The impact of trucking company practices on accident liability

Sometimes, a trucking company's negligence or recklessness will cause or contribute to a truck accident. Negligent trucking company practices can severely affect accident liability for the collision. This is because the trucking company may become solely or jointly responsible for accident victims' injuries and losses regardless of its employment relationship with the truck driver, Kreger Brodish LLP notes.

However, looking at complex facts and evidence may involve proving that a trucking company's careless or reckless actions caused or contributed to a truck accident.

Trucking Company Practices That Affect Liability

A trucking company's negligent or careless practices can make it liable when one of its employees causes an accident. Common examples of dangerous trucking company practices include:

• Instructing or encouraging drivers to violate their hours of service limits and drive while fatigued or drowsy
• Hiring unqualified drivers (drivers without CDLs or necessary license endorsements) or drivers with a history of violating regulations or causing truck accidents
• Failing to train drivers on operating specific types of vehicles
• Not conducting random drug and alcohol testing to ensure drivers do not work while intoxicated
• Failing to inspect trucks or perform regular vehicle maintenance
• Failing to inspect cargo loads for proper load balancing and securing

How These Practices Can Impact Your Case

A trucking company's carelessness or violations of state and federal regulations may impose truck accident liability directly on the company. In many cases, drivers work for companies as independent contractors rather than employees, meaning truck accident victims cannot hold a trucking company liable for a driver's negligence through a vicarious liability claim.

Suppose, though, that the trucking company's negligence directly causes or contributes to a truck crash. In that case, the trucking company may bear liability regardless of its employment relationship with the truck driver. A claim against a truck driver can give you a better chance of securing maximum compensation for your injuries and losses from a truck accident. 

How to Prove Trucking Company Negligence

In a case against a trucking company, you must prove the company's negligence caused or contributed to the accident that injured you. Various kinds of evidence may help in determining liability, including:

• The truck driver's employment and driving records
• Truck inspection and maintenance records
• The trucking company's drug testing policies
• The trucking company's safety regulations
• The truck driver's hours of service logs
• The truck's event data recorder ("black box") logs
• Radio dispatch logs
• Eyewitness testimony
• Cargo manifests