Truck accident lawyers for New Jersey and New York

A fully loaded tractor-trailer can weigh many times more than a passenger car. When a truck hits a car, a motorcycle or a pedestrian, the injuries are often severe, including spinal injuries, fractures, brain injuries and deaths.

Truck accident cases are not just bigger car accident cases. Interstate trucking companies and their drivers must follow a detailed set of federal safety rules. The companies keep electronic records that can show exactly how long a driver had been on duty and how fast the truck was going. Several businesses may share responsibility, each with its own lawyers and insurers. This page explains what makes these cases different and what you can do to protect your claim.

Federal rules that govern trucking companies and drivers

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations set minimum safety standards for interstate trucking. They generally apply to commercial motor vehicles, which include vehicles used in interstate commerce with a gross vehicle weight rating of 10,001 pounds or more, as well as certain passenger and hazardous materials vehicles.¹ When a carrier or driver breaks one of these rules and someone is hurt, the violation can be strong evidence that they were careless.

Hours of service and fatigue

Fatigue is a serious danger in trucking, so federal law limits how long a driver may work. A driver of a property-carrying truck must have 10 consecutive hours off duty before driving. After coming on duty, the driver may not drive after the 14th consecutive hour, and may drive no more than 11 hours within that window.²

A driver may not drive more than 8 hours in total without a break from driving of at least 30 consecutive minutes. Weekly limits also apply. Depending on the carrier’s schedule, a driver may not drive after 60 hours on duty in 7 days or 70 hours on duty in 8 days, and the count restarts after 34 or more consecutive hours off duty.²

Electronic logging devices

Most interstate truck drivers must record their duty status on an electronic logging device, often called an ELD, rather than a paper logbook. There are limited exceptions, including drivers who need logs on no more than 8 days in any 30-day period and trucks manufactured before model year 2000.³ ELD data can show when the driver was on duty, driving or resting, and can expose hours-of-service violations.

Carriers must keep records of duty status and supporting documents for at least 6 months.³ That is one reason to act quickly after a truck crash.

Driver qualification files

Before putting a driver on the road, a carrier must make sure the driver is qualified. The carrier must keep a driver qualification file that includes the driver’s job application, motor vehicle records from licensing authorities, the road test certificate or its equivalent, the annual review of the driving record, and the medical examiner’s certificate.⁴ Drivers also need the proper commercial driver’s license.⁸

These files are kept for as long as the driver works for the carrier and for three years after.⁴ A thin or incomplete file can show that the company did not check a driver’s history before handing over the keys.

Inspection and maintenance

Carriers must systematically inspect, repair and maintain their trucks and trailers, and keep all parts and accessories in safe and proper operating condition at all times. Maintenance records generally must be kept for a year and for 6 months after the vehicle leaves the carrier’s control.⁵

Drivers must also prepare a written report at the end of each day’s work on any defect or deficiency they discover or that is reported to them. The carrier must repair defects likely to affect safety before the truck goes back out. These driver vehicle inspection reports must be kept for only three months.⁵ Problems with brakes, tires and lights are the kinds of defects these reports can reveal.

Drug and alcohol testing

Federal rules require testing of commercial drivers for alcohol and controlled substances, including after certain crashes. Post-crash testing is required whenever a crash involves a death. It is also required after a crash in which someone is treated away from the scene for an injury, or a vehicle is towed away with disabling damage, if the truck driver receives a citation for a moving violation arising from the crash within the time limits the rule sets.⁶

If an alcohol test is not given within 2 hours, the employer must document why, and it must stop trying after 8 hours. A drug test must be given within 32 hours.⁶ Whether testing was done on time, and what it showed, can be important evidence.

Minimum insurance

Federal law sets minimum insurance for motor carriers. A for-hire carrier hauling ordinary freight in interstate commerce in a vehicle rated at 10,001 pounds or more must carry at least $750,000 in public liability coverage. Carriers hauling oil or most hazardous materials need at least $1,000,000, and certain high-hazard cargo requires $5,000,000.⁷ These are minimums. Some carriers carry more, and other responsible companies may have their own coverage.

