Truck and commercial vehicle claims

A collision with a loaded tractor-trailer is still, at its base, a negligence claim. The negligence framework, comparative fault, and the deadlines are covered on car accident claims in California. This page is about what is different when the other vehicle is commercial — the federal rules, the electronic evidence, and the fact that several companies may share the blame.

It is general information, not legal advice, and it does not tell you whether you have a case.

The federal safety rules

Interstate commercial motor vehicles are governed by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations, issued by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. California adopts much of the same framework for intrastate carriers. These regulations create specific duties, and a violation that causes the type of harm the rule is meant to prevent can support a negligence claim in the same way a Vehicle Code violation does.

• Driver qualification. The carrier must confirm the driver is licensed for the vehicle, medically certified, and has an acceptable record, and must keep a qualification file (49 C.F.R. Part 391).
• Hours of service. Federal limits cap driving hours and require rest, to control fatigue (49 C.F.R. Part 395).
• Inspection, repair, and maintenance. The carrier must systematically inspect and maintain its vehicles and keep records (49 C.F.R. Part 396).
• Safe operation. Rules on driving, cargo securement, and equipment (49 C.F.R. Parts 392 and 393).

Sources: 49 C.F.R., subchapter B, Parts 350–399 (the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations); Parts 390–399 (the operational safety core, where the duties above sit); Part 391 (driver qualification); Part 395 (hours of service); Part 396 (inspection, repair, and maintenance).

More: FMCSA violations · hours of service.

Fatigue and hours-of-service data

Driver fatigue is a common factor in serious truck crashes, and it is one of the few that leaves a paper and electronic trail. Most commercial drivers must record their duty status with an electronic logging device, which captures driving time automatically. That data, cross-checked against fuel receipts, toll records, GPS, and delivery timestamps, can show a driver who was over hours or a carrier that dispatched a schedule that could not be run legally.

More: hours of service.

The electronic evidence

Modern commercial trucks record a great deal, and most of it is on a retention clock:

• Engine control module (ECM). The "black box" stores speed, throttle, brake application, and other parameters in the seconds before a hard event.
• Electronic logging device (ELD). Driving hours and duty status.
• Telematics and GPS. Location, speed, and route history held by the carrier or a third-party provider.
• Cameras. Forward-facing and in-cab video, often event-triggered and stored briefly.
• Dispatch and communication records. Messages between the driver and the carrier about the schedule and any problems.

Some of this is overwritten in days. Some carriers keep certain records for only a few months as a matter of policy. This is why a preservation demand — a formal letter putting the carrier and its insurer on notice to keep the data — usually needs to go out within days of the crash.

California does not have a separate lawsuit for destroyed evidence, but a court can impose discovery sanctions and instruct the jury that it may infer the lost evidence was unfavorable to the party that lost it. That threat is part of why early preservation letters matter.

More: black box and ECM data.

Who can be liable

In a car crash, the defendant is usually the other driver. In a truck crash, responsibility is often spread across a chain of businesses, and identifying each one matters because each may have its own insurance:

• The driver, for how the vehicle was operated.
• The motor carrier, for hiring, training, supervising, and dispatching the driver and for maintaining the vehicle. A carrier is generally responsible for the negligence of a driver operating under its federal authority, including many drivers labeled independent contractors.
• A broker, for how it selected the carrier.
• A shipper or loader, when improper loading caused a shift, an overweight condition, or a rollover.
• The owner or lessor of the tractor or the trailer, which may be different companies.
• A maintenance contractor, when a mechanical failure traces to negligent repair.

Sources: CACI No. 430 (causation: substantial factor) and CACI No. 431 (causation: multiple causes), Judicial Council of California Civil Jury Instructions (2026 edition).

More: who is liable — carrier, broker, shipper, lessor.

Claims against the carrier itself

Beyond being responsible for the driver's negligence, a carrier can be directly at fault for its own decisions. These theories often matter most when the driver's insurance alone will not cover a serious injury:

• Negligent hiring. Putting a driver on the road without checking a record that should have disqualified them.
• Negligent training and supervision. Failing to train for the equipment or route, or ignoring a pattern of violations.
• Negligent retention. Keeping a driver after learning of conduct that made them unsafe.
• Negligent entrustment. Handing a specific vehicle to a driver the carrier knew or should have known was unfit to operate it.
• Unsafe dispatch. Scheduling runs that cannot be completed within the legal driving-hour limits.

A carrier is generally responsible for a driver operating under its federal operating authority even when the driver is labeled an independent contractor, and even when the tractor carries a different company's name.

