Truck Accident Lawyers

Hit by a Truck in Kentucky?

Google ★★★★★ Over 1,000 Five-Star Reviews • Available 24/7. $0 Out-Of-Pocket Forever.
Dark Peterbilt tractor-trailer on the highway at twilight

Kentucky Truck Accident Cases

Sam Aguiar Injury Lawyers is a Kentucky personal injury law firm that represents people hurt in truck accidents. Its offices are in Louisville and Lexington. The firm has a dedicated trucking team focusing exclusively on trucking and commercial vehicle accident cases. That team handles commercial truck accidents involving semi trucks, tractor-trailers, 18-wheelers, box trucks, and delivery trucks, along with the wrongful death cases that follow them.

A truck accident case differs from a car accident case in three ways: federal safety rules govern the truck, more companies can share liability, and the insurance policies are larger.

You focus on getting better. We handle everything else. That covers the insurance companies, the trucking company’s records, and the evidence of what the accident cost you in medical bills, lost income, and daily life.

Our truck accident attorneys work with accident reconstructionists, life care planners, economists, and medical specialists when a case calls for them. You pay $0 Out-Of-Pocket Forever. The firm works on a flat contingency fee basis that never increases if your case goes to trial, and your case is covered by our exclusive Bigger Share Guarantee®.

Truck accident cases from Louisville and Jefferson County have their own Louisville truck accident lawyer page. Cases from Lexington and Central Kentucky, including 18-wheeler accidents on I-75 and I-64, are on the Lexington truck accidents page.

Other trucking pages cover coal truck accidents, tow truck accidents, reefer truck accidents, the causes of truck accidents, and trucking evidence. Related articles explain left-lane rules for semi trucks, federal safety rules used as evidence, commercial vehicle accident basics, and trucking company tactics after an accident.

Large Truck Accident Statistics

Trucks were 5 percent of the vehicles in Kentucky traffic accidents in 2024 and 7 percent of the vehicles in fatal accidents. Those figures come from the Kentucky State Police 2024 Traffic Collision Facts report, which counts any vehicle with a registered weight of 10,000 pounds or more as a truck.

In that report, 32 percent of truck accidents happened on interstates or parkways and 47 percent on U.S. and state routes. Of the truck drivers whose home state was known, 41 percent lived outside Kentucky. Inattention, a form of driver error, was the most common driver factor in the report’s fatal truck accidents.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s 2023 large-truck report counts 5,472 people killed nationally in traffic accidents involving large trucks. Seventy percent of them were occupants of other vehicles. In Kentucky, 114 people died in those accidents in 2023, and 88 of them were riding in other vehicles.

Truck accident on a wet highway, damaged headlight and crumpled chrome bumper

Who Is Liable for a Semi Truck Accident?

A semi truck accident can make multiple parties liable: the truck driver, the motor carrier, the truck’s owner, the freight broker, the company that loaded the cargo, the repair shop, and the maker of a failed part. Jon Hollan, Managing Partner of the firm’s Lexington office, walks through each one in the Truck Talk episode on who is responsible. Our article on trucking accident liability in Kentucky has more detail, and delivery vehicle accidents raise the same questions on a smaller scale.

Truck Driver

The truck driver is personally liable for negligent driving and for breaking traffic laws, such as speeding, distracted driving, following too closely, or an unsafe lane change. Federal rules bar truck drivers from texting while driving under 49 CFR 392.80 and from using a hand-held mobile phone while driving under 49 CFR 392.82.

Motor Carrier

Responsibility for the driver’s negligence on the job falls on the motor carrier, along with responsibility for its own decisions about hiring, training, supervision, dispatch, and maintenance. When a carrier leases a truck from an owner-operator, 49 CFR 376.12 requires the lease to say the carrier “shall assume complete responsibility for the operation of the equipment for the duration of the lease.” Calling the driver an independent contractor does not change that lease term.

Freight Broker

A freight broker arranges the load and picks the carrier. In Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II, LLC, decided May 14, 2026, a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court held that federal law does not preempt a negligent-hiring case against a company that hired a carrier to transport goods. The Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act limits state laws on the prices, routes, and services of the trucking industry. It keeps an exception for state safety rules on motor vehicles, and that case falls within it. Our page on freight broker liability explains how broker cases work.

Cargo Loader

The shipper or loader that packed the trailer can share liability when a load shifts or falls. 49 CFR 393.100 requires cargo to be secured to prevent it “from leaking, spilling, blowing or falling from the motor vehicle.” It must also be secured against shifting that hurts the truck’s stability or maneuverability.

