Trucking Company Negligence

Evansville Trucking Company Negligence Lawyer

Trucking companies are obligated to protect the safety of other drivers by ensuring that their trucks are well-maintained, that their drivers are properly trained, and that their drivers adhere to Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) regulations. While the maximum weight for semi-trucks is 80,000 pounds, having even half that weight involved in an accident can result in major property damage and severe injuries or fatalities.

Sometimes, truckers themselves are negligent in their driving and cause serious accidents.

The FMCSA has strict safety regulations for commercial trucking companies that cover everything from the training of every individual truck driver to the inspection and maintenance of the vehicle. When an accident happens because the trucking company is negligent, they can be held liable.

If you’ve been injured in a truck accident, you need to contact an experienced trucking company negligence attorney today. At Chapman Injury Lawyers, we have years of experience in truck accident cases, and we know how to go about proving a trucking company was at fault in your accident.

Call us today at (812) 426-0600 for a free consultation about your semi-truck accident.

Why You Need a Trucking Company Negligence Attorney

Commercial trucking companies have a large team of investigators and lawyers on retention that respond immediately to an accident involving a truck to attempt to prove that their driver was not at fault. They want to take control of the situation and take whatever legal measures they can to limit their liability.

And it’s not just the trucking company that you have to deal with. Their insurance company will also do everything they can to limit what they have to pay in settlements. The insurance company will probably contact you shortly after the truck accident and offer a one-time settlement so that you don’t pursue full and fair compensation.

Contact a truck accident lawyer as soon as you can after your accident. A knowledgeable truck accident lawyer can fight the trucking company and insurance team with their own team of experienced investigators and lawyers.

At Chapman Injury Lawyers, we will launch an aggressive investigation into your truck accident, thoroughly examining every piece of evidence to determine all the negligent parties so that we can pursue compensation from all of them to give you the justice you deserve. We will work for you to prove that the trucking company’s negligence caused your accident and subsequent injuries.

Types of Trucking Company Negligence

There are many guidelines and laws that trucking companies have to follow to maintain safety standards. There are many ways that trucking companies can be negligent, resulting in serious accidents, including:

• Driver employment – Trucking companies are supposed to do comprehensive background checks on each driver they hire. The trucking companies have to ensure that their drivers have a valid commercial driver’s license. They also need to make sure that their drivers have a clean driving record, have an adequate level of experience in driving a semi-truck, and have completed all educational requirements.
• Training and oversight – Trucking companies often grow at an exponential rate. They need drivers to fill their routes, and because of this need, they often cut corners when it comes to training. These companies are responsible for ensuring that their drivers complete regular training seminars and that they are properly supervised by qualified safety directors. When the companies fail to provide adequate training and proper oversight, they are acting negligently.
• Loading – Trucks must be loaded so that the cargo is safely secured and that weight is evenly distributed. Improperly loaded items can lead to road debris and accidents. In addition, every truck has a specific weight limit that can’t be safely exceeded. When those weight limits are ignored, the truck itself is not safe to drive.
• Maintenance – When the physical condition of a truck is overlooked, serious accidents can occur. Because of the weight and consistent wear and tear, truck parts need to be fixed or replaced at a faster rate than other vehicles.
• Driver fatigue – The physical and mental exertion that it takes to drive a large commercial vehicle can very easily lead to driver fatigue. Drivers are on the road for long periods of time and may get inadequate sleep. Every trucking company has dispatchers that are supposed to monitor each driver’s road time, but a negligent company may push their drivers to extend past those safe limits in order to make delivery deadlines.

If you have been injured in a truck accident, contact us today at (812) 426-0600, and we’ll start investigating whether the trucking company’s negligence played a role in the accident.

Common Truck Maintenance Negligence

A large portion of truck accidents are caused by maintenance negligence. It’s the responsibility of the driver and the company to stay current with vehicle inspections, to fix maintenance issues, and to replace parts as necessary.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has established minimal truck maintenance requirements for trucking companies. This includes a set schedule of maintenance and detailed records on any and all maintenance. Any leased vehicle must follow these standards once the company has used them for more than thirty days.

All truck drivers are also required by law to follow specific standards. They must complete pre-trip inspections of their vehicles before starting a route. Following that, they must check the vehicle once within the first 50 miles of a trip and then again after driving 150 miles or at the three-hour mark. In addition, every trucker has to detail their maintenance status at the end of every day.

Common truck maintenance issues include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Tire blowout, due to negligent tire pressure inspection or tread wear
• Brake failure
• Transmission issues
• Rusted or broken belts
• Battery failure
• Steering mechanism failure
• Broken coupling devices
• Damaged headlights

Federal Trucking Regulations

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration not only establishes maintenance requirements but also creates a general governing of trucking regulations. These regulations include driver-specific law requirements and laws for the trucks themselves.

Driver-specific regulations include the following:

• Physical requirements – Truck drivers must pass a physical exam every two years. They must also pass their specialized training courses.
• Alcohol and drugs – Drivers cannot have alcohol or drugs that can affect their abilities within eight hours of a shift. Furthermore, they cannot carry alcohol in their truck unless it’s cargo. Drivers can also be drug-tested randomly and after any accident they are involved in.
• Licenses – Drivers must carry a valid license with them at all times. Hazardous material drivers must pass further testing and have additional licenses.
• Driving time – Truck drivers can drive 11 hours per shift and then they must take 10 hours off the road. They must also keep a detailed log of driving times.

Truck-specific regulations are as followed:

• Cargo – Cargo must be secured in a specific manner for optimal safety. Weight limits must be acceptable as well.
• Markings – Each truck must have specific identity markings, such as their USDOT number and any hazardous warnings.
• Hazardous Material – Any truck carrying hazardous material has its own additional regulations and permissions.

Overall, there are many stringent laws and regulations put in place to ensure truck safety. When these regulations are ignored or corners are cut by trucking companies or truck drivers, accidents happen, and people can get seriously hurt.

Common Truck Accident Injuries

Colliding with a truck that weighs 20 to 30 times what your passenger vehicle weighs can cause life-threatening and sometimes fatal injuries. An accident caused by a trucking company’s negligence can leave you with insurmountable medical bills, lost wages, lost potential income, permanent disability, and emotional and mental trauma.

Common truck accident injuries can include the following:

• Head trauma – A head injury can range from whiplash to traumatic brain injuries that will need lifelong treatment.
• Spinal injuries – A spinal injury is an especially traumatic injury that oftentimes leads to paralysis.
• Lacerations and broken bones – Cuts, scrapes, and broken bones don’t often necessitate major surgery. However, these injuries can lead to months of physical therapy and the inability to work.
• Back and neck injuries – These injuries can be very serious in that you can lose range of motion and not be able to work for a long time, if ever.
• Wrongful death – Because of the size of commercial vehicles, these types of auto accidents are often more prone to fatal results. In 2017 alone, 4,102 people died in trucking accidents.

Contact Us Today

If you or a loved one are the victims of a truck accident-related injury, it’s important to contact an attorney as soon as possible. Many trucking companies share responsibility for negligence in these accidents. Don’t let a negligent trucking company affect your life any more than it already has.

At Chapman Injury Lawyers, we know how to face the big trucking companies and prove that their negligence caused your accident. An Evansville trucking company negligent lawyer can get you the compensation you’re entitled to in order to cover your medical bills, pain and suffering, lost wages, long-term injuries, physical therapy, and more.

Call us today at (812) 426-0600 to set up a free and confidential consultation.