Evidence that can disappear quickly

Trucking companies and their insurers may start investigating a crash right away. You need to move quickly too, because some of the most important evidence can be lost, overwritten or discarded in the ordinary course of business.

Preservation letters and spoliation

A preservation letter, sometimes called a spoliation letter, is a written demand that the trucking company and others keep specific evidence. Spoliation means destroying or failing to preserve evidence that a party knew or should have known was relevant to a likely lawsuit. Courts can impose consequences for spoliation, so a clear letter sent early matters.

A typical preservation letter in a truck case asks the carrier to keep the following.

• The truck, trailer and their components, without repairs, until they can be inspected
• Engine control module and other electronic data
• ELD records, supporting documents and dispatch communications
• GPS and telematics data, and any forward-facing or driver-facing camera video
• The driver qualification file, drug and alcohol test results, and training records
• Maintenance, inspection and repair records
• Bills of lading, load documents and weigh tickets
• The driver’s phone records for the period around the crash

Engine data and telematics

Many trucks have an engine control module, often called the truck’s black box, that can record speed, braking, throttle and other data. Many fleets also use telematics systems that track location and speed in real time, and some have cameras facing the road and the driver. Downloading this data properly requires the right equipment and should be done before the truck is repaired or put back into service.

Why speed matters so much

A heavy truck needs far more distance to stop than a car. Even a small amount of extra speed can be the difference between a near miss and a serious collision, and it greatly increases the force of impact. Engine data, GPS records and video can show whether the driver was going too fast for the conditions, following too closely, or braking too late.

Dispatch records and delivery schedules

Dispatch messages, delivery schedules and pay records can show whether a driver was pushed to meet a deadline that could not be met legally. Comparing those records to the ELD data can reveal false logs or hours-of-service violations.

Who can be held responsible for a truck crash

Truck accident cases often involve more than one defendant. Each one may have separate insurance, and each may try to blame the others.

• The truck driver, for speeding, fatigue, distraction, impairment, unsafe lane changes or other careless driving.
• The motor carrier, the company operating the truck, for the driver’s conduct on the job and for its own failures in hiring, training, supervision and maintenance.
• The shipper or loader, if cargo was overloaded, unbalanced or poorly secured and that contributed to the crash.
• A maintenance contractor, if negligent repairs or inspections left the truck unsafe.
• The owner or lessor of the tractor or trailer, depending on the arrangement and the facts.
• A freight broker, in some cases, as explained below.
• A manufacturer, if a defective part such as a brake or tire caused or worsened the crash. Our product liability page explains those claims.

Employer liability and negligent hiring

Under a legal doctrine called respondeat superior, an employer is generally responsible for an employee’s negligence while the employee is acting within the scope of the job. That means a trucking company can be liable for its driver’s careless driving during a delivery.

A trucking company can also be directly liable for its own carelessness. Claims for negligent hiring, retention or supervision focus on what the company knew or should have known about a driver. Examples include hiring a driver with a poor safety record, ignoring complaints, or allowing a driver to keep violating hours-of-service rules.

Freight brokers after the Montgomery decision

A freight broker arranges for a motor carrier to haul a shipper’s load but does not haul the freight itself. For years, brokers argued that a federal law, the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act (FAAAA), preempted, meaning blocked, state-law claims that they carelessly chose an unsafe carrier.

On May 14, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously rejected that argument for negligent-hiring claims. In Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II, LLC, the Court held that a claim that a broker negligently hired a motor carrier falls within the law’s safety exception for state regulation with respect to motor vehicles, so it is not preempted.⁹

How New Jersey and New York injury rules apply to truck cases

The New Jersey and New York rules that limit lawsuits for pain and suffering after car crashes can also affect truck cases. Whether they apply depends on the vehicles, the insurance and the people involved.

