The FMCSA regulations cover commercial trucking in detail — hours of service, driver qualifications, vehicle inspection, drug and alcohol testing, cargo securement, electronic logging. Violations of these regulations are direct evidence of negligence.
We obtain the trucking company’s compliance records — the driver’s logbook, the vehicle inspection record, the company’s safety record, the driver’s CDL history — early in the case. These records often establish liability beyond just the immediate accident facts.
Trucking companies are responsible for their drivers under vicarious liability and respondeat superior. Some trucking operations are also common carriers with elevated duty-of-care obligations.
Federal regulations require minimum levels of insurance for interstate trucking — generally $750,000 for non-hazardous cargo and $5 million for some hazardous cargoes. NY and many trucking companies carry far more than the minimum. The available coverage in a serious truck case often dwarfs what’s available in a car case.
Same New York personal injury damages categories. Truck cases often generate substantial damages because of the catastrophic nature of the injuries and the substantial available insurance coverage.
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
Commercial trucks are regulated by the federal FMCSA (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration) and create a much larger evidence universe than a standard car case. There are driver hours-of-service logs, ECM (engine control module) data (“black box”), pre/post-trip inspection records, dispatch communications, and the carrier’s safety rating. We preserve all of it immediately because most carriers’ retention windows are short — driver logs are typically held only 6 months under 49 CFR §395.8.
Usually not. Federal regulations (the “logo liability” / Carmack doctrine and 49 CFR §390) often make the carrier responsible for crashes involving placards bearing its DOT number, regardless of the driver’s classification. New York case law also limits the independent-contractor defense for commercial vehicles operating under a carrier’s authority.
A preservation letter is a written demand to the trucking company to preserve evidence — driver logs, ECM data, dispatch records, GPS data, maintenance and inspection records, post-crash drug-test results. Most carriers’ routine retention is 30 to 90 days for some records. We send the letter the day we’re retained. If the company spoliates evidence after a preservation letter, courts can issue an adverse-inference instruction at trial.
Yes. HAZMAT carriers have additional federal placarding, training, and routing requirements under 49 CFR Subchapter C. A HAZMAT carrier’s safety record and routing decisions become evidence. If the load contributed to the crash (fire, spill, weight-distribution failure), multiple parties can be defendants — the carrier, the shipper, the broker, and sometimes the loader.
Yes, through subpoenas. Carriers’ onboard computer systems often log driver activity. Cell phone records are subpoenable through the driver and their carrier. Federal Hours-of-Service rules ban texting and most handheld device use while driving a commercial vehicle (49 CFR §392.80, §392.82). A documented violation is powerful liability evidence.
