Written and reviewed by Josh Kohanim, Esq., California Bar No. 328609 · Reviewed
In this guide
The work runs in order from the first week to the filing of suit, and a rule sits behind each step.
Truck case differences
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reports that heavy trucks can weigh 20 to 30 times as much as passenger cars and that a loaded tractor-trailer needs 20 to 40 percent more distance to stop. It also reports that 5,340 people died in large truck crashes in 2024, 62 percent of them occupants of other passenger vehicles. Those are national figures, published on the Institute's Fatality Facts page for large trucks.
Injury severity is only part of it. A car case has one defendant and one policy. A truck case has a motor carrier, the trucking company, defined at 49 CFR 390.5, plus whoever brokered, loaded, shipped, or serviced. A for-hire interstate carrier also has at least $750,000 in liability coverage behind it under 49 CFR 387.9, rather than California's $30,000 passenger car floor. The defense starts working the day of the crash: large carriers keep rapid response teams that photograph the scene and interview the driver before you are discharged.
Preserving the evidence in week one
A preservation letter, also called a spoliation letter, is a written demand that names every category of evidence and forbids its destruction, alteration, or overwriting. Spoliation is the loss of evidence a party knew was relevant, and a court can let a jury hold it against the party that lost it. Before the letter, deleting a record on schedule is routine. After it, the same deletion is a problem the company has to explain.
| Recipient | What they hold | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| The motor carrier | Logs, dispatch, maintenance, the qualification file, the lease | Most of the case lives here |
| Its liability insurer | The claim file and the rapid response investigator's work | Puts the carrier on notice through counsel |
| The broker | The load tender, carrier vetting records, rate confirmation | Shows who selected the carrier and what they knew |
| The shipper or loader | Bills of lading, seal and weight records, loading photographs | Decides load shift and overweight questions |
| The telematics or dashcam vendor | Video and GPS data held offsite | Often the only footage, and purged on a contract cycle |
| The repair yard or tow operator | The tractor and trailer themselves | The black box download and the physical evidence |
The letter has to go out first because the retention rules are short and they run from the crash, not from the day you hire someone.
| Evidence | Who holds it | How long it must be kept | How it is obtained |
|---|---|---|---|
| Records of duty status and supporting documents | The motor carrier | 6 months from receipt, 49 CFR 395.8(k)(1) | Letter, then subpoena |
| The driver's last 7 days of logs | The driver, in the cab | 7 consecutive days, 49 CFR 395.8(k)(2) | Roadside or through the carrier |
| Dispatch records, bills of lading, expense receipts, payroll | The motor carrier | Driver submits within 13 days, 49 CFR 395.11 | Letter, then subpoena |
| Driver qualification file | The motor carrier | Employment plus 3 years, 49 CFR 391.51 | Letter, then subpoena |
| Maintenance and repair records | The motor carrier | 1 year, plus 6 months after it leaves the fleet, 49 CFR 396.3(c) | Letter, then subpoena |
| Driver vehicle inspection reports | The motor carrier | 3 months, 49 CFR 396.11 | Letter, then subpoena |
| Post-crash alcohol and drug testing | The motor carrier | 5 years for a result at 0.02 or higher, 49 CFR 382.401 | Letter, then subpoena |
| Engine control module data | The tractor | No rule; lost on repair or salvage | Inspection and download by agreement or court order |
| Dashcam and telematics video | The carrier or its vendor | Whatever the vendor contract says | Letter to both, fast |
Every retention period there is the official text of the Code of Federal Regulations at govinfo.gov: 49 CFR 395.8, 395.11, 391.51, 396.3, 396.11, and 382.401.
Two terms in that table carry the rest of the page. Records of duty status are the driver's logs, recorded on an electronic logging device, the onboard recorder that 49 CFR 395.8(a) requires in most trucks and that ties duty status to engine data. The engine control module is the tractor's own computer, holding road speed, throttle position, and hard-braking events from the seconds before impact.
