Who Can Be Held Responsible for a Truck Accident?
Unlike many car crashes, a semi-truck crash often involves several potentially responsible parties. The driver, the trucking company, the owner of the trailer, the company that loaded the cargo and the manufacturer of a defective part can each play a role. Sorting out legal responsibility is one of the first tasks for a tractor-trailer crash lawyer, because each responsible party may have separate insurance.
The truck driver
The starting point is usually the driver's conduct, such as speeding, following too closely, unsafe lane changes, distraction, impairment or fatigue. Commercial drivers must hold a commercial driver's license (CDL) under 49 CFR Part 383 and must follow the driving rules in 49 CFR Part 392, which include limits on texting and hand-held phone use. A violation of a safety rule does not prove fault on its own, but in many states it can serve as evidence of negligence, and some states treat it as negligence per se. A truck accident attorney will compare the driver's conduct with these rules.
Liability of the trucking company
When the driver is an employee acting within the scope of employment, the trucking company is usually responsible for the driver's negligence under vicarious liability, also known as respondeat superior. The company can also face direct claims for its own conduct, including negligent hiring, negligent retention, negligent supervision and negligent entrustment. Under the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations, a trucking company must keep a driver qualification file under 49 CFR Part 391, run drug and alcohol testing under 49 CFR Part 382, and inspect, repair and maintain its trucks under 49 CFR Part 396. Gaps in those records can support a direct claim against the company, and for a truck accident lawyer the driver qualification file is often one of the first documents requested.
Leased trucks and owner-operators
Many owner-operators lease their trucks to a trucking company. The leasing rules in 49 CFR Part 376 require the lease to give the trucking company exclusive possession, control and use of the equipment for the lease term, which can matter when the company argues the driver was an independent contractor. The USDOT number and company name on the cab, along with the bill of lading and the lease itself, help identify which company was operating the truck. An 18-wheeler accident attorney will usually request these documents early.
Cargo loaders and freight brokers
Shifting or falling cargo can contribute to rollovers and jackknife crashes. The cargo securement rules in 49 CFR Part 393 set standards for tiedowns and load securement, and a shipper or loading company that controlled how the freight was loaded may share responsibility in some cases. A freight broker that arranged the load raises separate questions, including federal preemption, and the answer depends on the claim and the facts.
Defective parts and repair work
If brakes, tires, steering parts or an underride guard fail because of a defect, the manufacturer may face a product liability claim. A maintenance contractor that performed faulty repairs can also be named. Telling a defect apart from poor maintenance usually requires inspecting the parts before they are repaired or scrapped.
How fault and insurance fit together
Federal financial responsibility rules in 49 CFR Part 387 require at least $750,000 in public liability coverage when for-hire interstate trucks with a gross vehicle weight rating of 10,001 pounds or more haul nonhazardous property, and certain hazardous materials require higher minimums. Most states use comparative negligence, which may reduce damages by the injured person's percentage of fault, while a few still follow contributory negligence. A truck accident lawyer looks at every party because one policy may not cover the full loss. This is general information rather than legal advice, and no result can be predicted from it.