Trucking Company Liability for Driver Negligence
If you’re hit by a commercial truck, the driver isn’t always the only one responsible. In many cases, the trucking company can be held legally accountable for the harm you suffer. This means you can pursue compensation from the company if the crash ties back to its policies, practices, or direct negligence.
If a negligent truck driver hit you, our Tampa truck accident attorneys at Matthews Injury Law can uncover who’s really at fault and liable for your crash-related losses, ensuring you don’t face powerful trucking insurers alone.
How You Can Hold a Trucking Company Liable for Your Injuries
The most common path to holding a trucking company liable is through a legal principle called respondeat superior, which means an employer can be held responsible for its employee’s actions on the job. For instance, if a trucker hits your car while working, the company may be on the hook. That matters because trucking companies usually carry far larger insurance policies than individual drivers.
However, liability doesn’t stop with on-the-job crashes. Trucking companies can likewise be directly negligent. For instance, if a company pushes drivers to exceed hours-of-service rules, ignores red flags in a driver’s history, or fails to maintain its fleet, it shares blame for the injuries caused by the driver.
Let’s say the trucking company sends a trucker with a suspended license out on the road. The company can’t hide behind the excuse that it was just the driver’s fault if that driver causes a crash. That’s because the employer becomes part of the cause by ignoring a clear safety risk.
Likewise, consider a truck that jackknifes on a wet road because its brakes weren’t inspected on schedule. Even if the driver made a mistake in handling the skid, the deeper problem is mechanical neglect. In that case, liability can land squarely on the trucking company.
Another typical example involves unrealistic delivery schedules. If a company pressures drivers to meet deadlines that require skipping rest breaks, it’s creating a situation where fatigue is inevitable. A collision under those conditions is as much the company’s doing as the driver’s because the company ignored the hours-of-service rules.
How We Can Help Prove Liability
Establishing that a truck company is liable is not always simple. Companies often argue that a driver was acting outside their scope of employment to distance themselves from responsibility. They may also bury critical evidence in logs, GPS data, or maintenance records. Likewise, truck accident cases move quickly, and evidence can disappear fast.
Electronic logging devices may be overwritten within weeks. Maintenance records and employment files can be shielded unless someone with legal authority demands them. A Tampa truck accident attorney can act immediately to preserve this evidence, hire experts to reconstruct the crash, and uncover policies that prioritize profit over people’s safety.
In addition, trucking companies and their insurers don’t wait around. Their lawyers and insurance adjusters act quickly within hours of a crash. Without someone on your side, it’s easy to be outmatched. With a Tampa truck accident lawyer, on the other hand, you increase your chances of securing all the losses you incurred in the truck crash.
Talk to Our Truck Accident Lawyers in Tampa Today
Learn more about how our Tampa truck accident attorneys can assist you by reaching Matthews Injury Law and arranging your no-cost consultation online or at 813-530-1000.