Truck Crash or Car Crash?

A truck accident case runs on a different set of rules than a car accident case. Commercial truck crashes bring a federal regulatory layer administered by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), multiple potentially liable parties where a car crash typically has one or two, and evidence that can be erased within days if no one asks for it.

Federal Rules That Apply Only to Trucks

Car accident cases run entirely on state law and Kentucky tort principles. Truck cases add an entire layer of federal rules. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration sets and enforces the federal standards for hours of service, driver qualification, vehicle maintenance, and insurance minimums that apply to commercial trucks but not to passenger cars. The insurance line is the clearest gap: 49 C.F.R. § 387.9 sets a $750,000 minimum for most for-hire interstate carriers, rising to $1,000,000 or $5,000,000 for higher-risk freight, where a passenger car carries only its state minimum. None of those rules reach an ordinary car crash, which is governed only by Kentucky state law.

More Than One Liable Party

A truck crash can involve a driver, the motor carrier that employed them, the truck’s owner, and the company that loaded the cargo. The employer, the owner, and the loader can each be a separate business, and each may carry a separate insurance policy. Our dedicated trucking team identifies every liable party before any filing deadline passes.

Evidence That Only Exists in Truck Cases

Truck cases can involve electronic control module data, driver qualification files, and inspection records that FMCSA requires carriers to maintain. Electronic logging device data, dashcam footage, and inspection records are retained only for periods set by federal trucking regulations. Under 49 C.F.R. § 395.8, carriers must keep hours-of-service and electronic logging device records for at least six months, and routine deletion cycles can erase this evidence well before a car-crash-style timeline would matter.

None of these categories of evidence exist in a car crash case. The trucking evidence available in commercial crash cases requires a completely different investigative approach, and a completely different legal skill set to use effectively.