Repair Shop

When brake, tire, or coupling work fails and causes the accident, the shop that did the work can be liable.

Parts Manufacturer

A defective truck part, such as a brake component, a tire, or a steering part, can make its manufacturer liable.

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations

Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations holds the federal rules for commercial truck drivers and trucking companies. They cover driver qualifications, medical certification, hours of service, drug and alcohol testing, inspection and maintenance, and cargo securement.

Kentucky adopts those rules for commercial truck operations. Under 601 KAR 1:005, a commercial truck and its driver running “interstate, or intrastate” are governed by the federal rules on drug and alcohol testing, driver qualifications, driving, parts and accessories, hours of service, and inspection and maintenance. That reach includes trucks that haul freight only inside Kentucky, so a truck accident case here is measured against state and federal regulations at once.

Under 49 CFR 395.3, outside the exceptions in 49 CFR 395.1, a property-carrying truck driver must take 10 consecutive hours off duty before driving. After that, the driver may drive a total of 11 hours and may not drive after the 14th consecutive hour after coming on duty. The driver must also stop for at least 30 minutes after 8 hours of driving. Unless an exception applies, such as a truck built before model year 2000, 49 CFR 395.8 requires the carrier to have each driver record duty status on an electronic logging device (“ELD”). Those records can show fatigue, dispatch pressure, or hours-of-service violations.

After an accident that kills someone, the employer must test each surviving driver for alcohol and drugs under 49 CFR 382.303. Other accidents trigger testing only when the driver is cited for a moving violation and someone was treated away from the scene or a vehicle was towed. Alcohol testing then applies to a citation within 8 hours, and drug testing to a citation within 32 hours.

Proving that the driver or carrier broke a federal rule is a separate question from proving that the violation caused the accident.

Duties Under Part 396

Part 396 puts three separate duties on the carrier, and each one leaves a record.

1

Every motor carrier must systematically inspect, repair, and maintain, or cause to be systematically inspected, repaired, and maintained, all motor vehicles subject to its control, with parts and accessories in safe and proper operating condition at all times. 49 CFR 396.3(a)

2

Before requiring or permitting a driver to operate a vehicle, the carrier or its agent must repair any defect or deficiency listed on the driver vehicle inspection report which would be likely to affect the safety of operation, then certify that the repair was made or was unnecessary. 49 CFR 396.11(a)(3)

3

Inspection, repair, and maintenance records are retained where the vehicle is either housed or maintained for a period of 1 year and for 6 months after the motor vehicle leaves the motor carrier’s control. 49 CFR 396.3(c)

Truck Maintenance Records

Driver vehicle inspection reports and repair histories can show whether a known equipment problem was left on the road.

Under 49 CFR Part 396, the required records include the date and nature of each inspection, repair, and maintenance operation.

Comparing a driver’s inspection report with the repair orders that follow can show whether a reported defect was fixed before the truck went back into service.

Mechanic checking a commercial truck wheel during a pre-trip inspection

Reportable Inspection Points

49 CFR 396.11 requires a written report at the completion of each day’s work on each vehicle operated. Drivers are not required to prepare a report if no defect or deficiency is discovered by or reported to the driver. The report must cover at least the following parts and accessories.

1

Service brakes including trailer brake connections

2

Parking brake

3

Steering mechanism

4

Lighting devices and reflectors

5

Tires

6

Horn

Evidence Preservation

Determining liability in a truck accident case depends on records the trucking company controls: ELD data, engine control module (“ECM”) data, dispatch and GPS records, the driver qualification file, drug and alcohol test results, and maintenance files.

Federal rules set minimum retention periods for these records. The driver qualification file holds the truck driver’s job application, motor vehicle records, road test certificate, and medical examiner’s certificate. The carrier must keep that file for as long as the driver works there and for three years after, as 49 CFR 391.51 requires. The carrier’s accident register must be kept for three years after each accident under 49 CFR 390.15. The record of each Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse query must be kept for three years under 49 CFR 382.701.

Other evidence comes from outside the company: the police report, photos from the accident scene, witness statements, and traffic camera footage. The firm’s trucking team has DOT and TRIMARC camera access with six-month archives.

