Legal Articles
Insights on Truck Accident Law and Litigation Nationwide
Understanding how and why truck crashes happen is critical to achieving justice, not just for victims, but for the attorneys and law enforcement officers who serve them. At Fried Goldberg LLC, we’ve dedicated our careers to advancing the field of truck accident litigation through education, leadership, and results.
Our attorneys have represented victims and families in more than 40 states, co-counseled with law firms nationwide, and authored the Understanding Motor Carrier Claims treatise: the definitive legal guide to trucking cases. Each article below draws on real case experience, focusing on lessons learned from decades of litigation, investigation, and trial work.
We’re committed to driving change for the good of truck accident victims, plaintiff’s attorneys, law enforcement, and the future of road safety.
If you or a loved one has been injured in a crash involving a tractor-trailer or commercial vehicle, contact Fried Goldberg LLC to discuss your case. Our team will review the details, explain your options, and help you pursue the justice you deserve.
Recent Articles
When Unsecured Cargo Turns a Trailer Into a Hazard
Poorly secured cargo can shift inside a trailer, fall into traffic, or break through its restraints. Federal rules govern securement-system strength, tiedown capacity, equipment condition, and driver inspections throughout the trip. Preserving the securement devices, cargo records, route data, and carrier policies can help establish when the failure occurred and which parties may bear responsibility.
Why the MCS-90 Is Not the Same as Trucking Insurance Coverage
The MCS-90 may require an insurer to pay a qualifying judgment without creating ordinary policy coverage. Its effect depends on the named motor carrier, available insurance, federal financial-responsibility rules, and controlling law. Plaintiffs’ attorneys must still investigate primary, excess, leased-equipment, owner-operator, and additional-insured policies before evaluating potential sources of recovery.
When a Truck Crash Involves Several States, Which State’s Law Applies?
A truck crash involving people, companies, and conduct from several states may support more than one forum and more than one body of law. Personal jurisdiction, venue, federal removal, transfer rules, comparative fault, punitive damages, and wrongful death law can all affect litigation strategy and recovery. Early analysis helps counsel select a sustainable forum and anticipate defense challenges.
How Polytrauma Damages Are Calculated After A Catastrophic Truck Crash
A survivor dealing with a brain injury, broken bones, and internal trauma all at once faces a recovery that's more complicated, and more expensive, than any single diagnosis suggests, since combined injuries tend to slow healing and compound long-term costs. Building a fair damages claim after a catastrophic truck crash means documenting the full picture of what's been lost rather than letting an insurer value each injury in isolation.
Why The Right Witness Team Decides Truck Crash Trials
Commercial vehicle litigation depends on specialized witness testimony in a way ordinary car accident cases rarely do, from accident reconstructionists who understand tractor-trailer dynamics to regulatory compliance specialists who can explain how a carrier's conduct fell below the federal safety standard. Choosing the wrong witness, or too few of them, can leave a strong case vulnerable to a defense challenge long before a jury ever hears the evidence.
Why A Spoliation Letter Can Make Or Break A Truck Crash Case
Electronic logs, dashcam footage, and maintenance records at a trucking company can disappear through routine data cycles within days of a crash unless someone puts the carrier on formal notice to preserve them. A spoliation letter sent in the first hours after a serious collision can be the difference between a case built on solid proof and one left arguing over what might have happened.
Who's Liable When a Leased Truck Driver Causes a Crash?
Carriers routinely deny liability after crashes involving owner-operators by calling the driver an independent contractor, but federal lease regulations under 49 C.F.R. Part 376 assign responsibility to the carrier holding the operating authority regardless of what the employment paperwork says. Fried Goldberg LLC's attorneys break down the federal framework, the documentation that proves carrier control, and why the independent contractor defense rarely holds up under scrutiny.
When Truck Accident Cases Support Punitive Damages
Punitive damages in truck accident cases may be allowed when clear and convincing evidence shows the carrier acted with willful misconduct or conscious indifference to consequences, a standard that carriers can meet through their own internal documents, prior crash records, and deferred maintenance logs. Fried Goldberg LLC's attorneys explain the legal framework, the evidence categories that matter most, and how the carrier's own files often build the strongest case for enhanced damages.
When Carrier Hiring Failures Put Unqualified Drivers Behind the Wheel
Federal regulations under 49 C.F.R. Part 391 require commercial carriers to build and maintain a specific qualification file for every driver before they operate a commercial vehicle, and failures in that process create direct negligent hiring liability for the carrier regardless of the driver's own conduct. Fried Goldberg LLC's attorneys break down what the driver qualification file must contain, what missing documents prove about carrier culture, and how the FMCSA Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse changed the liability landscape for pre-hire screening failures.
When a Tractor-Trailer Crosses the Median Into Oncoming Traffic
When a tractor-trailer crosses the median into oncoming traffic, the results are often catastrophic. Our attorneys explain the leading causes of median-crossover truck accidents, the severe injuries they cause, and how fast, independent investigations can uncover all responsible parties and strengthen claims for financial recovery.
The Legal Impact of Dashcams and Third-Party Video in Truck Accident Cases
Dashcam and surveillance footage are transforming how truck accident cases are investigated and proven. Unlike witness accounts, video captures objective details about driver behavior, road conditions, and the sequence of events. Our experienced attorneys discuss how timely preservation and expert analysis can turn uncertainty into a stronger claim for truck accident victims.