New Jersey

Under the limitation on lawsuit option, also called the verbal threshold, a person covered by a policy with that option can recover pain and suffering only for certain injuries, such as a displaced fracture or a permanent injury.¹⁰ The exemption protects the owner, operator or occupant of an automobile to which New Jersey PIP applies. The New Jersey Supreme Court has held that a defendant who wants the benefit of the threshold must show that they are eligible for New Jersey PIP benefits.¹¹

The no-fault law defines an “automobile” mainly as a private passenger vehicle, and many trucks used in business fall outside that definition.¹⁰ Whether the threshold limits your claim against a particular truck driver or company is a fact-specific question. If you have the limitation on lawsuit option, a lawyer should look at it early. Our verbal threshold guide has more detail.

New York

In New York, when one covered person sues another over a motor vehicle accident, the injured person must show a “serious injury” to recover for pain and suffering.¹² Unlike motorcycles, trucks are not excluded from the no-fault law’s definition of a motor vehicle, so this rule often applies in truck cases. For lawsuits started on or after May 26, 2026, New York also removed one of the serious injury categories, and you cannot recover in these no-fault cases if you were more at fault than the defendants.¹³ Our serious injury threshold guide and comparative negligence guide explain these changes.

Your own PIP or no-fault coverage usually pays your first medical bills after a truck crash, just as it would after a car crash. Our car accidents page covers those benefits and the 30-day New York no-fault deadline.

Deadlines for truck accident claims

In New Jersey, a personal injury lawsuit generally must be filed within two years.¹⁴ In New York, the general deadline is three years.¹⁵ If a crash caused a death, different rules apply, which we discuss on our wrongful death page. If a public entity is involved, such as a municipal truck, a notice of claim may be due within months.

Waiting until the last minute is especially risky in a truck case. The investigation takes time, and the federal record-keeping periods for key evidence can run out long before the statute of limitations does. Our statute of limitations guide covers the exceptions.

Damages in a truck accident case

Because truck crashes often cause severe injuries, the damages can be substantial. Depending on the facts and the thresholds above, they may include the following.

• Past and future medical expenses, including surgery, rehabilitation and long-term care
• Lost wages and loss of future earning capacity
• Pain and suffering, emotional distress and loss of enjoyment of life
• Disfigurement and scarring
• A spouse’s claim for loss of companionship and services
• Property damage

Medical liens from health insurers, Medicare or Medicaid may need to be resolved before a settlement is paid out. Our settlement liens guide explains how that works.

How Parra Klein handles truck accident cases

Parra Klein, LLC represents people injured in crashes with tractor-trailers, box trucks, delivery trucks and other commercial vehicles in New Jersey and New York. Our approach to a truck case usually includes the following.

• Sending preservation letters quickly to the motor carrier and other parties for the truck, its electronic data, ELD records, dispatch communications, video and maintenance files
• Investigating the scene, obtaining the police crash report and locating witnesses
• Requesting the driver qualification file, drug and alcohol test results, and inspection and repair records in discovery
• Comparing the driver’s logs with dispatch, GPS and fuel records to check for hours-of-service violations
• Identifying every potentially responsible party, including the carrier, shipper, loader, maintenance contractor and, where the facts support it, the broker
• Working with your treating doctors to document your injuries with objective findings
• Dealing with the trucking company’s insurers and lawyers, and preparing the case for trial from the start

Our attorneys Arlene M. Parra, Brian A. Klein and Juan Carlos Reyes are each admitted in New Jersey and New York, which helps when a truck case involves both states. Arlene Parra and Juan Carlos Reyes are fluent in Spanish, and we serve clients in Spanish (se habla español).

We have offices in Elmwood Park and Union City, New Jersey, and in Manhattan, and we offer remote consultations. You can call or text any time, and a lawyer will get back to you. Consultations are free, and there is no attorney’s fee unless we recover money for you.