The trucking company already has a team of lawyers.
You should have one too.

Semi-Truck Accident Claims Questions

• How is a truck accident claim different from a regular car accident claim?

  Commercial and Semi-Truck cases involve federal regulations, multiple potentially liable parties, and insurers with dedicated trucking defense teams. The driver, the carrier, the freight broker, and the cargo loader may all share liability. The evidence (electronic logging devices, driver qualification files, maintenance records) is technical and time-sensitive. And the carriers come to these cases with legal teams that handle nothing else. It is a fundamentally different fight than a standard car accident claim.

• What if the truck driver was an independent contractor, not a company employee?

  The trucking company may still be liable. Kentucky courts look beyond the contractor label to examine how much control the carrier exercised over the driver’s work. If the carrier set the route, controlled the schedule, or required the driver to follow company procedures, a court may find the carrier responsible regardless of how the employment relationship was classified. Carriers have increasingly used independent contractor arrangements to limit liability. Courts have increasingly looked past them.

• What compensation can I recover?

  You may be entitled to recover medical expenses (past and future), lost wages, reduced earning capacity, pain and suffering, and property damage. In cases where the carrier’s conduct was particularly reckless, such as knowingly allowing a fatigued driver to operate or ignoring documented maintenance failures, Kentucky law permits punitive damages as well. The full value of a serious truck accident claim is often substantially larger than what an insurer’s first contact will suggest.

• What should I do immediately after a semi-truck accident?

  Seek medical attention first, even if you do not feel seriously injured. Adrenaline masks symptoms that appear days later, and gaps in treatment are used against claimants. Do not give a recorded statement to the trucking company’s insurer. Document the scene if you can: photos, witness names, the truck’s DOT number and carrier name on the door. Then contact an attorney as early as possible. We send a legal preservation letter to the carrier immediately, which creates a formal obligation to retain the black box data, driver logs, and all other evidence before it is overwritten or purged.