Sean | October 3, 2024

How Long Do You Have to File a Claim for a Truck Accident?

The answer to the question “How long do you have to file a claim for a truck accident?” varies by state for injury and wrongful death victims. Consult a local truck accident attorney to discuss the statute of limitations and other legal deadlines involved in truck accident claims in your state.

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File a Claim for a Truck Accident Before the Statute of Limitations 

The statute of limitations dictates how long truck accident victims must file a claim or lawsuit against liable parties.

Individual states govern these legal deadlines based on:

• Where an accident victim lives
• The purpose of their legal action
• Who they are filing their case against

The statute of limitations for filing a truck accident claim varies but ranges from one to six years. The sooner you contact a lawyer to discuss your case, the better chance you have at maximizing compensation. 

Compensation People Can Recover in Truck Accident Claims

Compensation is the money you may receive for your losses. Accident victims can recover compensation for their damages, which fall into four categories: special, general, exemplary, and wrongful death.

Special Damages

Special damages are your economic losses incurred from the accident and subsequent injuries.

Invoices, receipts, billing, and bank statements prove their costs.

• Medical Expenses: Costs associated with medical care, including ambulance transport, hospitalization, surgeries, doctor visits, prescriptions, rehabilitation services, and future medical care.
• Mental Health Costs: Expenses related to mental health, such as mental health evaluations, therapy appointments, workbooks, and pharmaceuticals. 
• Disability Damages: Costs due to accident-caused disability, including transportation and home modifications, assistive technology, home health care, and emotional support dogs.
• Lost Income: Professional financial losses, such as earnings, bonuses, benefits, inability to earn or make progress toward promotions, and diminished earning power.
• Property Damages: Costs associated with property damaged in the truck accident, such as vehicles, fences, buildings, bicycles, skateboards, smartphones, portable electronic devices, car seats, groceries, and clothing.

If injuries sustained from the accident caused an inability to perform daily tasks, requiring outside services, they may also be recoverable losses. These services include cooking, cleaning, childcare, and yard maintenance.

General Damages

General damages are non-economic losses. An experienced truck accident lawyer will calculate and demand a monetary value for them.

General damages include:

• Physical or chronic pain
• Mental anguish and emotional distress
• Decreased quality of life
• Permanent impairments (scarring and disfigurement)
• Worsening of existing injuries
• Shortened life expectancy 
• Psychological trauma
• Inconvenience

Truck accident victims should document their accident, injury, and recovery in an injury journal. The more detailed your entries, the more they can prove general damages.

Exemplary Damages

Exemplary or punitive damages are awarded for punishment and determent of future intentionally malicious offenders. Exemplary damages are neither special nor general damages, as they aren’t granted to compensate for any loss.

Punitive damages are reserved for horrendous acts, and while they’re uncommon compensation in truck accident claims, courts sometimes award them.

Wrongful Death Damages

Wrongful death damages are reserved for family members who lost a loved one in a truck accident. They include many similar special and general damages. 

However, they entail a few more:

• Medical expenses for treatment of injuries resulting in the decedent’s death
• Conscious pain and suffering from the injury date until the date of the decedent’s death
• Funeral and burial or cremation costs
• Loss of earning capacity between the injury date and the decedent’s death
• Loss of enjoyment of life between the injury date and the decedent’s death
• Loss of society and companionship
• Loss of consortium (surviving spouse)
• Loss of guidance and support (surviving children and financial dependents)
• Loss of financial support
• Loss of inheritance

Your truck accident attorney can also factor the value of services into your compensation claim. The value of services includes outside help required to help the decedent before their death, such as cleaning, childcare, and home maintenance.

Who Is Liable in Truck Accident Claims?

Truck accident cases are often more complex due to multiple parties of liability. These cases can involve communications and negotiations with several insurance companies, which can slow down the claims process and settlement time.

Truck drivers and trucking companies are generally the liable parties named in a claim.

Reasons you may hold a truck driving company liable for your injuries and damages involve:

• Negligent Hiring: Trucking companies are responsible for conducting comprehensive background checks on new hires to ensure they are qualified and licensed. Negligent hiring practices may involve hiring drivers with histories of accidents or driving under the influence (DUI).
• Failure to Train: Inadequate or improper training of truck drivers is another company liable. Continued education on new or changes to existing regulations and protocols is also a company liability.
• Failure to Maintain Trucks: Trucking companies must adequately inspect, maintain, and service trucks. An experienced truck accident lawyer can obtain truck maintenance records to determine negligent maintenance or lack of mandatory inspections. 
• Failure to Comply With Hours of Service (HOS): Hours of service refers to the maximum time truck drivers are allowed to be on duty. HOS includes allowed drive times and outlines regulations for required breaks to ensure drivers do not become fatigued, which leads to impaired driving.

In addition to truck drivers and trucking companies, you can hold several other parties liable in a truck accident claim.

