TRACTOR-TRAILER ACCIDENTS


Craig J. Lazarov is a leading Memphis Tennessee, Eastern Arkansas tractor-trailer accident attorney and Tennessee/Arkansas Trial Lawyer. 

If you have been injured in an accident involving a tractor trailer, you should consult with an attorney immediately. The insurance company for the carrier will conduct a thorough investigation of the accident and will be looking for any way to avoid liability for the accident. Therefore, it is important that the accident scene be preserved and that you have an accident reconstructionist also examine the scene as soon as possible.

What evidence must be secured after an accident?

Time is of the essence in every trucking case involving serious injury or death. In the aftermath of a sudden accident involving a tractor trailer, it is absolutely crucial for the attorney representing the injured person (or that person's family) to personally inspect both the truck and the trailer. Extensive photographs need to be taken. The entire truck should be thoroughly examined. Crucial evidence can often be uncovered under the seats, in the glove compartment, in the sleeper unit - anywhere in the truck. As we have talked about in the past, the trucking company and its insurance company will almost certainly have already closely inspected the truck and the trailer. Sometimes they miss things. Sometimes the things they see as important don't include all the truly important information that can be discovered during an inspection. It is crucial to determine what might have been moved or removed during the trucking company's "rapid response" inspection. You'll want to find out everyone who has been in the truck since the collision, and find out what communications equipment was in the truck at the time of the collision.  Secure all evidence that may otherwise be lost, destroyed or unavailable such as the driver’s log book, (also know as “record of duty status”) to document the number of hours the driver has operated the truck, been off duty, and been on duty but not driving. Many motor carriers use electronic and satellite technology to monitor drivers’ hours, speed of the vehicle, stops, maintenance, etc. This information must be preserved because it can be essential to the case.

Immediately after an accident, the representatives of the motor carrier and its reconstruction expert will secure the vehicle and perform a background investigation and accident reconstruction.

Critical evidence inside the truck, including beer cans, medication, cellular phones, newspapers, duplicate log books, and any evidence which may be removed from the truck must be preserved.

The truck may be sold for salvage and destroyed before an attorney is consulted by the victim or members of the victim’s family to protect their interest. Therefore you should immedialty advise the motor carrier in writng not to destroy the truck, and to preserve all evidence because you will need your expert to inspect it.

In a motor vehicle accident involving a tractor trailer, there is a possibility of third party liability. For example, the company that loaded the trailer may be liable for negligent loading or configuring the trailer if the contents shift and cause the vehicle to lose control or the contents fall onto someone while unloading it.

Driver fatigue and unrealistic schedules are critical factors in driver negligence and account for an estimated 750 deaths and 20,000 injuries each year. The current hours of service rules for commercial truck drivers is to drive a maximum of ten hours straight and to rest a minimum of eight hours until reaching sixty hours in a seven day period or seventy hours in an eight day period. This permits as much as sixteen hours of driving in any twenty-four hour period on an eighteen hour drive/rest schedule. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations require the drivers to file records with the motor carrier within thirteen (13) days of competing the approved log. The driver’s home terminal must keep the log book until the twentieth day of the next calendar month. The book is then forwarded to the carrier’s principle place of business and retained for six months.


Drivers are not paid for any non-driving work. Therefore if the driver wants to be paid their legal maximum of seventy hours of work they are allowed to perform each week, they must work more than seventy hours. Drivers are routinely required to unload and load at shippers’ warehouses and then are expected to drive for ten hours.

An injured person has nothing to lose and much to gain by contacting us for a free legal consultation. You may contact us by telephone at (901) 759-3489 or by e-mail at craigl@wblnlaw.com.

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