sue a trucking company after a trucking accident for its negligence or based on the actions of its driver.
- Large trucks were involved in 5,837 fatal crashes in 2022, a 49 percent increase in just 10 years.
- Understanding your insurance and legal options to seek full compensation is essential.
- NST Law has significant experience proving liability and collecting compensation for clients in truck accident claims.
Understanding Liability in a Trucking Accident
Negligent truck drivers aren’t the only parties who may bear responsibility for your crash. Holding a trucking company liable for an accident is also an option based on legal arguments, including:
- Vicarious liability: Employers are legally responsible for employee actions while working, even if the company wasn’t negligent. For example, if a truck driver crashes into you while hauling freight, you can seek damages against their employer.
- Direct negligence: Trucking companies may be liable for negligent hiring practices, safety violations, and poor vehicle maintenance. Examples include hiring a driver with a poor driving record, allowing drivers to surpass legal driving hours, and failing to maintain trucks through regular checks of brakes, hydraulics, and other systems.
Proving trucking company liability in accidents isn’t the only way to fight for compensation. Other parties may be liable for damages from your truck crash, such as a cargo loading company, a government entity, or a vehicle manufacturer. An experienced trucking accident lawyer can determine all the parties who may hold liability so you can seek compensation from each.
Types of Compensation Available
You can ask for three types of damages in a legal action against a trucking company after an accident, including:
- Economic damages address your financial losses, such as medical bills, lost wages and future earnings, and property damage.
- Non-economic damages compensate you for the emotional effects of your crash. These are harder to quantify than economic damages but can result in significant compensation. Examples include pain and suffering, loss of consortium, and PTSD.
- Punitive damages are reserved for the most egregious cases. In Tennessee, for example, you must prove the other party acted intentionally, maliciously, fraudulently, or recklessly. A judge may allow these damages, for instance, when a trucking company failed to do a background check and a driver with a history of accidents or lacking qualifications caused your accident.
Higher Insurance Limits for the Trucking Industry
Federal law requires commercial trucking companies to carry high insurance limits, often in the millions of dollars. Insurance requirements for trucks include:
- For vehicles 10,000 pounds or lighter carrying non-hazardous freight: $300,000
- For vehicles 10,001 pounds or heavier carrying non-hazardous freight: $750,000
- For vehicles carrying hazardous freight: $1 million to $5 million, depending on the type of hazardous cargo.
These higher limits help protect victims by allowing them to pursue substantial compensation for severe injuries, long-term medical care, and other damages. Our experienced truck accident team at NST Law knows how to leverage insurance requirements to seek full and fair compensation against a liable trucking company.
Common Challenges in Suing Trucking Companies
You are not required to hire a truck accident attorney for personal injury or fatal truck accident claims. However, these cases often present several hurdles, and you may lose potential compensation without the help of an experienced, successful lawyer.
Facing Large Corporate Defense Teams and Insurance Companies
When you take legal action against a trucking company, you may face a team of corporate lawyers and insurance company representatives. Their job is to deny or minimize the trucking company’s liability. The defense may use tactics like blaming you for the accident or disputing your injury severity or emotional trauma.
Understanding and Navigating Federal Regulations
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) makes regulations that govern trucking operations. These rules can be complex and may impact liability in your crash. Our legal team has the background and skills to thoroughly analyze trucking company compliance with hours-of-service rules, maintenance requirements, and driver qualifications.
The following steps can help you increase the value of your truck accident settlement.
Gathering and Preserving Evidence
The trucking company you seek damages against often controls essential evidence such as driver logs, black box data, and maintenance records. Our attorneys know which evidence to request and how to take legal action if the company fails to turn it over.
Partner with a respected truck accident attorney quickly so they can secure evidence before it is altered or destroyed. In an Indiana truck accident case, the truck driver intentionally falsified driver logs to hide his hours on the road. The resulting accident killed five people.
Multiple Parties Involved
Liability for your truck accident may involve more than the driver and trucking company. Third parties such as cargo loaders, manufacturers of defective truck parts, or maintenance contractors may also be responsible for your injuries.
Determining the level of responsibility for each party can be complicated. Before suing a trucking company after an accident, choose a respected trucking accident lawyer with experience sorting out liability in these sometimes complex claims.
Jurisdictional and Legal Challenges
Truck accidents often involve drivers from one state and trucking companies based in another, leading to jurisdictional complications. States may have varying statutes of limitations and liability laws, so you need an attorney familiar with multi-jurisdictional cases.
How NST Law Can Help
Securing compensation is often tied to client and attorney relationships and how lawyers approach their representation of accident victims. We follow the Six Pillars of NST Law, constantly focused on compassionate, accessible, transparent dealings with our clients. We are a large firm with significant resources to build claims and pursue full and fair damages.
We take a personalized approach to each claim, including:
- Comprehensive investigation: Our investigators and lawyers examine all aspects of accidents, gathering and preserving critical evidence such as driver logs, black box data, and surveillance footage.
- Identifying liable parties: To fight for fair compensation, we identify and name all responsible entities, including drivers, trucking companies, and manufacturers.
- Regulatory and legal knowledge: Our team uses its vast knowledge of federal and state trucking laws and FMCSA regulations to strengthen claims.
- Insurance negotiation: We have a history of skillful negotiations with aggressive insurers. This has resulted in significant truck accident settlements and verdicts for our clients.
- Client advocacy: Our trucking accident lawyers provide personalized support and regular updates. We work on a contingency fee basis, with no up-front costs for you.
Contact The Champs at NST Law Today
Truck accidents often involve complex questions of liability and a team of lawyers and insurance representatives fighting to deny victims rightful compensation. You can sue a truck company after an accident, but don’t try to go it alone. Our skilled attorneys will fight for you during insurance settlement negotiations and in court when necessary.
We are passionate about our clients and the communities we serve. If you or a loved one were injured in a truck accident, contact NST Law today for a free consultation by calling 800-529-4004 or completing our online contact form. You can also read our Truck Accidents Legal FAQs page for more information.
