Truck accidents in New York and New Jersey.
A collision with a tractor-trailer or a commercial van is not a bigger version of a car crash. There is a driver, a trucking company, often a cargo loader and a maintenance contractor, and each of them has insurance and lawyers. We represent injured people in New York and New Jersey, and we move early on a truck case, because the records that matter do not stay around.
In a truck case, the evidence starts disappearing immediately.
Electronic logs, driver hours, inspection records and camera footage can be overwritten or destroyed on a routine schedule. The trucking company’s investigators are often at the scene the same day. Get medical care first, then get someone working on the records.
You won’t get all of this right, and you don’t have to. Do what you can, and we’ll work with what you have.
Get medical care and keep the record
Get checked over and keep everything. Truck collisions produce injuries that take time to show their full extent — spinal injuries, head injuries, internal injuries. Follow the treatment plan you’re given.
Write down every name on the truck
The company name and lettering on the cab and the trailer, the US DOT number, the plate, the driver’s name, the trailer number. Several companies are often involved, and the one painted on the door is not always the one responsible.
Move before the records are gone
A lawyer can send a letter requiring the company to preserve logs, inspection records, vehicle data and footage. That letter has to arrive before the records are routinely deleted. It is the main reason not to wait on a truck case.
Most New Jersey injury claims have to be filed within two years, and most New York claims within three. If a city, a state agency or a public authority is involved, formal notice can be due within 90 days. Miss the deadline and the claim is usually gone, however strong it was.
How long you have to bring a claimThis page is general information. It is not medical or legal advice for your situation.
A truck crash usually involves more than the driver.
The driver and the companies behind them
The driver, the carrier they work for, the company that owned the trailer, the broker who arranged the load, the business whose goods were on board. Responsibility can sit with any of them, and they rarely agree about which.
Hours, training and federal safety rules
Commercial drivers work under federal rules covering driving hours, rest, drug and alcohol testing, licensing and vehicle inspection. Where those rules were broken, the logs and the paperwork usually show it.
Maintenance, parts and how the load was packed
Brake failures, worn tires, a trailer loaded badly or secured poorly. Maintenance records and loading paperwork show who was supposed to check, and whether they did.
If someone else was responsible, these are the losses a claim is meant to put right.
Medical treatment
The care you have already had, and the care the evidence says you are still going to need.
Lost income
Time off work now, and the earnings you lose if you cannot go back to what you did before.
The effect on your life
Pain, the things you can no longer do, and how long that is expected to last. This is the part with no invoice attached, and the part an insurer values lowest.
What any individual claim is worth depends on its own facts, and no one can tell you that from a web page.
A truck case needs a real investigation, not a phone call.
Jim Hunt trained at one of the largest law firms in the world. Our attorneys came from the other side of claims like yours — corporate defense and insurance defense in New York City — and they know where a defense lawyer looks to cut a claim down.
We take on fewer cases than most firms, on purpose. That means you deal with an attorney rather than a case handler, your calls get returned, and the person answering knows your file. We’ll handle the insurer so you don’t have to, and we’ll work on getting your medical bills sorted out while the claim runs. You pay nothing unless we recover money for you.
What happens when you call.
Questions people ask after an injury.
Every situation is different. If yours isn’t here, ask us. There’s no cost to ask.
Why is a truck case different from a car crash?
More parties, more insurance, more rules, and more evidence that can vanish. A car crash usually comes down to two drivers. A truck crash can involve four companies, federal safety regulations, and electronic data that has to be demanded in writing before it is overwritten.
I don’t know which company owned the truck.
That is normal, and finding out is our job. The DOT number, the plate, the police report and the trailer markings all lead somewhere. If you photographed the truck, that helps a great deal.
Should I wait for the trucking company’s investigation?
No. Their investigators work for them. They will be gathering evidence from day one, and they are not obliged to share what they find or to keep anything you have not asked them to keep.
James expedited the process and got me what I deserved much quicker than expected… They wound up settling the matter for what the full policy allowed within one year which is normally very hard to do.
— Rose P., Google review
Read more client reviewsPrior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Results may vary depending on your particular facts and legal circumstance. Testimonials are reviews left by actual clients on the firm’s public Google profile, in the client’s own words and shortened in places; clients are not compensated for reviews. A testimonial is not a guarantee or prediction about your case. Read our full disclaimer.
Not a truck accident?
If yours is closer to one of these, start there instead.