Hurt in a Commercial Truck Crash? Learn Your Options With a Free Case Review

What a Commercial Truck Crash Claim Is and Who It Is For

A commercial truck crash claim asks for money after a large commercial vehicle injures someone or causes a death. This page explains commercial truck crash claims Georgia families and injured drivers should understand before they talk with an insurer. The claim is civil, separate from any criminal case, and can name the driver, the trucking company (the motor carrier), and sometimes other companies tied to the trip.

These claims usually involve serious harm. Examples include fractures, hospital stays, traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, total-loss crashes, and wrongful death. Ugwonali Law Group represents people hurt in truck and car crashes across metro Atlanta and statewide in Georgia.

Truck cases differ from ordinary car claims. Motor carriers follow federal safety rules and keep records that a typical driver does not. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration publishes the federal hours-of-service rules that apply to them. For background, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety publishes research on large truck crash deaths. You can also read our truck accident resource hub.

Who Can Be Held Responsible in a Georgia Truck Crash

In many cases, yes, you can sue a trucking company after a crash. The answer depends on the facts. A truck being involved does not decide responsibility on its own.

Parties that may be responsible include:

• The driver whose conduct caused the crash
• The motor carrier that employed or dispatched the driver
• The vehicle owner or lessor
• The company that loaded or secured the cargo
• A maintenance or repair contractor whose work failed
• A broker that selected the carrier

A carrier can answer for its own choices, such as whom it hires, trains, and keeps behind the wheel. It can also answer for work the driver does for it. This page does not cover claims against a government entity, which follow different rules.

How Liability Is Proven Against a Carrier

Fault is proven with evidence, not assumptions. Federal rules set those standards, but a violation must connect to what happened in your crash.

Key records include:

• Electronic logs. A motor carrier must install and require each of its drivers to use an electronic logging device (ELD) to record the driver’s duty status, under § 395.8.
• Log retention. Carriers must keep these records for at least six months from receipt. That is a minimum, so early preservation requests matter.
• Driver qualification file. A motor carrier must maintain a driver qualification file for each driver it employs, and that file must be retained for as long as the driver is employed by that motor carrier and for three years thereafter, under § 391.51.
• Post-accident testing. As soon as practicable after an occurrence involving a commercial motor vehicle operating on a public road in commerce, each employer must test for alcohol certain of its surviving drivers, as specified in § 382.303.
• Other evidence. Maintenance and inspection logs, dash camera and telematics data, bills of lading, and the police crash report.

Send a written preservation request early. It tells the carrier to keep these items. The defense may argue that another driver or the road caused the crash, so the file must be built carefully.

Common Causes That Show Up in Carrier Claims

Each cause below ties to a record that can help show it. Fatigue has some of the clearest federal limits.

Fatigue and hours of service. A driver may not drive without first taking 10 consecutive hours off duty. A driver may not drive after a 14-hour period that began when coming on duty. Within that period, a driver may drive a total of 11 hours (§ 395.3). Logs can show whether these limits were followed.

Speeding, reckless driving, distraction, and impairment. These often leave traces in electronic data, dash camera footage, the crash report, and post-accident test results.

Improper cargo loading. Poorly secured loads can shift or fall. Loading records, bills of lading, and photos can show what was loaded and how.

Maintenance and training. Brake and tire problems can appear in maintenance records. Training and supervision questions can be checked against the driver’s qualification file.

Damages, Insurance Coverage, and What Drives a Claim’s Value

Damages are the losses the crash caused. Value depends on proof, not a formula.

Common categories include:

• Medical bills, past and future
• Lost wages and lost ability to earn
• Pain and suffering
• In a wrongful death case, Georgia law allows recovery of the full value of the decedent’s life as shown by the evidence, plus funeral and medical expenses.

Medical expense recovery in Georgia is tied to the reasonable value of medically necessary care. Treatment records from a medical doctor are central to that proof.

Commercial policies have limits that differ by carrier, and more than one policy may apply. This page does not state any policy amount. A reliable average settlement can’t be promised. Value depends on medical records, permanency of injuries, and proof of fault.

What to Expect: The Process, Timeline, and Costs

A claim usually moves from a first conversation to evidence gathering, medical documentation, a demand to the insurer, negotiation, and a lawsuit if needed.

1. Free consultation. The first consultation is free, confidential, and without obligation to continue. Intake is available in English or Spanish.
2. Preservation letters. Written requests ask the carrier to keep logs, maintenance files, and video.
3. Investigation. Records are requested and the crash is reviewed.
4. Medical documentation. Records from your treating medical doctor are gathered.
5. Demand and negotiation. A demand goes to the carrier and its insurer.
6. Lawsuit, if needed. A suit is filed when negotiation does not resolve the claim.

Georgia generally requires a personal injury suit within two years, as stated under O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33 in a Georgia appeals court filing. Many claims take months. Claims that go to litigation or involve severe injuries can take much longer. Ask how fees and case costs work before you sign anything.

Frequently Asked Questions

Talking Through Your Truck Crash Situation

You may be reading this while a loved one lies in a hospital bed, or while you wait for answers after a fatal crash. You didn’t choose this situation. The decisions in front of you feel heavy: whether to speak with the carrier’s adjuster, how to keep the crash evidence, and whether the claim deserves a closer look.

If a loved one is in a hospital bed after a truck crash, you don’t have to sort out the carrier’s claim alone. Request a free case review with our team, in English or Spanish. The first consultation is free, confidential, and without obligation to continue.

Responsible lawyer: Adanna Ugwonali, Ugwonali Law Group, 3400 Peachtree Road NE, Atlanta, Georgia. This page is general information, not legal advice, and it does not promise any result.