When is the trucking company liable for your accident, injuries, and damages? Most of the time. An attorney may refer to respondeat superior to hold employers liable for their employee’s negligent actions.
If you suffered an injury in a collision with a big rig, you’ll want to consult a trucking company accident lawyer immediately. They will advise you of and protect your legal rights, including the right to substantial compensation. Schedule a free case evaluation to discuss your claim.
What Is Respondeat Superior?
Trucking company accident attorneys use the legal doctrine of respondeat superior to hold trucking companies vicariously liable for drivers’ negligent actions.
The only caveat? To hold the trucking company vicariously liable under respondeat superior, the trucker must commit the negligent act while working within the scope of their employment.
When Is the Trucking Company Liable Due to Their Negligence?
While the respondeat superior holds trucking companies liable for driver negligence, there are several instances when the trucking company is at fault for a collision. Liability includes negligent hiring practices, training, and supervision. It also entails a failure to comply with trucking regulations, enforce hours of service regulations, conduct inspections, and adequately maintain trucks.
Negligent Hiring and Retention Practices
A history of negligent hiring and retention practices is a solid foundation for holding a trucking company liable for your injuries and damages.
Examples of negligent hiring and retention practices are as follows:
- Failure to properly conduct background checks on a truck driver’s driving record and employment history
- Failure to adequately train drivers about safety protocols, truck operations, and company policy
- Failure to verify required license qualifications
- Failure to necessitate completing mandated driving tests
- Failure to enforce mandatory medical screenings to ensure a driver is fit to operate a truck
- Failure to properly test new hires for alcohol and substance use
- Failure to perform random drug and alcohol testing
- Ignoring or attempting to hide or cover up driver violations
- Not addressing driver complaints for things like aggressive and reckless driving
Ignoring red flags in the trucker’s driving history makes the trucking company liable. A history of infractions, such as driving under the influence (DUI) and repeated citations for speeding or aggressive driving, should not permit a driver to be behind the wheel of a commercial truck.
Negligent Training and Supervision
You can hold a trucking company liable for failing to adequately train and supervise truck drivers to ensure they follow trucking and safety regulations when operating big rigs.
Disregarding regulatory requirements and failing to establish operational protocols can lead to disastrous outcomes on the highway.
Failure to Maintain Hours of Service Regulations
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) imposes hours of service (HOS) regulations that drivers and trucking companies must comply with.
HOS regulations refer to a driver’s maximum hours on duty, including driving hours and designated breaks with mandated lengths for rest periods. These regulations help truckers stay alert and awake.
Failure to Comply With Trucking Regulations
The FMCSA enforces numerous regulations for trucking companies and drivers to comply with before operating an 18-wheeler.
In addition to HOS rules, these regulations include:
- Inspection and maintenance rules
- Size, weight, and route limitations
- Cargo securement regulations
- Mandatory drug and alcohol testing requirements
- Training requirements
- Mandatory maintenance of service records
FMCSA enforces these regulations for a reason. If your attorney determines the trucking company failed to adhere to the FMCSA regulations, they will hold them liable for your accident, injuries, and damages.
Failure to Properly Conduct Inspections
Per Department of Transportation (DOT) regulations, trucking companies must perform regular vehicle inspections to ensure road and driver safety.
Inspections help them identify and fix potential problems, such as mechanical or brake system issues, before they become hazardous. Failure to comply can result in fines and penalties for the trucking company and liability for your damages.
Failure to Properly Maintain Trucks
Trucking companies must regularly maintain their fleet to comply with safety regulations.
Ensuring semi-truck safety means regularly maintaining critical vehicle components, such as:
- Tires, wheels, and rims
- Service brakes, including trailer brake connections and parking brakes
- Steering mechanisms
- Rear-vision mirrors
- Lighting devices and reflectors
- Windshield wipers
- Coupling devices
- Emergency equipment
- Horn
FMCSA mandates regular maintenance of commercial trucks to ensure road safety. Poorly maintained trucks put trucker drivers, other motorists, and cargo at risk. If a trucking company neglects to maintain trucks, especially knowing they have mechanical or other issues, you can hold them liable.