Why Jackknife Truck Accidents Often Point to Multiple Safety Failures
Jackknife truck accidents rarely come down to one bad move. They often involve loss of traction, driver response, weak training, poor supervision, and maintenance failures that build over time. Proving what caused the trailer to swing usually takes deeper investigation into the truck, the driver, and the company behind the crash.
When Commercial Trucks Strike Pedestrians in Unexpected Locations
Pedestrian truck crashes don’t just happen in crosswalks or traffic zones. They also happen in gas stations, intersections, and other places where drivers should slow down and expect people on foot. When a commercial truck driver fails to do that, the consequences can be devastating, and the case often requires an in-depth trucking accident investigation by a skilled lawyer.
The Unique Risks Motorcyclists Face Around Commercial Trucks
Motorcyclists face serious danger around commercial trucks, especially when a truck turns, changes lanes without warning, or makes another unsafe maneuver. With little protection and large truck blind spots, these crashes are often catastrophic. Our experienced truck accident lawyers explain what injured riders need to know after a collision.
Truck Crashes Involving Slow-Moving Vehicles on High-Speed Roads
Collisions with farm equipment, bobtail trucks, and other slow-moving vehicles often happen when approaching truck drivers fail to adjust speed or maintain a proper lookout despite obvious traffic changes. Our experienced truck accident lawyers explain how these crashes happen, what evidence matters, and why early investigation is so important.
Amputations Resulting from Tractor-Trailer Collisions
The force generated when an 80,000-pound commercial truck strikes a passenger vehicle can result in injuries severe enough to cause permanent limb loss. We discuss the crash mechanics behind traumatic amputations, the true lifetime cost of recovery, and the legal framework used to identify negligent parties and hold them accountable.
The Unique Dangers of Tractor‑Trailer U‑Turns on Major Roadways
When an 18-wheeler swings across a highway to turn around, it can create a wall of steel that drivers have little chance of avoiding. Our attorneys explain how truck U-turns differ from car U-turns, how federal and state laws apply, and how evidence helps establish responsibility after a devastating crash.
Are Trucking Companies Liable for Truck Crashes Caused by Driver Fatigue?
Fatigue in trucking is rarely just a driver problem. In this article, we explore how company hiring, scheduling, safety policies, and medical decisions create dangerous fatigue risks, what federal rules require, and what people injured in truck accidents can do to pursue accountability when a tired trucker causes a life‑changing crash.
How Third-Party Training Programs Complicate Responsibility After a Crash
As trucking companies outsource more driver training, crash investigations must dig deeper than surface compliance. Training vendors, carrier oversight, and paper records often reveal where safety broke down long before the collision.
Trucking Companies Restructuring After Serious Accidents
Major truck crashes are sometimes followed by quiet corporate restructuring that shifts assets and obscures responsibility. Understanding how mergers, dissolutions, and rebranded entities operate can be critical to uncovering who still controls safety and who should be held accountable.
When trucking companies cycle through safety leadership, enforcement weakens, warning signs get missed, and crash risks grow. We discuss how organizational instability inside safety departments can shape liability after a serious truck accident and why those internal failures matter.
Truck Crash Liability Is Rarely Just About The Driver
A serious truck collision is often the result of layered decisions, not one mistake. Motor carrier responsibility, leased driver rules, hiring failures, maintenance shortcuts, broker selection, and missing records can all shape who pays and how much a case is worth.
Truck Accident Cases Are Often Won or Lost After the Crash
Post-collision decisions by trucking companies often determine whether critical evidence is preserved or lost. We examine how evidence control, internal investigations, and communication choices can reshape liability in serious truck accident cases.
The Overlooked Role of Load Origin in Serious Truck Accidents
Warehouse loading decisions often play a hidden role in catastrophic truck crashes. We break down how shippers, third-party loaders, and distribution centers can influence stability, control, and liability long before a truck hits the road.
How Rapid Fleet Turnover Increases Risk on the Road
High fleet turnover breaks continuity in training, maintenance, and supervision. Drivers don’t stay long enough to learn recurring issues, and equipment moves too quickly for problems to be fully resolved. These gaps increase crash risk even when surface-level compliance exists. If a truck crash left you injured, we can help investigate whether instability inside the fleet contributed to what happened.
Impaired Truck Drivers Can Cause Catastrophic Crashes
Impairment behind the wheel of a commercial truck leads to some of the most devastating crashes in the country. We break down how impairment occurs, why these crashes are severe, and how our experienced legal team uncovers the truth for victims and families nationwide.
When Distracted Truck Drivers Cause Deadly Crashes
Distracted truck driving leads to some of the most devastating crashes on America’s highways. We explain how distraction occurs, why rear-end truck collisions are so common, and how our truck accident attorneys uncover the truth for victims and families nationwide.
Rear-End Truck Crashes Reveal a National Safety Crisis
From multimillion-dollar verdicts across Georgia, the Carolinas, and beyond, Fried Goldberg LLC shows how rear-end truck crashes reflect a national pattern of negligence and how each case drives accountability and industry reform.