Truck Unloading Accidents: More Than Meets The Eye

Over the years, we have handled several trucking-related cases involving a completely stationary truck. We all see news stories and articles about highway truck crashes that involve serious injuries. But there are many more truck-related injuries that never make the local news.

Forklift rollaway accidents

Often, these underreported incidents occur at warehouse or construction site loading areas when trucks are being loaded and offloaded. One of the most common types of loading or unloading injuries are what we call forklift or trailer rollaway cases.

In these cases, the truck driver or warehouse personnel fail to lock the truck’s brakes or place rubber chocks under the truck’s wheels. Both of those securement methods ensure that the trailer will not roll away from the dock when several-thousand-pound forklift drives onto the trailer to load or unload it.

For more information on these types of injuries, see our blog post about forklift rollaway injuries.

Truck unloading injury cases

Another type of truck-related injury involves unloading trucks when mechanical aids such as forklifts are unavailable. Several years ago, we represented a truck driver who was severely and permanently injured when he was attempting to unload a large commercial crate off the back of his truck. It was one of the first major trucking-related cases I ever handled.

In that case, our client made a delivery to a construction site in suburban Chicago.  In the process, he helped the construction workers unload his delivery.

Our client pulled a commercial shipping crate toward the back of the delivery truck. When he pulled on the wood crate, one of the boards snapped and his momentum carried him out the back of his truck.  His left leg landed on the concrete below. The full weight of his body caused permanent injuries in his leg and knee. 

Over the next four years, our client underwent five surgeries, over 100 therapy sessions, and lived with daily pain and discomfort. 

Semi-truck unloading cases and third party liability

Our client was the truck driver injured during the course of his employment. His case may seem like an obvious worker’s compensation case at first glance. If that was your instinct, you would be right.

We filed the driver’s worker’s compensation case so that he was able to obtain all of the necessary medical treatment for his catastrophic injury. The worker’s compensation insurer also paid him temporary total disability (TTD) benefits to help him survive financially while he was unable to work for years after the incident.

However, our investigation revealed that there was more to our client’s case than just a worker’s compensation case. We retained one of the preeminent commercial packaging experts in the country. That expert helped identify all of the flaws in the commercial shipping crate design and manufacturing that led to the crate braking when moved.

We also hired an unloading expert that testified regarding the receiver’s (the contractor in charge of receiving deliveries at the site) contractual duties and obligations in making sure the deliveries were unloaded safely.

Finally, we added the third-party logistics broker that arranged the entire shipment as a defendant. The broker made promises to manage the entire load but made no actual efforts to contact the receiver or ensure that they had the equipment necessary to safely unload the truck.

Ultimately, all three defendants settled at trial for a confidential seven-figure amount. The amount our client was able to recover FAR exceeded what would have been available to him had we only filed a worker’s compensation claim.

The settlement we were able to recover will fully provide for all of his future medical needs.

Injured in a truck unloading accident? We can help.

Fortunately, our client hired a group of attorneys that turn over every leaf to maximize recovery for their clients.

If you have been injured in an unloading accident, there may be more to your case than meets the eye. Please do not hesitate to contact us for a free consultation. Call us at (312) 578-9501 or fill out the form at the bottom of the page.