Inspecting the scene and the vehicles
A crash scene is evidence for a few days. Skid and gouge marks fade, debris is swept, and a temporary sign or a blocked sight line gets fixed. Somebody has to photograph and measure it while it is still there, which is why an investigator goes out before anything else in the file is organized.
The vehicles matter more. A tractor is a working asset, and the carrier wants it back in service. Once it is repaired, the download is gone and the physical evidence, brake adjustment, tire condition, mirror position, is gone with it. The request to inspect both units, with the download done by a qualified technician and both sides present, belongs in the same first week as the letter.
Records in weeks two to eight
This is the part clients rarely see. The driver qualification file that 49 CFR 391.51 requires holds the employment application, the motor vehicle record, the road test, and the medical examiner's certificate. It answers whether this driver should have been hired at all, which is a claim against the company rather than the driver.
Then the logs get tested. An electronic log is only as good as what it is checked against, so it is matched to fuel receipts, toll transponder records, weigh station scans, dispatch messages, and delivery timestamps. If the log says off duty in Barstow at 3 a.m. and a fuel receipt says Fontana at 3:20 a.m., the log is wrong, and the company that accepted it has a supervision problem. That comparison is set out on hours of service and driver fatigue.
The rest of the file fills in around it: maintenance and annual inspection records, the driver vehicle inspection reports, post-crash testing results, the carrier's safety history, and the loading records when a load shift or an overweight condition is suspected.
Identifying every liable party
Each defendant identified is another insurance policy available to the claim, and the difference between one policy and three usually matters more than any argument made later.
| Document requested | Who it can add | What it proves |
|---|---|---|
| Payroll, dispatch, the equipment lease | The motor carrier | Employment or exclusive control under 49 CFR 376.12(c)(1) |
| Driver qualification file and prior violations | The motor carrier | Negligent hiring, supervision, or retention, CACI 426 |
| Title and registration | The truck's owner | Negligent entrustment, CACI 724 |
| Load tender and carrier vetting file | The freight broker | What the broker knew about the carrier's safety record |
| Bill of lading, seal and weight tickets | The shipper or loader | Load shift, securement, overweight condition |
| Work orders and parts invoices | The maintenance contractor | A repair that was never made or made badly |
| Roadway design and complaint history | A city, county, or the state | Dangerous condition of public property, Government Code 835 |
Respondeat superior is the rule that makes an employer answer for what an employee does inside the scope of employment, given to jurors as CACI No. 3720 in the 2026 edition of CACI. When the carrier answers that the driver was an owner-operator, an independent contractor who owns his own tractor, the lease is the answer: 49 CFR 376.12(c)(1) requires it to give the carrier exclusive possession, control, and use of the equipment and complete responsibility for its operation. Our guide on who is liable in a truck accident takes that further.
Federal rules on fault
These are the regulations that decide cases.
| Rule | Limit | Regulation |
|---|---|---|
| Off duty before driving | 10 consecutive hours | 49 CFR 395.3(a)(1) |
| Driving window after coming on duty | 14 consecutive hours | 49 CFR 395.3(a)(2) |
| Maximum driving inside that window | 11 hours | 49 CFR 395.3(a)(3)(i) |
| Break after 8 cumulative hours of driving | 30 consecutive minutes | 49 CFR 395.3(a)(3)(ii) |
| Weekly cap | 60 hours in 7 days, or 70 in 8 | 49 CFR 395.3(b) |
| Restart of the weekly cap | 34 or more consecutive hours off | 49 CFR 395.3(c) |
That is the text of 49 CFR 395.3. 49 CFR 392.3 reaches the company too: no driver shall operate a commercial motor vehicle, and no motor carrier shall require or permit it, while the driver's alertness is so impaired by fatigue or illness as to make it unsafe. California adds two of its own. Vehicle Code section 22406 caps a truck with three or more axles, and any vehicle towing another, at 55 miles per hour. Section 23152(d) makes 0.04 percent blood alcohol unlawful in a commercial vehicle, half the limit for everyone else.
A proven violation changes what has to be argued. Negligence per se means breaking a safety regulation creates a presumption of negligence, given as CACI No. 418. The dispute stops being about whether a driver was careful and becomes about a log, a receipt, and a rule number.
