Why a truck case is not a bigger car case
A car crash is two drivers and two insurance policies. A truck crash is a federally regulated business, a fleet, a maintenance contractor, a broker, a shipper, and a legal team whose entire job is to make this go away cheaply.
They are not disorganized. They have a rapid response protocol, and it activates the moment the driver calls it in. A car accident lawyer who treats your case like a fender bender will lose the evidence that decides it, and will not even know it happened.
The truck’s black box is being overwritten as you read this
Every commercial truck carries an electronic logging device. It records speed, braking, hours the driver had been behind the wheel, and whether he was legally allowed to be driving at all. Many systems overwrite that data on a rolling cycle, sometimes in a matter of days.
The same goes for the dashcam footage, the driver’s qualification file, the maintenance records, the dispatch messages, and the cargo weight tickets.
Within days of taking a truck case, we send a spoliation letter. It is a formal legal demand that the trucking company preserve all of it, and it puts them on notice that destroying it now carries consequences in court.
If nobody sends that letter, the evidence legally goes away. And then it is your word against a professional driver’s.
Six people can be liable. Most lawyers sue one.
The driver
Fatigue, speed, distraction, impairment, or simply being unqualified.
The trucking company
They hired him. They dispatched him. They may have pushed a schedule that made the hours-of-service rules impossible to follow.
The broker or shipper
Who selected this carrier, and did they check its safety record?
The maintenance contractor
Brakes, tires, lighting. Failure here is common and documented.
The trailer owner
Often a different company than the one that owns the cab.
The cargo loader
Improperly secured or overweight loads cause rollovers and jackknifes.
Each of those is a separate insurance policy. Finding all of them is the difference between a settlement that covers your medical bills and one that covers your life.
The crashes we handle
Jackknife · Underride · Rear-ended by a semi · Wide-turn squeeze · Blind spot / no-zone · Cargo spill and rollover · Delivery vans, including Amazon DSP and FedEx Ground contractor vehicles, where the corporate structure is deliberately built to put distance between the driver and the company whose name is on the van. We know how to close that distance.
Where this happens in North Jersey
I-80. Route 21. Route 3. Route 46. The Turnpike. The warehouse traffic feeding the Meadowlands and the Port. North Jersey moves an enormous share of the freight for the entire Northeast, and it moves it through the towns people live in.
Common questions
How long do I have to file a truck accident claim in New Jersey?
Generally two years from the date of the crash. But if a government vehicle or a public entity is involved, you may have as little as 90 days to file a notice of claim. Do not assume you have time.
The trucking company’s insurer already called me and offered a settlement. Should I take it?
They moved fast for a reason. An early offer arrives before you know the full extent of your injuries, and once you sign, it is over. Talk to a lawyer first. That call is free.
What if I was partly at fault?
New Jersey uses comparative negligence. You can still recover as long as you were not more than 50% responsible, though your recovery is reduced by your share of the fault. Insurance companies know this and will work hard to inflate your percentage.
How much does it cost to hire you?
Nothing up front. We work on contingency, which means we are paid a percentage of what we recover, and if we recover nothing, you owe no fee.