Trucks
Truck crashes are not car crashes
A truck crash leaves a paper trail, and some of it is erased on a schedule.
Refinery traffic, port freight and the coast highways keep heavy trucks on the road at all hours. After a crash, the driver's hours, the camera video and the truck's data can disappear within weeks.
We send the carrier a preservation letter in the first days, then build the claim from the carrier's own records, not only from the police report.
What we ask for
Driver's hours and electronic logs
Dash and cab camera video
Maintenance and inspection records
Hiring and training files
Load and weight sheets
Who
Who can be responsible besides the driver
The trucking company
For its hiring, its schedules, and trucks it sent out in poor repair.
The company that loaded the truck
An overloaded or badly secured load changes how a truck brakes and turns.
A broker or shipper
Sometimes, when it picked a carrier it should have known was unsafe.
A parts maker
When a failed brake, tire or coupling played a part.
Questions
Questions about truck claims
Do I need the police report before I call?
No. Call as soon as you can. Video and electronic records are often overwritten on a short schedule, and a letter asking the carrier to keep them works best when it goes out early.
The driver says it was my fault.
That is one account. Logs, video and the truck's data often tell a fuller story, and fault can be shared. We look at the records before drawing a conclusion.
Does a claim end up in a courtroom?
Most claims resolve without a trial. We prepare each one as if it might be filed, because that is what makes a fair outcome likely.