When trucking companies choose to cut corners or prioritize delivery schedules over safety, their negligence puts everyone on the road at risk. Collisions involving large commercial trucks and passenger vehicles can leave victims with catastrophic injuries, significant medical expenses, and permanent changes to their lives. To reduce accident risk, trucking companies are held federally responsible for properly training drivers, maintaining vehicles, and ensuring heavy cargo is adequately secured.
Continue reading to learn how trucking company negligence contributes to serious accidents, why proving liability is crucial, and what truck accident victims should know when pursuing legal compensation.
Why Negligent Accidents are Common in the Trucking Industry
Parts of the trucking industry take significant risks to move cargo. Some place overly demanding delivery schedules on drivers to cut corners and disregard safety procedures for profit.
Trucking company negligence that leads to accidents includes:
- Negligent hiring: Trucking companies are supposed to ensure their drivers are qualified to operate commercial vehicles. If companies fail to review a driver’s qualifications or driving history and an accident occurs, they can be held liable for putting an unsafe driver on the road.
- Inadequate training: Some trucking companies fail to provide drivers with adequate training to safely operate vehicles and adhere to federal safety requirements.
- Hours-of-Service violations: Federal law limits the amount of time drivers can remain on duty. Some companies allow or encourage drivers to exceed those limits, and that contributes to dangerous driver fatigue.
- Improper cargo securement: Unsecured or imbalanced cargo can cause vehicles to roll, interfere with braking, or create hazards on the road. Trucking companies are supposed to ensure cargo is properly secured.
- Poor maintenance: Trucking companies are supposed to inspect, maintain, and repair their vehicles. Neglecting regular repairs or upgrades to brakes, tires, or lights can lead to dangerous malfunctions.
When a trucking company fails to take these responsibilities seriously, collisions are often catastrophic. Pursuing a legal claim for trucking company negligence is the first step toward recovery and justice.
Truck Accident Lawsuits: What is the Statute of Limitations?
Wyoming gives victims a four-year deadline for filing personal injury claims, and only two years for wrongful death claims. If these deadlines are not met, accident victims lose the right to pursue legal action, making it critical to act quickly.
The Fitzgerald Law Firm handles trucking cases throughout the United States, and deadlines vary.
Filing promptly enables your legal team to recover relevant trucking company records before they are lost, edited, or overwritten. For these reasons, victims should consult an attorney as soon as possible.
What is Wyoming’s Modified Comparative Fault Rule?
Wyoming’s modified comparative fault law reduces compensation based on a claimant’s level of fault, but still allows claimants to recover compensation as long as they are found 50% or less responsible for causing the accident. This law can greatly influence the outcome of a personal injury case.
For example, if a claimant is awarded $1 million for a truck accident, but the jury finds them to be 20% at fault, their recovery will be reduced by 20% to $800,000. If a claimant is found to be more than 50% responsible, they cannot recover compensation.
Modified comparative fault makes proving liability extremely important in truck accident cases. The trucking company’s legal team will work to downplay their involvement in the accident and attempt to pass blame to the victim and others. That’s why it is vital to hire a truck accident attorney with experience handling comparative fault claims against powerful defendants.
How Lawyers Prove Trucking Company Liability
To establish whether a trucking company’s negligence contributed to an accident, attorneys must investigate the company’s actions leading up to the accident. Accessing company records can provide critical insight into whether a trucking company ignored federal safety regulations or allowed unsafe drivers or vehicles on the road.
Important records include:
- Delivery schedules
- Hours-of-Service logs
- Black Box data
- Driver background checks
- Driver training manuals and records
- Maintenance and inspection records
- Repair logs
Negligence may not be apparent right away. Your truck accident attorney should be prepared to gather all relevant evidence regarding the trucking company’s hiring practices, delivery schedules, and vehicle maintenance to establish company liability.
Discuss Your Case with a Truck Accident Attorney
Truck accident cases involving company negligence can be extremely complex, with detailed investigations, powerful insurers, and the challenge of proving liability. Each truck accident is unique and requires a thorough analysis of the circumstances leading up to the crash, damage evaluation, and negotiations with aggressive insurance companies.
The Fitzgerald Law Firm has more than 40 years of experience representing clients involved in serious truck accidents. Our founder, Jim Fitzgerald, has been selected to The Trucking Trial Lawyers Association – Top 10, which recognizes the top 10 truck accident attorneys in each state based on excellence in the field. He holds the record for the highest number of verdicts ever upheld on appeal in the Wyoming Supreme Court for personal injuries or wrongful death.
If you or a loved one has been injured in a truck accident, our attorneys are here to help. Contact The Fitzgerald Law Firm today.
References:
International Road Transport Union: Global Truck Driver Shortage
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration: Driver Qualifications
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration: Hours of Service Limits
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration: Cargo Securement