Crashes with semi-trucks, tractor-trailers, and other commercial vehicles cause more serious injuries than typical car crashes — and they involve a different body of law. Latif Law represents truck-crash victims in Columbus and Central Ohio on a flat 33% contingency.
A loaded tractor-trailer can weigh 80,000 pounds — twenty times more than a typical passenger vehicle. The injuries are usually more serious, the insurance policies are much larger, and the legal framework includes the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (49 C.F.R. Parts 350–399). Federal rules govern driver hours of service, drug and alcohol testing, vehicle maintenance, driver qualifications, and load securement.
Multiple parties may share liability: the driver, the motor carrier (often the driver's employer), the broker, the shipper, the trailer owner, and any maintenance contractor. Identifying every responsible party often determines whether full compensation is available.
Evidence disappears fast. Electronic Logging Device (ELD) data, dashcam footage, driver qualification files, and vehicle inspection records can be overwritten or destroyed within days or weeks. A spoliation-of-evidence letter should go to the carrier immediately. We typically send these within 24–48 hours.
Federal rules limit driving to 11 hours after 10 hours off duty. ELD data shows when those rules are violated.
Phone use, GPS programming, eating. Carrier dashcam footage often captures the seconds before impact.
Shifted loads, overloaded trailers, or detached cargo. The shipper and loader may share liability.
Brake failures, bald tires, lighting failures. Inspection records show the carrier's maintenance history.
Carriers that hire unqualified drivers or skip training face direct liability beyond vicarious liability.
Federal rules require post-crash drug and alcohol testing in many circumstances.
Yes — often within hours. Major motor carriers have rapid-response teams that arrive at the scene quickly to collect evidence favorable to the carrier. Decline interviews and recorded statements until you have a lawyer.
Federal law requires interstate motor carriers to maintain at least $750,000 in liability coverage; carriers hauling certain hazardous materials require $5,000,000. Many carriers carry far more. The available coverage shapes case strategy from the start.
Carriers often label drivers as independent contractors to limit liability. Federal lease and control rules can override that label and impose liability on the carrier. This is a routine fight in trucking cases.
Truck cases typically take longer than ordinary auto cases — often 18–30 months from crash to resolution — because of the federal-law complexity and higher stakes. Pre-suit settlement is possible, but many cases require litigation.
Critical evidence is overwritten in days. Free consultation, flat 33% contingency.