Who Can Be Held Liable for a Truck Accident?

• January 16, 2025
• Attorney David Mann
• Truck Accidents

If you’ve suffered injuries in a truck accident that wasn’t your fault, you should be entitled to compensation from the responsible party. In order to pursue it, you’ll likely need to file a personal injury lawsuit against them, with the help of a lawyer who specializes in this area.

In this post, we break down everything you need to know if you’re in this situation.

How Is Fault in a Truck Accident Determined?

In truck accident cases (as in most other types of personal injury disputes), fault is determined based on the legal principle of negligence. In order for negligence to exist and liability to attach to the at-fault party in your case, four essential elements must be present, namely:

• Duty of care: The at-fault party must have owed you a duty of care at the time of your accident. This is generally straightforward in truck and car accident cases, as every driver owes every other road user a duty of care on a public road.
• Breach of duty: There must have been some breach of this duty of care (such as reckless driving).
• Causation: The breach of duty must have been the cause of your accident and injuries.
• Actual damages: You must have suffered some form of real and compensable harm from your accident (such as physical injuries).

Why Do You Need to Determine Liability in a Truck Accident?

When you file a lawsuit, you need to sue the right person or business. Sometimes, this can mean suing more than one party because multiple parties share liability, or because a judge needs to determine which party is liable. If you sue the wrong defendant, you may lose your lawsuit, and it could be too late to file a new lawsuit against the right person or entity.

There are many potential causes of truck accidents, ranging from driver mistakes to problems with the truck. In order to succeed in a truck accident lawsuit, you’ll need to identify the party whose actions caused your crash.

Is a Truck Driver Liable for a Truck Accident?

As is the case with car accidents, there are many reasons why a truck driver might be liable for an accident. These include:

• Speeding.
• Improper lane changes.
• Failure to yield.
• Failure to follow trucking regulations, such as by failing to take the required rest periods.
• Improper loading practices.
• Neglecting vehicle maintenance.

Is a Trucking Company Liable for an Accident?

If a truck driver is an employee of a trucking company, the company will generally be liable for any harm the driver causes while they’re on the job. However, it’s quite common for trucking companies to hire truck drivers as contractors, rather than full-time employees.

Trucking companies often act as brokers, hiring independent drivers for specific trips. In such a situation, the trucking company can still be liable if it fails to properly screen the drivers it hires or if it encourages drivers to engage in unsafe behavior. The latter situation commonly arises when companies set unrealistic deadlines that require drivers to speed or go without mandated rest periods.

Is the Owner of a Truck Liable for a Truck Accident?

Truck owners are ultimately responsible for keeping their trucks in a safe condition. This duty falls to owners to a much greater extent than drivers. Owners are required to carry out regular inspections and maintenance on their vehicles, while drivers must only do limited safety checks, reporting any problems they experience to owners.

The owner of a truck might be a driver, a trucking company, or a business that ships goods. In some cases, drivers or trucking companies lease trucks from vehicle manufacturers or other companies.

If you’ve been in an accident involving a leased truck, you’ll need to figure out where the maintenance obligations fell under the terms of the lease. This will allow you to determine who can be held liable if the truck was in an unsafe condition.

Can a Shipping Company Be Liable for a Truck Accident?

When a truck driver takes a shipment, the truck often gets loaded by employees of a factory or distribution warehouse. The driver should visually inspect the load to make sure it’s secure, but not every potentially dangerous issue will be visible at this point.

When cargo shifts or moves, it can cause the truck driver to lose control. Improperly secured cargo can also fall off the truck. In many of these situations, the company that loaded the truck will share liability for the accident.

Can a Truck Manufacturer Be Liable for an Accident?

The manufacturer of a truck or of its parts can be liable if there was a defect in the truck or a part. Common examples include tires that are prone to blowing out or braking systems that are unable to maintain the expected braking power. If you’ve had an accident because of an issue like this, you’ll need to figure out whether the problem occurred because of how the truck was made or because of improper maintenance.

The manufacturer is liable when the problem was because of a faulty design or an error during the manufacturing process. To prove this, it can often be useful to show that there were similar issues with the same type of truck or truck part in the past.

Can Other Parties Be Liable for a Truck Accident?

There may have been other parties involved in your truck accident. For example:

• The truck may have passed a safety inspection or weight check that it should have failed.
• A dispatcher may have scheduled the driver for an unsafe number of hours.
• A background check company may have missed an important detail or failed to carry out a required drug test.

Trucking operations are very complex. Sometimes a single company handles all operations, and at other times every part of a job is outsourced. Any party who takes an action that could affect the safety of the truck may be liable if their action (or inaction) leads to a truck accident.

Get Help from an Experienced Truck Accident Lawyer

An experienced truck accident lawyer knows exactly how to seek the information you need to build the strongest possible case in your favor. Call (478) 742-3381 to speak with the trucking accident lawyers at Mann Law Firm, or fill out our online contact form. We offer free initial consultations.