Trucking Insurance Coverage

Federal law requires far more liability coverage from trucking companies than Kentucky requires from car owners. Under 49 CFR 387.9, a for-hire interstate carrier hauling ordinary freight in a truck of 10,001 pounds or more must carry at least $750,000. Oil and certain other hazardous materials require $1,000,000, and bulk hazardous substances and certain explosives and poisons require $5,000,000. By comparison, KRS 304.39-110 sets Kentucky’s minimum auto liability coverage at $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident.

The carrier’s policy also carries the Form MCS-90 endorsement required by 49 CFR 387.15. On that form, the insurer agrees to pay “any final judgment recovered against the insured for public liability resulting from negligence in the operation, maintenance or use of motor vehicles” covered by the federal rules, within the limits of liability stated in the endorsement. That obligation holds even when the policy’s own terms would not require payment.

A carrier may also have excess or umbrella policies above its primary policy. Other negligent parties, such as the trailer owner, the broker, the shipper, or a maintenance vendor, may each have separate coverage. Every policy that applies can pay toward the case, in addition to the federal minimum.

Common Truck Accident Injuries

Weight explains the severe injuries in a truck accident. A loaded truck on the interstate can legally weigh up to 80,000 pounds under 23 CFR 658.17, far more than standard passenger cars.

Truck accident injuries include traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, crush injuries, amputations, broken bones, internal injuries, and multi-organ trauma. People who suffer injuries like these can need surgery, long hospital stays, rehabilitation, and care that lasts for years.

For more on these injuries, see the pages on traumatic brain injury cases and Kentucky truck accident injury cases.

Damages in a Truck Accident Case

In a truck accident lawsuit, you can recover compensation for two kinds of losses: financial losses you can document, and the pain and suffering the injuries cause. When serious injuries are permanent, the damages rest on projections of future medical expenses and lost earning ability from life care planners, economists, and vocational rehabilitation professionals.

Financial Losses

These include medical bills for emergency care, hospital stays, surgery, imaging, prescriptions, and physical therapy. They also include future medical care the evidence supports, lost wages shown by pay and tax records, reduced earning ability, and the cost to repair or replace your vehicle.

Pain and Suffering

This covers the physical pain of the injuries and the recovery, mental anguish, and the activities and independence the injuries take away.

Wrongful Death After a Truck Accident

If a truck accident took the life of a family member, KRS 411.130 allows damages for the death to be recovered from the person who caused it, “or whose agent or servant caused it.” That second phrase can reach the trucking company that employed the driver. The personal representative of the person who died brings the case.

The same statute allows punitive damages “if the act was willful or the negligence gross.” KRS 411.133 lets the personal representative recover for the death and for the injuries the person suffered before death in the same action.

The firm’s wrongful death and fatal car accident pages explain these cases further.

Truck Talk

Truck Talk with Jon Hollan series cover, showing a white semi truck on a highway at sunrise

Jon Hollan covers one trucking topic per episode, and Truck Talk segments also air on WKYT’s Everyday Kentucky.

Why Choose Sam Aguiar Injury Lawyers

Insurance companies will try to minimize your pain. We don’t let that happen. Our truck accident lawyers hold insurance companies, corporations, and trucking companies accountable.

Trucking Team Investigation

At Sam Aguiar Injury Lawyers, a truck accident lawyer on the trucking team investigates the accident and identifies every company and insurance policy behind the truck. The evidence the trucking team pursues includes ELD and ECM data, driver qualification and maintenance files, dispatch records, cargo documents, post-accident drug and alcohol test results, and DOT and TRIMARC camera footage.

Your case also gets a dedicated three-person team: a top-rated attorney, an experienced case manager, and a skilled legal assistant, with biweekly updates and 24/7 response to calls and texts.

Attorney Recognition

Two of the firm’s truck accident attorneys, Sam Aguiar and Jon Hollan, are named to the Trucking Trial Lawyers Association Top 10. Other recognition for the firm’s attorneys includes Forbes Best-In-State, National Trial Lawyers Top 100, Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum, and American Board of Trial Advocates. The firm’s attorneys are also recognized in 2026 Super Lawyers and Rising Stars, with recognition continuous since 2017. The firm has over 45 seven-figure resolutions in the last five years.

Serious Truck Accident in Kentucky?

