Cases involving commercial trucks and 18 wheelers are fundamentally different from ordinary automobile accident claims. Trucking companies are governed by extensive federal safety regulations enforced through the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration(FMCSA), including rules involving driver fatigue, hours-of-service compliance, maintenance, cargo securement, and inspection requirements.
According to federal crash statistics, thousands of people are killed each year in large truck collisions nationwide. In many serious trucking cases, defense teams, investigators, and insurance representatives are deployed within hours of the crash to begin protecting the company.
Critical evidence may include black box data, ECM downloads, driver qualification files, dispatch communications, maintenance records, GPS tracking data, dash camera footage, and toxicology evidence. Much of this evidence can disappear quickly if it is not preserved properly.
An attorney inexperienced in trucking litigation may not recognize the federal regulations, preservation issues, and corporate liability theories that frequently determine the outcome of these cases.