For example:

• Truck manufacturers (part defects)
• Truck brokers (failure to verify the trucking company’s compliance with safety regulations)
• Trailer owner (neglecting maintenance or failure to adhere to safety standards)
• Truck cargo owner
• Cargo loaders and shippers
• The safety inspector (missing violations that contributed to the accident)
• Mechanic or automotive shop (faulty repairs causing accident)
• Government (poor road conditions, inadequate signage, faulty traffic control devices)
• Third-Party Logistics Providers (failure to abide by industry standards contributing to the accident)

Truck accident claims become more complex when you must hold multiple parties liable. Navigating them alone takes time and effort.

Having an experienced attorney handle all communications with insurance companies alleviates stress and brings peace of mind. Having a lawyer on your team also allows you to undergo all necessary medical and rehabilitative care —without worrying about figuring out the legal proceedings in the aftermath.

Proving Negligence in a Truck Accident Claim

Claimants or their attorneys are responsible for proving the four elements of negligence in truck accident cases: duty of care, breach of duty, causation, and damages.

In a truck accident, that reflects:

• The liable party has a duty to ensure the safe operation of the truck.
• The at-fault party breached that duty by not acting safely and reasonably.
• The liable party’s breach of duty caused the accident victim’s injuries.
• The truck accident victim’s injuries resulted in actual damages. 

Your attorney may prove negligence by collecting electronic data from the trucks. Most commercial trucks have electronic logging devices (ELDs) and onboard recorders (OBRs), which record vehicle speed, braking patterns, and other driver activity.

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Factors That Affect the Timeline for Settling a Truck Accident Claim

Despite wanting to settle quickly to pay off medical debts and other accident-related expenses, victims must take the appropriate recovery time.

Once you settle, you cannot recover further compensation if your damages exceed what you accepted. The timeline for settling a truck accident claim or lawsuit is affected by many factors, such as the following:

Severity of Injuries

The severity of your injuries directly relates to how long it will take you to recover and how much money will be awarded in healthcare costs. Minor injuries may settle within a few months, whereas severe injuries can take years. Truck accident victims seeking substantial compensation may experience longer settlement times.

Length of the Accident Investigation

The length of the accident investigation can take time, depending on the complexity of your case.

The investigation process of a truck accident claim includes:

• Gathering Evidence: Your lawyer will collect evidence, such as the police report, photos and security video surveillance of the scene, pictures of injuries, and medical records. 
• Interviewing Witnesses: In addition to witness statements the police collected at the accident scene, an attorney may locate other witnesses and take their statements. They will also speak to existing witnesses to discover any new information.
• Accident Reconstruction: Truck accident attorneys work with accident reconstruction specialists to reconstruct the specifics of your accident scene. They may use forensic diagramming software to create 2D and 3D images of the accident scene. They will also evaluate the vehicle event data recorder (EDR) logs in truck accidents.
• Consulting With Expert Witnesses: Lawyers work closely with expert witnesses to determine damages and lend credibility to your claim’s worth. Examples of these witnesses include medical, occupational, vocational, mental health, and speech and language therapists. You may need expert testimony to properly evaluate your claim.

Once all evidence is gathered, truck accident attorneys diligently analyze it for any points they can use to prove negligence.

Value of Recoverable Losses

If you have a high-value truck accident case, liable parties may refuse to pay fair compensation, especially without legal representation. An experienced lawyer will demand fair compensation for financial losses and other damages incurred in a truck accident.

Insurance Coverage

Truck drivers and trucking companies are required to carry insurance. However, it’s common for drivers to carry minimum policies that won’t cover the extent of severe injuries and expenses.

Also, you may need to deal with multiple insurance companies. For example, the truck’s cab, trailer, and cargo load insurance coverage may differ, causing settlement time constraints.

Length of Negotiations

Insurance companies have a purpose in undervaluing truck accident claims. The claims adjusters work to save money for the company. The first settlement is nearly always a lowball insult to actual damages.

These measures will not persuade or fool your experienced truck accident lawyer. Attorneys are skilled negotiators who confidently navigate multiple rounds of negotiations to maximize your compensation.

Going to Trial

Fortunately, most truck accident claims are settled outside of court. However, your attorney will represent you in court if your personal injury claim goes to trial.

Your attorney will present the findings of your truck accident claim, call witnesses to provide expert testimony in your defense, and cross-examine any witnesses the defense calls to discredit your case.

What Constitutes a Truck in a Truck Accident Claim?

Truck accident claims involve pedestrian and motor vehicle accidents with commercial trucks and vehicles.

These vehicles vary in size and purpose and include:

• Semi-trucks (big rigs, 18-wheelers, tractor-trailers)
• Box trucks
• Flatbeds
• Work trucks
• Tanker trucks (haul hazardous liquids and gasses)
• Construction trucks (dump trucks, cement trucks) 
• Refrigerated trucks
• Forklifts
• Delivery vans
• Buses

Contact a Skilled Personal Injury Attorney Today

If you suffered an injury or suffered the wrongful death of a loved one in a truck accident, you may have a compensation claim. Consult one of our attorneys for a free case evaluation and estimation of damages. We are here to pursue the compensation you deserve.

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