A collision involving a commercial truck can look like a larger version of an ordinary car accident, but the legal issues are often considerably more complicated. Semi-trucks, tractor-trailers, and other commercial vehicles operate within an industry involving trucking companies, maintenance providers, cargo businesses, insurers, and detailed safety requirements.
When a serious truck accident occurs, determining why it happened and who may be responsible can require an extensive investigation. Understanding these differences can help injured people and their families make sense of the claims process.
Why Truck Accidents Can Cause Severe Injuries
Commercial trucks are significantly larger and heavier than passenger vehicles. The difference in size means occupants of smaller vehicles may experience substantial force during a collision.
Common truck accident injuries can include:
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Spinal cord damage
- Broken bones
- Internal injuries
- Soft-tissue injuries
- Permanent physical impairment
Serious injuries can require surgery, rehabilitation, ongoing medical care, and extended periods away from employment.
The financial consequences may therefore continue long after the initial accident.
Common Causes of Truck Accidents
Commercial truck crashes can result from driver behavior, mechanical problems, company practices, or a combination of factors.
Driver Fatigue
Truck drivers frequently travel long distances. Fatigue can affect reaction time, judgment, and concentration.
Commercial driving is subject to rules intended to limit driving periods and provide appropriate rest periods. Driver logs and electronic records may therefore become relevant when investigating whether fatigue contributed to a collision.
Improper Maintenance
Commercial trucks contain complex mechanical systems that require regular inspection and maintenance.
Problems involving brakes, tires, steering components, lights, or other equipment may contribute to serious accidents.
Maintenance records can sometimes help determine whether a mechanical problem was known or should reasonably have been discovered before the crash.
Improperly Loaded Cargo
Cargo must be loaded and secured appropriately.
An unbalanced or improperly secured load may shift while the truck is moving, potentially affecting stability and increasing the risk of a rollover or loss of control.
More Than One Party May Be Responsible
One major difference between car and truck accident claims is the number of parties that may potentially share responsibility.
Possible parties can include:
- The truck driver
- The trucking company
- A maintenance contractor
- A cargo loading company
- A vehicle or component manufacturer
- Another driver
For example, a truck driver might cause a collision after experiencing brake failure. An investigation may reveal that a maintenance company failed to properly service the brakes or that the trucking company continued operating the vehicle despite known problems.
Determining liability therefore requires examining more than the actions of the driver immediately before impact.
Trucking Companies and Employer Responsibility
A trucking company’s actions may become relevant in several ways.
Questions can arise regarding hiring practices, driver training, supervision, vehicle maintenance, and compliance with applicable safety requirements.
Companies may also face responsibility for certain actions performed by employees within the scope of their employment.
These issues can make commercial truck accident cases substantially different from claims involving two private motorists.
Evidence Can Disappear Quickly
Evidence preservation is particularly important after a commercial truck accident.
Relevant records may include:
- Electronic logging device data
- Driver qualification records
- Maintenance records
- Inspection reports
- Cargo documentation
- GPS information
- Dashcam recordings
- Electronic vehicle data
- Witness statements
Some information may only be retained for a limited period.
Photographs of the vehicles, roadway, skid marks, debris, and surrounding conditions can also help establish how the collision occurred.
Understanding Commercial Truck Insurance
Commercial trucking companies generally carry insurance designed for the risks associated with business operations.
When serious injuries occur, insurers may conduct detailed investigations into both responsibility and damages.
An insurance company may review medical records, employment information, accident evidence, vehicle records, and statements from the people involved.
Disagreements can arise over who caused the collision, whether particular injuries resulted from the accident, and how future losses should be calculated.
Calculating Compensation After a Serious Crash
Truck accident injuries may create both immediate and long-term losses.
Economic Damages
Financial losses can include:
- Emergency medical treatment
- Hospital expenses
- Surgery
- Rehabilitation
- Future healthcare costs
- Lost income
- Reduced earning capacity
- Property damage
When injuries are permanent, calculating future medical expenses and lost earning ability may require additional professional analysis.
Non-Economic Damages
Not every consequence of a serious accident has a specific financial value.
Depending on applicable law, damages may also address pain and suffering, emotional distress, permanent impairment, and reduced enjoyment of life.
The nature and extent of the injuries usually play an important role when these losses are evaluated.
Shared Responsibility Can Affect a Claim
Truck drivers and trucking companies are not automatically responsible simply because a commercial vehicle was involved.
Investigators must examine the conduct of everyone involved.
Nebraska, for example, uses a modified comparative fault system. Compensation may be reduced according to an injured person’s percentage of responsibility, and recovery can be barred when the claimant’s negligence reaches the threshold established by state law.
This makes evidence about how the collision occurred particularly important.
The Role of Legal Guidance
Because truck accident claims can involve multiple companies, extensive records, serious injuries, and commercial insurance policies, investigating them may require more resources than a typical passenger vehicle claim.
Personal injury attorneys may review driver logs, maintenance information, police reports, medical documentation, witness accounts, and other available evidence. They may also investigate whether parties other than the truck driver contributed to the collision.
Educational resources from the attorneys at Welsh & Welsh can provide additional information about commercial truck accident claims and the different parties that may potentially bear responsibility. The firm handles truck accident and other personal injury matters in Nebraska and surrounding states.
Legal Deadlines Matter
Truck accident lawsuits are subject to statutes of limitations, which establish deadlines for bringing legal claims.
For personal injury actions arising from vehicle accidents in Nebraska, the general limitations period is four years under Nebraska Revised Statute § 25-207, although the circumstances of an individual case can affect which rules apply.
Legal deadlines are separate from the practical need to preserve evidence quickly. Even when the filing deadline is years away, important records, video footage, physical evidence, and witness recollections may become harder to obtain over time.
Key Takeaways
Truck accident claims can be more complicated than ordinary car accident cases because multiple parties, commercial insurance policies, company records, vehicle maintenance, cargo practices, and trucking regulations may all become relevant.
Determining responsibility requires examining the complete circumstances rather than focusing only on the truck driver’s actions immediately before the collision.
Understanding how liability, evidence, insurance, damages, and filing deadlines interact provides a clearer foundation for evaluating a truck accident claim and the legal issues that may follow a serious commercial vehicle collision.
