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Should you sue the trucking company or the driver?

Should You Sue the Trucking Company or the Driver?

Should you sue the trucking company or the driver?

Trucking accidents can cause terrible injuries and catastrophic damage. The size difference between a semi truck and a typical car or RV is so great that victims often face severe or permanent injuries in these crashes.  If you or a loved one was injured in a trucking accident, the best way to get compensation for your injuries might be to sue in court.  However, this leads to a dilemma: if you need to sue the driver who hit you, can you sue the trucking company alongside them?  

How to Sue a Trucking Company?

When you or a loved one has been the victim of a trucking accident, seeking compensation for your suffering and expenses differs from that of a regular car accident. Based on the details of the case, your attorney may decide to file claim against the truck driver, the trucking company or both.

A truck accident can result in physical, emotional and financial damage that lasts far beyond the initial accident. Although the first priority is to get medical care for your injuries, it is important to understand and exercise your legal rights and the steps it takes to sue a trucking company. 

Contacting an Truck Accident Attorney may be the best way to help get your life back on track so you can move past this ordeal.

Claim Preparation, Step-By-Step

Step 1: Note all relevant contact information from the driver of the other vehicle or vehicles involved in the accident, including truck company and insurance information. Take photos of the accident and damage to your vehicle.

Step 2: Request the police report and keep all medical records, as well as receipts of any expenses associated with your injuries.

Step 3: Contact a truck accident attorney to help guide you through the process. Our law firm’s investigative team will retrieve the proper documents necessary, but the more information you have when we open your file, the better.

If you were immediately transported to the hospital for care, we understand you may not have been able to collect information at the scene of the accident. Once you decide to hire an attorney to pursue a claim, we can seek any pertinent information. Part of our job is to make this process as easy as possible for you. We understand the hardships you are facing.

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These are only the basics of preparing a trucking accident case. Each claim is different and requires detailed records, medical summaries and a full investigation into the cause of the accident and damage that occurred as a result.


Suing Trucking Companies for Semi Truck Accidents

Suing Trucking Companies for Semi Truck Accidents

In many cases, you can also sue the trucking company for mistakes that they made in their own right.  Trucking companies who own their trucks are responsible for maintaining and servicing the trucks in their fleet.  This means that accidents caused by mechanical issues can often be pinned on the company for failing to properly service their vehicles.  Additionally, trucking companies may cause issues by failing to follow regulations or hiring negligent drivers, allowing the court to hold them liable for their share of the harm you faced.

Many truck accidents are caused by equipment failure, from faulty headlights to dangerous tires to hitches and trailer issues that cause fishtailing or jackknife accidents.  Typically, these issues are directly under the trucking company’s area of control, not the driver’s.  In accidents involving equipment failure or mechanical issues, the driver might also be a victim, and the trucking company should pay the majority of the damages.



In cases where the trucking company violates trucking regulations or other laws, they can typically be held at least partly liable for their direct hand in causing the accident. Trucking companies are held to strict legal standards about how long their drivers can work, what certifications their driver must meet, and how much weight a truck can legally hold.  If trucking companies purposely overwork their drivers, hire drivers that don’t meet health and safety standards, or overload their vehicles, this can put everyone at risk, and the trucking company should be held directly responsible for injuries that come from these violations.

While a truck driver might be individually liable for causing an accident, their trucking company could share fault for negligent hiring or negligent retention.  If the company was on notice that the driver had a bad record of accidents or injuries or they had previous incidents with the same employee, putting that driver behind the wheel of one of their trucks would be a seriously dangerous move.  In these cases, the trucking company can be held partly liable for the crash for putting a dangerous driver on the road.

Lawyer Fee


Many personal injury lawyers charge a fee based upon whether you receive a monetary award. This is called a contingency fee. As long as you have a solid case, most truck accident attorneys will agree to a contingency fee. The typical amount ranges from 25 percent to 40 percent of the settlement amount. The greater severity of your injuries and the stronger your case is, the more willing most lawyers will be to negotiate the contingency fee.



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