Truck Accident Injury Claims

These situations commonly justify a free consultation. None of them means you have a valid claim; that is for an attorney to assess.

• Anyone was seriously injured or killed, or the crash involved a semi, tanker, delivery truck, bus or other commercial vehicle.
• The trucking company or its insurer has already contacted you, offered money or asked for a statement.
• You suspect driver fatigue, speeding, an unsecured load, a mechanical failure or an impaired driver.
• The truck was operated by an out-of-state carrier or several companies (owner, lessor, broker, shipper) are involved.

• The truck's electronic logging device data and driver logs, which show hours driven against federal limits.
• Engine control module and dash-cam data, dispatch records, bills of lading and weigh-station tickets.
• The driver's qualification file, drug and alcohol test results after the crash, and the carrier's inspection and maintenance records.
• The police report, any state or federal post-crash inspection, and the carrier's safety history in FMCSA's public records.
• Your medical records, bills, lost-wage documentation and photographs of the vehicles and scene.

Personal injury law is state law. The examples below name Georgia and Tennessee because those states have dedicated guides on this site; your own state's rules may differ.

• Fault is apportioned under the state's comparative fault rule, and with several potential defendants the percentages assigned to each party can decide who pays. Georgia's 50 percent bar and Tennessee's less-than-the-defendant rule both apply here.
• Some states allow a claim against the carrier for negligent hiring, training or supervision separately from the driver's negligence; others merge the two once the carrier admits the driver was on the job. This affects what evidence can be presented.
• Punitive damages for reckless conduct, such as knowingly running drivers beyond legal hours, are available in some states and capped or barred in others.

State guides: Georgia, Tennessee.

There is no national personal injury deadline. Each state sets its own statute of limitations, and separate notice rules often apply to claims against government bodies. Missing a deadline usually ends the claim.

• The lawsuit deadline follows the state's personal injury statute of limitations: two years in Georgia, one year in Tennessee, and different periods elsewhere.
• Evidence deadlines are shorter than legal deadlines. Federal rules only require carriers to keep driver logs and supporting documents for six months, and onboard data can be overwritten in days. A written preservation (spoliation) letter should go out as early as possible.
• If a government vehicle or road defect is involved, written notice to the government body may be due within months.

Most personal injury attorneys work on a contingency fee: a percentage of any settlement or verdict, with no fee owed if there is no recovery. Case expenses (filing fees, records, experts, depositions) are separate. Some attorneys advance them and deduct them from the recovery; others may ask you to repay them even if the case is lost. Read the written fee agreement before signing, and ask how expenses are handled. Truck cases often require accident reconstruction and trucking-industry experts, so expenses can be significant; ask specifically who bears them if the case does not succeed.