Improper Cargo Loading and Securement
Improper cargo loading and securement can have detrimental consequences. Inadequately secured cargo can cause shifts or falling cargo, leading to loss of control and rollover accidents. If this happens, you can hold cargo-loading trucking liable.
When Is the Trucking Company Not Liable?
If a third-party driver’s negligence causes your truck accident, resulting in your damages, you can hold the third-party motorist liable.
Finally, you can hold state or federal government entities liable if a dangerous road condition, such as broken pavement, caused the truck accident.
Proving the Trucking Company’s Liability
Proving the trucking company liable for an accident involves gathering a mountain of evidence before thoroughly analyzing it for points that demonstrate negligence. Your trucking company accident lawyer will also need to prove tort law’s four elements of negligence.
Evidence That Helps Establish Trucking Company Liability
Commercial truck collisions often have an overwhelming amount of evidence to investigate, especially when there are multiple liable parties.
In addition to standard evidence, such as police reports and witness statements, they will investigate:
- The trucker’s HOS logs
- Truck inspection records
- Cargo or freight manifests
- The truck driver’s employment records
- Pre-trip and post-trip inspection reports
- The trucking company’s dispatch records
- Truck maintenance log and repair records
- The truck driver’s cell phone records at the time of the crash
- The driver’s GPS data at the time of the collision
- The truck’s electronic logging devices (ELDs) and event data recorders (EDRs)
- The trucking company’s drug test policies, driver drug test results, and records of prior mandatory and random testing
This thorough investigation ensures your attorney can pinpoint negligence, potentially identify additional liable parties, and prove the trucking company liable for your accident. Concrete evidence builds a solid foundation for establishing the four elements of negligence.
Four Elements to Proving a Trucking Company Liable
To prove a trucking company liable for your accident, your attorney must demonstrate four critical elements: owed duty of care, breach of duty, causation, and damages.
Establishing the four elements of negligence for a trucking company looks like:
- Duty of Care—The trucking company has a duty to operate its fleet safely while adhering to FMCSA regulations. This includes following traffic laws, inspecting and maintaining trucks, properly screening drivers, and following HOS rules.
- Breach of Duty—The trucking company breached its duty by failing to meet the standard of reasonable care required to operate its trucks safely. For example, it ignored vehicle maintenance, improperly secured cargo, or allowed a driver to violate HOS regulations, leading to drowsy driving with dangerous consequences.
- Causation—The trucking company’s breach of duty is directly responsible for your accident and injuries. Your attorney may work with truck accident reconstruction experts to generate computer simulations and 3D models to show causation.
- Damages—The trucking company’s breach of duty caused actual harm due to the collision. This means that you suffered injuries and additional damages because of them, including medical bills, lost income, and pain and suffering.
If your attorney cannot demonstrate these key elements by directly tying the company to the cause, they may use vicarious liability to hold them accountable for their driver’s negligent actions. Due to the complexities of truck accident claims, consult a lawyer experienced with truck accidents.
How a Trucking Company Accident Lawyer Will Hold the Trucking Company Liable
Your truck accident attorney will launch a comprehensive investigation into your accident to maximize your settlement from the crash.
To do this, they assume all communications with insurers, build a concrete case with evidence and witness testimony, value the damages in your claim, negotiate and demand a fair settlement, and represent your case in court if it requires going to trial.
Assuming All Communications With the Liable Insurers
After you retain a trucking company accident attorney, they will immediately notify liable insurance companies of your representation. This practice allows accident victims to focus on their recovery while their lawyers handle legal proceedings.
Communications include:
- All phone and email communications regarding your truck accident claim or lawsuit
- Providing all necessary documentation and properly completed paperwork
- Coordinating all claims-related processes
- Drafting and filing your demand letter with liable insurance companies
- Coordinating and conducting negotiations with insurance claim adjusters
However, claims communication isn’t the only benefit of retaining a lawyer.