How these crashes happen

The physics are different. A loaded combination vehicle can weigh many times what a car weighs, needs much more distance to stop, has large blind spots, and behaves differently in a hard maneuver. That shows up in the crash types:

• Jackknife and rollover, when braking or a sudden maneuver breaks the tractor and trailer out of line.
• Underride, when a smaller vehicle slides under the trailer, often with severe consequences.
• Rear impacts, from following too closely for the stopping distance or from inattention.
• Wide-turn and blind-spot collisions, in and around intersections.
• Cargo failures, where unsecured or shifting loads cause or worsen the crash.

More: jackknife and underride · cargo and loading failures · semi vs. box truck.

Delivery trucks and box trucks

Not every commercial-vehicle claim involves an 18-wheeler. Delivery vans, step vans, box trucks, and straight trucks run by local and regional companies cause a large share of urban commercial crashes. Depending on weight and use, some federal rules apply and some do not, but the same core questions do: was the driver qualified and supervised, was the vehicle maintained, and what does the data show.

More: delivery and box trucks.

The investigation

A serious truck case is built on reconstruction, not just the police report. The work typically includes downloading the ECM before the vehicle is repaired, inspecting the tractor and trailer for mechanical condition, obtaining the driver qualification and hours-of-service files, subpoenaing telematics and dispatch records from the carrier and any third-party provider, and mapping the physical evidence at the scene against the data. An accident reconstruction expert and, where fatigue or maintenance is at issue, a trucking-safety expert are usually retained early. Because the carrier's team starts the same day, the injured person's side is playing catch-up from the start.

More: black box and ECM data.

Injuries in truck crashes

The weight difference means the injuries in a truck crash tend to be more severe than in a comparable car crash — spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury, multiple fractures, burns, and amputations are all more common. That raises the stakes on documenting future care needs and the long-term effect on work and daily life, and it makes the coverage question central. The injury pages cover how each is documented and disputed.

More: spinal cord injury · traumatic brain injury · all injuries.

Insurance

Interstate motor carriers must carry substantial minimum liability coverage — far more than the state minimum for a private car — and larger carriers carry layers above that. There may also be separate policies for the trailer owner, the broker, and any maintenance contractor. Identifying every policy in play is part of the early work, and it is often what determines whether a serious injury claim can be fully paid. Your own uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage can also apply if the responsible parties are underinsured for the harm.

Why these cases move fast

Two clocks run from the moment of the crash. One is the ordinary lawsuit deadline. The other, more urgent, is the evidence: data gets overwritten, vehicles get repaired and returned to service, drivers move to other carriers, and witnesses scatter. A carrier's rapid-response team is often at the scene the same day, and the injured person is usually days or weeks behind. Moving quickly to preserve evidence is the single biggest thing that separates a strong truck case from a weak one.

More: why these cases move fast.

Deadlines

For an injury claim, the deadline to file suit is generally two years from the crash (Code Civ. Proc., § 335.1). If a government vehicle or a dangerous road condition contributed, a written claim must be presented within six months, with six months to sue after it is rejected. Regardless of the deadline, the preservation of electronic evidence cannot wait.

Sources: Code Civ. Proc., § 335.1; Gov. Code, § 911.2; Gov. Code, § 945.6.

More: statute of limitations.

What to do after a truck crash

• Get medical care promptly and keep treating.
• Photograph both vehicles, the placards and company names on the truck, the license plates, and the scene.
• Get the driver's name, the carrier name, and the USDOT number if visible.
• Identify independent witnesses and nearby cameras.
• Do not give a recorded statement to the carrier's insurer before advice.
• Contact a lawyer quickly so a preservation letter can go out before the data is gone.

Common questions

Why is a truck accident claim different from a car accident claim?

Commercial trucks are governed by federal safety regulations covering driver qualification, driving hours, and vehicle maintenance. There is usually more insurance, more electronic data, and more than one company that may share responsibility — the carrier, a broker, a shipper, or the owner of the trailer or tractor.

What evidence exists in a truck crash that does not exist in a car crash?

The engine control module ("black box"), the electronic logging device that records driving hours, dispatch and GPS records, the driver qualification file, maintenance and inspection records, and often forward-facing or in-cab camera footage. Much of it can be overwritten or discarded on a schedule.

How fast do I need to act after a truck accident?

Quickly. Carriers are only required to keep some records for months, and vehicles are repaired and put back in service. A preservation letter should go out early so the key data is not lost. The lawsuit deadline is generally two years (Code Civ. Proc., § 335.1), but the evidence problem is more urgent than that.

Who can be held responsible in a truck crash?

Potentially the driver, the motor carrier that employed or contracted the driver, a broker that arranged the load, a shipper that loaded it, the owner or lessor of the tractor or trailer, and a maintenance contractor. Sorting this out is a core part of the case.