What companies can be held liable for truck accidents?

At over 80,000 pounds fully loaded, a tractor-trailer weighs at least 26 times more than the average passenger car.  Unsurprisingly then, when a tractor-trailer driver loses control of his truck on a congested highway, the damage can be tremendous. 

In many truck accidents, multiple vehicles will be struck, sometimes with several passengers in each.  Often, the injuries sustained by the blameless motorists or passengers are severe, including brain damage, paralysis, or even death. 

Nearly three times as many people die in truck accidents as they die in aviation, boating, and railroad accidents combined.[1]  Large trucks make up only about 5% of all vehicles on the roadway, yet are involved in over 12% of all fatal crashes.[2]  A passenger in a vehicle that collides with a semi-truck is five times more likely to die than the truck driver.[3]

Proving liability is easy, getting compensation is hard

Proving liability against the truck driver in these situations is usually easy. The driver will often plead guilty to traffic violations or will admit liability after a lawsuit is filed.  Finding liability against the motor carrier under whose authority the driver was operating is often relatively easy as well. 

Under federal law, if a motor carrier’s name and licensing authority are displayed on a tractor-trailer, that carrier is automatically deemed to be in exclusive possession and control of the tractor-trailer and is vicariously liable for the driver’s negligence.[4]

The difficult part comes in finding sufficient insurance coverage or other assets to satisfy a judgment, or multiple judgments, against the driver and carrier.  

While there are some large motor carriers operating nationwide, the vast majority of trucks on the road belong to small motor carriers that may only have one or two trucks to their name.  Some estimate that 85% of all motor carriers own less than five trucks.[5] 

The insurance coverage available often isn’t enough for victims of truck accidents

These small motor carriers will only have the minimum amount of insurance required by law and will have no recoverable assets. The insurance minimum, usually $1 million, may at first sound like a lot of insurance coverage.

However, the $1 million in coverage is typically offered per accident, not per person. Therefore, the $1 million in coverage available may have to spread across 10, 15, or even 20 people, each of whom suffered devastating injuries.

Who else can be held responsible for a truck crash?

This issue begs the question: Is anyone else responsible?  Attorneys should never look to assign blame to an innocent party. But if another entity is responsible for an accident, either directly or vicariously, then that company or person should be held responsible to pay its fair share of a judgment. 

For instance, a so-called “broker” or “third-party logistics” company that arranges for transportation on behalf of other companies may be a responsible party. To do so, you need to demonstrate that the broker had a right to control the truck driver’s actions.  

There may also be a liability on the part of a company that may have made an agreement to share profits or losses or agree to mutually control a driver or motor carrier, under a joint venture theory. 

Anyone injured in a truck accident should look for attorneys that will explore all avenues of recovery, and not just limit their investigation to the driver and motor carrier.  

At Shannon Law Group, we have developed investigation and litigation strategies to ensure that every responsible party for an accident pays its fair share of damages to those injured in semi-truck crashes.

[1] Review of U.S. Civil Aviation Accidents 2010, NTSB, October 2012; Federal Railroad Administration Office of Safety Analysis 2013; Large Truck Crash Overview 2010; Recreational Boating Statistics 2010, US Coast Guard, June 2011. 

[2] Large Truck Crash Overview 2010, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) Department of Transportation (DOT), June 2012. 

[3] Fatal Crashes: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS).

[4] See e.g. Fulton v. Terra Cotta Truck Serv., Inc., 266 Ill.App.3d 609, 614 (Ill.App.Ct. 1994); 49 C.F.R. §376.12.  (for a full discussion of this concept, see David N. Nissenberg, The Law of Commercial Trucking: Damages to Person and Property §7-16 (1994)).

[5] Statement of William A. Bronrott, Deputy Administrator for the FMCSA USDOT before the House Committee on Small Business.