Allowing an attorney to assume all communications with an insurer also protects against bad-faith insurance tactics companies use to minimize their losses, such as:
- Unreasonably denying valid truck accident claims
- Sending ridiculously low settlement offers, including ones that only cover the costs of your copays
- Failing to investigate your truck collision
- Failing to interview witnesses and review your records
- Misrepresenting insurance policy provisions
- Making threatening statements to intimidate injured parties to settle for too little or drop their claims altogether
If an insurer denies your trucking company accident claim, you’ll want to speak to a truck accident attorney immediately. After reviewing your case and the insurer’s denial letter, a lawyer can strategize how to recover the unfairly denied damages.
Building a Concrete Case
After informing insurers of your legal representation, your attorney will work on building a concrete case on your behalf. This process involves working quickly to preserve evidence and file within your local statutes of limitation. The ways your truck collision lawyer will build a concrete case are as follows:
- Gathering Evidence: Your attorney will meticulously gather, preserve, and analyze every facet of evidence in your truck accident claim. This includes collecting video surveillance—capturing the accident—before it is lost or recorded over. Video evidence can be gathered from traffic cams, dashcams, residential and commercial building surveillance, and bystander cell phones.
- Collecting Witness Statements: Eyewitness testimony is strong evidence in a truck accident case. Your lawyer will re-interview any witnesses who submitted statements to the police at the accident scene to confirm events and any new details. They may also identify and locate additional witnesses and collect their statements to build your case.
- Consulting Experts: Your attorney will consult experts relevant to your case to add weight to your claim. These experts provide critical insight into liability, your injuries, damages, and how they will affect you moving forward. Expert witness testimony is invaluable to your case and may include testimony from healthcare professionals, economists, and occupational and vocational therapists.
- Reconstructing Accidents: Accident reconstructionists work with truck accident attorneys to recreate the circumstances of your collision. They use principles from mathematics and physics to pinpoint exact moments of negligence and liability. Accident reconstruction specialists help liable insurers and juries understand your accident through visual representation and expert testimony.
The length of your attorney’s investigation varies depending on the nature of your truck accident, the number of liable parties, the severity of your injuries, and the length of your recovery. While your lawyer investigates, you must focus on recovery and rest. You have a limited time to prioritize your health before the law requires settling your case. Ask your attorney to clarify local statutes.
Valuing Case Damages
A significant service of truck accident lawyers is their comprehensive case valuation of damages. The process involves calculating the economic damages and non-economic losses you suffered due to the collision.
Your attorney will determine the figure they’ll demand from liable insurers after reviewing:
- All Healthcare Costs—including emergency services, surgical care, primary care, rehabilitation, disability, and future medical expenses.
- All Lost Income—including earnings or salary, bonuses, healthcare benefits, retirement or pension, and future earnings.
- All Property Damages—including vehicle-related repairs, vehicle replacement, and the loss of any personal property due to the crash.
- Non-Economic Damages—pain and chronic pain conditions, mental suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, loss of companionship, and psychological trauma, like PTSD.
- Wrongful Death Damages—loss of consortium, final healthcare expenses, funeral and burial costs, loss of parental guidance, loss of financial support, and loss of inheritance.
This is not an exhaustive list of damages. Your lawyer will calculate all losses relevant to your case. Keep receipts and invoices for out-of-pocket expenses, such as copays, prescriptions, and vehicle repairs.
Negotiating and Demanding a Fair Settlement
Negotiations between insurers and attorneys may involve several exchanges before agreeing on a settlement. Generally, liable insurance companies start low to minimize their losses. However, an experienced trucking company collision attorney is a skilled negotiator and will demand you get a fair settlement.
Consult a Trucking Company Accident Attorney
If a truck accident injures you or a loved one, you can hold the trucking company liable for your injuries and damages. Consult a reputable truck accident lawyer. They will listen with compassion, determine the validity of your claim, and fight for the compensation you deserve.
Jeffery Robinette was admitted to practice law in 1991 and is licensed in all levels of state and federal trial courts in West Virginia. Mr. Robinette is also licensed in all state and federal appeals courts in West Virginia and the United States Supreme Court. As a National Board Certified Trial Attorney who has handled hundreds of motor vehicle, injury, and construction defect claims and a leading author on insurance claims settlement issues and difficulties in West Virginia, Jeff Robinette is uniquely qualified to represent your best interest.
