Who Can Be Held Liable in a Commercial Trucking Accident?

There’s often a lot of people that can be held liable in a commercial trucking accident. It’s often a web of defendants from the truck driver for negligent driving, fatigue, or violations to the trucking company that could be responsible for negligent hiring, negligent training, negligent supervision, or even pushing drivers beyond their legal hours. The cargo company can also be held responsible if there’s improper loading that caused the accident.

The maintenance companies can be held responsible for faulty repairs, the truck or parts manufacturer for defective equipment, even the broker who arranged the shipment if they hired an unsafe carrier. Also, even the shipper can be liable for hazardous cargo issues. We investigate everyone in the chain because multiple defendants mean multiple insurance policies and pocketbooks for us to dive into. The trucking company often tries to claim the driver was an independent contractor. That’s a way to try and avoid liability. We look at the real relationship, not just what the paperwork says.