Commercial vehicles
Collisions with trucks and commercial vehicles in Alabama
A collision with a truck is a claim against a business, and the business has been keeping records about its driver and its vehicle since long before the crash.
What happens next
The first call
Free and confidential: what happened, who was hurt, and whether an insurer has already asked you for a recorded statement.
If there is a claim
The office writes to the insurers and the other driver to have the photographs, the vehicle data and the repair records preserved.
The agreement
The contingency fee and how case costs are handled are set out in a written agreement, signed only once you have read it.
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Two passenger cars collide and there are usually two drivers, two insurers and two vehicles to look at. A collision with a tractor-trailer, a box truck or a delivery van brings in a company as well: the carrier that employed or contracted the driver, often a separate owner of the trailer, sometimes a shipper that loaded it and a maintenance contractor that last inspected the brakes.
Most of those businesses operate under the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations, which require them to keep records a passenger car never generates — the driver’s hours, the driver’s qualification file, inspection and repair logs, and drug and alcohol testing. Those records are the closest thing a truck collision has to an independent witness, and most of them are only required to be kept for a limited time.
Commercial vehicles
What a carrier holds that a car owner does not
Each of these is a document the carrier is required to create. Whether it still exists by the time anyone asks is a separate question.
- Hours-of-service records
- Most interstate drivers log their hours on an electronic logging device. Carriers are generally required to keep those records for six months, which is shorter than many claims take to begin.
- The driver qualification file
- License history, medical certification, prior employers and road test. It answers whether the carrier knew, or should have known, something about the person it put behind the wheel.
- Inspection and maintenance records
- Pre-trip and post-trip inspection reports, repair orders and periodic inspections. Brake and tire condition are recurring questions, and these are where the answers are written down.
- Post-crash testing
- Federal rules require drug and alcohol testing after certain crashes, within a short window. Whether the test was done, and when, is itself a record.
- The truck’s own data
- Engine control modules, telematics and forward-facing cameras record speed, braking and following distance. Many systems overwrite themselves as the truck keeps working.
Why the first letter matters more here
A carrier with a truck back on the road has no reason to pull a data module or set aside a dashcam file unless someone asks. A preservation letter sent in the first days after a collision identifies each category of record and asks that it be kept, and it puts the carrier on notice that destroying it can be held against it later.
The insurance picture is also different. Federal law sets minimum liability coverage for most interstate freight carriers starting at $750,000, far above Alabama’s minimum for a passenger car, and a carrier may carry more than one policy. Finding out which policies exist, and which of the companies involved each one covers, is one of the first pieces of work in any truck claim.
This is a general description of Alabama law and federal motor carrier regulation, provided for information. It is not legal advice, it does not address the facts of any particular case, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.
Questions
Questions about truck collision claims
Who is responsible when a truck driver causes a collision?
Usually the driver and the carrier the driver was working for. Depending on the facts, the owner of the trailer, the company that loaded the cargo or a maintenance contractor can also be involved. Working out which businesses were part of the trip is most of the early investigation.
Does Alabama’s contributory negligence rule apply to truck collisions?
Yes. The same rule applies whether the other vehicle was a car or an eighteen-wheeler: if the injured person is found to have contributed to the collision at all, recovery can be barred. A carrier’s insurer knows that, which is why it may contact you quickly.
The trucking company’s insurer has called me. What should I do?
You do not have to give the carrier’s insurer a recorded statement. It is reasonable to take their contact details and say you will follow up once you have spoken with a lawyer. Anything said in that call can be used to argue that you were partly at fault.
How long do I have to bring a claim?
Alabama generally allows two years from the date of the injury, and two years from the date of death for a wrongful death claim. The records described on this page are usually kept for much less time than that, which is why the practical deadline is shorter.
Hit by a truck or a commercial vehicle?
The first conversation is free and confidential.
Contact
Tell us what happened
Call, or write to us
If it is urgent, call — (334) 555-0142. If it is easier to write it down, the form below reaches the firm.
What happens next
The first call
Free and confidential: what happened, who was hurt, and whether an insurer has already asked you for a recorded statement.
If there is a claim
The office writes to the insurers and the other driver to have the photographs, the vehicle data and the repair records preserved.
The agreement
The contingency fee and how case costs are handled are set out in a written agreement, signed only once you have read it.