It is a case against a regulated company, governed by federal rules that create duties no private motorist has, and proved with records the company itself controls. Understanding that difference is most of the work, and it explains why the first days matter so much.
Updated September 2026
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People assume a trucking claim is an auto claim scaled up. It is not. The vehicle is operated by a company under federal operating authority, the driver's hours and qualifications are regulated, the vehicle's maintenance is documented on a schedule, and nearly all of that proof lives on the carrier's servers rather than in a police report.
That has a practical consequence. In a car wreck, the evidence is mostly fixed the moment the crash happens. In a trucking case, a substantial part of the evidence is perishable, and it belongs to the party with the least interest in preserving it.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations govern hours of service, driver qualification and medical certification, drug and alcohol testing, vehicle inspection and maintenance, and cargo securement. A private motorist has none of these obligations. When a carrier violates one and a crash follows, that violation is affirmative evidence of negligence rather than mere background.
Engine control module data, electronic logging device records, telematics and GPS history, dispatch messaging, and dashcam video routinely establish speed, braking, and hours worked far better than any witness. Much of it is subject to retention periods measured in days or months. Sent early, a preservation letter stops routine deletion; sent late, it documents that the evidence is already gone.
The driver may be employed by one entity, the tractor titled to another, the trailer leased from a third, and the load arranged by a broker for a shipper. Each relationship is a potential source of both liability and insurance coverage, and untangling them requires the contracts, the lease agreements, and the dispatch records.
Serious crashes trigger rapid-response protocols. An adjuster or retained investigator is frequently on scene the same day, photographing, measuring, and taking statements while the injured person is still in a hospital. That is not misconduct; it is preparation. The imbalance only becomes a problem when one side starts weeks later.
In one of our trucking cases, the insurer offered $1 million and treated the matter as resolved at that figure. The vehicle had already been totaled and moved on.
We tracked the totaled vehicle by VIN, located it, and recovered the black box data, which established liability. The case resolved at $2.95 million — nearly three times the offer that had been characterized as full value.
The lesson is not that a million dollars is a bad offer. It is that an offer made before the electronic evidence has been recovered is an offer made in the dark, and only one side benefits from the lights staying off.
Past results do not guarantee a future outcome, and every case depends on its own facts. These are public-record results that show what trial-prepared representation can produce.
Defense offered $0 and blamed the mother for her son's death. After five days of trial, a St. Charles County jury delivered $20,025,000. Read full story →
We rejected a $1 million offer, tracked the totaled vehicle by VIN, and recovered black box data that proved liability. Read full story →
Serious injuries in a Missouri truck accident, resolved for $1.525 million. Read full story →
A commercial truck driver made an unsafe left turn, causing serious, life-altering injuries to our clients. Read full story →
A written demand to the carrier and its insurer identifying the electronic data, logs, video, and physical evidence to be preserved. This is the single most time-sensitive act in a trucking case, and its absence is very difficult to remedy later.
Tractors and trailers get repaired, sold, or scrapped. So do the passenger vehicles. Locating and inspecting both before that happens preserves crush measurements, mechanical condition, and onboard data. We have tracked a totaled vehicle by VIN to recover exactly that.
You are under no obligation to give the carrier's adjuster a recorded account of the crash or of your injuries. Early statements are taken before anyone knows the medical picture, and they are used later to argue that your injuries grew in the retelling.
The regulatory framework, the discovery of carrier records, and the corporate structure questions are specific to this work. A firm that treats a trucking claim as an auto claim with a larger policy will leave the regulatory violations, and the additional defendants, undiscovered.
A commercial carrier operates under the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations, which impose duties an ordinary driver does not have: hours of service limits, driver qualification and medical certification files, drug and alcohol testing, documented inspection and maintenance, and cargo securement standards. Violations of those rules are evidence of negligence, and the records proving them are held by the carrier, not the police.
It is a written notice to the carrier and its insurer demanding that specific evidence be preserved rather than destroyed in the ordinary course of business. It matters because engine control module data, electronic logging records, dispatch messages, and dashcam video are commonly on short retention cycles. Once that data is overwritten, it is generally unrecoverable, and a claim can lose its best proof to nothing more than a routine deletion schedule.
Frequently the motor carrier that employed or contracted with the driver, the owner of the tractor or trailer if different, a maintenance contractor, and in some circumstances a freight broker or shipper. Where a load was improperly secured or overweight, responsibility can reach the party that loaded it. Each defendant may bring separate insurance coverage, which matters greatly in a catastrophic case.
Often yes. Federal regulations place responsibility on motor carriers for vehicles and drivers operating under their authority, and Missouri courts examine the substance of the working relationship rather than the label in a contract. Carriers raise contractor status early and routinely, and it is frequently overcome.
Not before you have counsel. Adjusters and rapid-response investigators are sometimes on scene within hours, and you are not required to give them a recorded statement. Anything you say about your injuries before the medical picture is complete can be used later to argue that your condition was minor or that it worsened only after lawyers were involved.
Have it evaluated before you accept. An early offer typically precedes the recovery of electronic data and any complete understanding of your injuries. In one of our cases the carrier offered $1 million; after we located the totaled vehicle by VIN and recovered the black box data, the case resolved at $2.95 million. Signing a release ends the claim permanently.
Yes. Missouri applies pure comparative fault, so your recovery is reduced by your share of fault rather than barred. Because carriers use comparative fault to hold values down, the reconstruction and data work done early is what protects against an inflated fault allocation.
These cases are handled on a contingency fee, so there is no fee unless we recover for you. Trucking cases also require real expense investment in reconstruction, data recovery, and expert work, and we fund that as part of the representation. The case review is free.
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