One truck load can involve a driver, a motor carrier, a broker, and a shipper, each of which may carry its own insurance. Sam Aguiar Injury Lawyers puts a dedicated trucking team on your case. With our Bigger Share Guarantee®, you always get more: you walk away with more than the firm after bills, liens, and case costs, or the firm cuts its fee. Call today for a free case review.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Evidence Shows Fault After a Truck Accident?
The evidence of fault after a truck accident includes records the trucking company holds: electronic logging device data, engine control module data, dispatch and hours-of-service records, the driver qualification file, driver vehicle inspection reports, repair and maintenance orders, the bill of lading, post-accident drug and alcohol test results, and the carrier’s insurance and operating authority filings. Scene photos, witness statements, the police report, and traffic camera footage add evidence from outside the company. Federal rules set how long the carrier must keep the duty-status records, driver vehicle inspection reports, maintenance records, and driver qualification file.
How Long Does a Trucking Company Have to Keep Records?
Inspection, repair, and maintenance records are kept for one year while the truck is in the carrier’s control, and for six months after it leaves, under 49 CFR 396.3. Driver vehicle inspection reports and the repair certification last three months under 49 CFR 396.11, and the annual inspection report lasts fourteen months under 49 CFR 396.21. Records of duty status carry their own six-month period under 49 CFR 395.8(k). Once a period runs out, federal rules no longer require the carrier to keep that record.
What Is the Statute of Limitations for a Truck Accident Lawsuit in Kentucky?
Under KRS 304.39-230(6), a lawsuit for injuries from a truck accident may be commenced “not later than two (2) years after the injury, or the death, or the date of issuance of the last basic or added reparation payment made by any reparation obligor, whichever later occurs.” Under Worldwide Equipment, Inc. v. Mullins, 11 S.W.3d 50 (Ky. Ct. App. 1999), the same two-year period covers a wrongful death case arising from a truck accident, measured from the death or that last payment, whichever is later. In T & J Land Co., LLC v. Miller, 701 S.W.3d 380 (Ky. 2024), the Kentucky Supreme Court held that the two-year period did not apply to a premises-liability case against a landowner after a vehicle struck a business. The one-year period in KRS 413.140(1)(a) applied instead, because the two-year period reaches only cases within the Motor Vehicle Reparations Act. That decision does not address whether the two-year period reaches every other defendant in a truck case, such as a freight broker, a shipper, or a parts manufacturer. Sam Aguiar Injury Lawyers’ page on the Kentucky statute of limitations covers Kentucky deadlines in more detail.
Can You Recover If You Were Partly at Fault for a Truck Accident in Kentucky?
Yes. Kentucky follows pure comparative fault. The Kentucky Supreme Court adopted the pure form of comparative negligence in Hilen v. Hays, 673 S.W.2d 713 (Ky. 1984). In the Court’s words, an injured person’s recovery “is reduced by the amount of fault attributable to him, but he may recover regardless of whether his fault is equal to or greater than” the defendant’s. Under KRS 411.182, the jury finds the total damages and assigns a percentage of fault to each party. The court then enters judgment for each party’s equitable share in line with those percentages.
Is the Trucking Company Responsible If the Driver Is an Owner-Operator?
Federal leasing rules put that responsibility on the carrier. When a motor carrier leases a truck and driver from an owner-operator, 49 CFR 376.12 requires the lease to state that the carrier “shall assume complete responsibility for the operation of the equipment for the duration of the lease.” Labeling the driver an independent contractor does not change that lease term.
How Much Insurance Does a Trucking Company Have to Carry?
Federal rules require a for-hire interstate carrier to carry at least $750,000 in liability coverage for ordinary freight, and $1,000,000 or $5,000,000 for hazardous loads, depending on the material, under 49 CFR 387.9. The policy also carries the MCS-90 endorsement required by 49 CFR 387.15. With that endorsement, the insurer agrees to pay a final judgment against the motor carrier for negligence in operating its trucks, within the limits of liability stated in the endorsement, even where the policy would otherwise not pay. Excess and umbrella policies, when a carrier has them, sit above that minimum.
Can a Carrier Dispatch a Truck With a Reported Defect?
No. Under 49 CFR 396.11, the carrier or its agent must repair any listed defect likely to affect the safety of operation before the driver operates the truck, and certify that the repair was made or that none was needed. 49 CFR 396.7 separately prohibits operating a truck in a condition likely to cause an accident or a breakdown. When a carrier dispatches a truck with an open defect back onto the road, the repair file and the duty-status records show what the carrier knew and when.
Does a Safety Rule Violation Prove the Trucking Company Caused the Accident?
Not by itself. A violation of a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulation does not establish who caused an accident. The violation carries weight when it connects to the driver’s conduct, the carrier’s decisions about dispatch and maintenance, or the condition of the truck. The reconstruction and the records make that connection.