Proving your losses
Liability decides whether anyone pays. Damages decide how much, and each category has to be proved with its own documents. Economic damages are the losses with receipts. Non-economic damages are the pain, the limitation, and the loss of what you used to do, and no document sets their number.
| Category | What proves it | CACI |
|---|---|---|
| Past and future medical expenses | Billing records, treating physicians, a life care plan | 3903A |
| Past and future lost earnings | Pay records, tax returns, employer testimony | 3903C |
| Lost earning capacity | Vocational evaluation and an economist | 3903D |
| Loss of household services | Testimony and a services evaluation | 3903E |
| Damage to personal property | Repair estimates and valuation | 3903J |
| Physical pain, mental suffering, emotional distress | Treatment records, testimony from people who know you | 3905A |
| Aggravation of a preexisting condition | Prior imaging compared against post-crash imaging | 3927 |
A life care plan is a written projection of the care a permanent injury will require and what it will cost, prepared by a nurse or physician planner and priced by an economist. In a serious truck case it is usually the largest single line in the demand, and it cannot be written until treatment reaches a stable point.
The trucking company's insurers
Coverage is layered. A primary policy pays first, excess layers pay once the one beneath is exhausted, and an umbrella may sit above all of it. That structure changes how a demand is written: a package built only to satisfy the primary insurer never reaches the excess layer, and the excess insurer is the one with the money.
It also explains the phone call you received. The trucking company's investigator or its insurer's adjuster contacting you in the first days is not opening a settlement conversation. We take that contact, and the recorded statement request with it. The first offer is a negotiating position, not a valuation, and it usually arrives before anyone knows whether you need surgery.
Truck case deadlines
The statute of limitations is the outer deadline to file suit. Under Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1 it is two years from the crash for injury or death. If a public agency truck or a road defect is involved, Government Code section 911.2 requires a written claim within six months. Under section 912.4, the entity's governing board has 45 days before the claim is deemed rejected, and section 945.6 allows six months after a written rejection to sue.
The six month retention window in 49 CFR 395.8(k)(1) is not a legal deadline. It functions as one anyway, and it expires eighteen months before the statute does.
Changes after filing suit
A letter asks and a subpoena compels. Filing suit is what makes the difference between a carrier that produces what it chooses and one that produces what the rules require, in the format the rules require. Electronic log data in its native format, rather than a printed summary, is usually only available this way.
Depositions follow: the driver, the safety director, the dispatcher, and the person most knowledgeable, the company witness a party designates to testify on named subjects and whose answers bind the company. That deposition is where the carrier's own policies get read back to it.
Cases not needing a lawyer
If nothing but the vehicle was damaged, handle it yourself. Property damage claims settle on estimates, and a fee on that money makes no sense. The same goes for a low speed contact with no injury, where you were checked out and released with nothing to treat.
If you were driving the truck, start with workers compensation. That is a different system with its own deadlines and no pain and suffering, and a separate claim against a third party may exist alongside it. If the vehicle was a rideshare or a delivery car rather than a commercial truck, our Uber accident page fits better than this one.
Truck accident lawyer fees
These cases are handled on contingency: if there is no recovery, you owe no fee and no case costs. Business and Professions Code section 6147 requires the written contract to state the rate, to state how costs and disbursements affect both the fee and your recovery, and to state that the fee is not set by law and is negotiable. You receive a signed duplicate when the contract is made. Our guide to lawyer fees covers the difference between a fee taken before costs and one taken after.
A truck accident lawyer's work
In the first week, we send the letter that freezes the record, get you treated, and get the tractor inspected before it is repaired. In the two months after, we pull the qualification file, test the logs against fuel and toll data, and name every company the records reach. Then we build damages with the documents each category requires, and file suit when a letter stops being enough.
Write down the carrier's name and the DOT number off the door, keep every photograph, see a doctor today, and let the preservation letter go out this week. Our Los Angeles truck accident lawyer page covers the claim end to end, and catastrophic injury covers what changes when the injury is permanent.