Truck accidents · Federal rules
Short answer: after a crash with a commercial truck, the driver is rarely the only one who can be held liable. The trucking company usually answers for its driver, and it can also be liable for its own failures: hiring, hours, maintenance. A cargo loader, a repair shop, a parts maker and a freight broker that chose an unsafe carrier can share the blame; a May 2026 Supreme Court ruling opened that last claim nationwide. Federal rules decide a lot of this, and some of the records that prove it can be lawfully thrown away after three months, others after six.
A crash with an 80,000-pound truck is not a bigger car crash. More parties are involved, a federal rulebook applies, and the insurance is larger. The other side also moves faster: carriers and their insurers often send investigators to the scene within hours.
This guide covers who can be liable, the federal rules that matter most in a claim, and the records to secure before they are gone. Each rule links to the regulation itself. Last checked: October 17, 2026.
Who can be liable in a truck accident
Liability follows fault. Each party below can be responsible for its own share, and in most states the injured person can claim against several of them at once.
The driver
Speeding, fatigue, phone use, impairment, an unsafe lane change. The driver’s logs and phone records are the usual evidence.
The motor carrier
Answers for its employee driver under the doctrine of respondeat superior. It can also be directly liable for hiring an unqualified driver, pushing illegal hours or skipping maintenance.
The carrier whose authority was used
When an owner-operator leases a truck to a carrier, the lease must give the carrier “exclusive possession, control, and use” of it and “complete responsibility” for its operation (49 CFR 376.12(c)).
The shipper or loader
Badly secured or overweight cargo can shift and cause a rollover or a jackknife. Whoever loaded it can share the blame.
Repair shop or manufacturer
A brake job done wrong points to the shop. A defective tire or part can support a product liability claim against its maker.
The freight broker
A broker that arranged the load can face a claim that it chose an unsafe carrier. See the next section.
Two parties are often less exposed than people expect. A company that rents or leases out a truck is not liable just because it owns it, under the federal Graves Amendment, unless it was itself negligent. And a government body responsible for a dangerous road usually has short notice deadlines and damage caps: see the exceptions to the deadline.
The 2026 ruling on freight brokers
In Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II, LLC, the Supreme Court held unanimously that a claim that a broker negligently hired an unsafe carrier is not preempted by federal law (the FAAAA). Such claims fall under the law’s safety exception, because a broker’s choice of carrier decides which trucks and drivers end up on the road.
Before this ruling, federal courts were split. In some circuits, brokers such as the one in the case (C.H. Robinson) could have these claims thrown out at the start; in others, such as the Sixth and Ninth Circuits, the claims could already go ahead. Now the rule is the same everywhere for interstate transport.
The ruling does not make brokers liable by default. The injured person still has to prove that the broker was careless in choosing the carrier, for example by ignoring a poor safety record. A concurring opinion stressed that brokers with reasonable vetting procedures should be able to defend themselves. For crash victims, the practical change is one more insurance policy that may be within reach. This matters when the carrier is small and its coverage is close to the minimum.
Federal rules that matter in a claim
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) writes the safety rules for trucks in interstate commerce, in Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations. Each state sets the rules for trucks that never leave it, and many copy the federal ones with some changes. A broken rule does not prove the crash was caused by it, but it is strong evidence of carelessness, and lawyers look for it first.
Hours of service for property carriers
| Limit | What it means | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| 11 hours | Maximum driving after 10 consecutive hours off duty | 49 CFR 395.3(a)(3)(i) |
| 14 hours | No driving after the 14th hour since coming on duty, even with breaks | 395.3(a)(2) |
| 30 minutes | Required break after 8 hours of driving | 395.3(a)(3)(ii) |
| 60 / 70 hours | No driving after 60 hours on duty in 7 days, or 70 in 8 days | 395.3(b) |
| 34 hours | An off-duty period that restarts the 7- or 8-day count | 395.3(c) |
There are exceptions: up to two extra hours of driving when unexpected adverse conditions (bad weather, a road closure) arise, split rest periods for drivers with a sleeper berth, and short-haul rules for local drivers (49 CFR 395.1). An apparent violation has to be checked against them.
Most interstate trucks record these hours on an electronic logging device. A separate rule bans driving while too tired or ill to drive safely, and it binds the carrier too: it may not “require or permit” it (49 CFR 392.3). If a dispatcher set a schedule that could only be met by breaking the hours rules, that points at the company, not just the driver.
Driver qualification, drugs and alcohol
Carriers must keep a qualification file for each driver: license, driving record, medical certificate, previous employers. They must also run drug and alcohol testing, including after many crashes. A missing file, an expired medical card or a skipped test supports a claim that the carrier should never have put that driver on the road.
Inspection and maintenance
Carriers must systematically inspect, repair and maintain their vehicles (49 CFR 396.3). At the end of each day’s work, a driver who found a defect must report it in writing, and the carrier must fix it or certify that no repair was needed (49 CFR 396.11). Brake and tire failures are where these records matter most.
The records, and how long the carrier must keep them
This is the part most guides skip. The federal rules set minimum retention periods. After that, a carrier can lawfully destroy the record in the normal course of business, unless it has been told to keep it. That is why lawyers send a preservation letter (also called a spoliation letter) within days of a serious crash.
- No minimum Engine computer (“black box”) data: speed, braking and throttle in the seconds before impact. No federal rule says how long to keep it, and it can be overwritten if the truck goes back into service.
- 3 months Driver vehicle inspection reports listing defects and their repair (396.11).
- 6 months Hours-of-service records and supporting documents, such as fuel receipts and dispatch records that test the logs (395.8(k)).
- 1 year Negative drug and alcohol test results; positive results and refusals are kept 5 years (382.401).
- 1 year + Inspection, repair and maintenance records: kept 1 year, and for 6 months after the truck leaves the carrier’s control (396.3(c)).
- 3 years The carrier’s accident register, listing its reportable crashes (390.15(b)).
- Job + 3 years The driver qualification file, kept while the driver works there and for three years after (391.51).
Compare these periods with the deadline to sue, which is two years or more in most states. A claim filed in month 18 can still be on time while the logs that would have proved a 16-hour shift are already gone. A preservation letter, or a court order, is what stops the routine deletion. Once a carrier knows a claim is likely, destroying evidence can lead to court sanctions.
Insurance minimums for trucks
Federal rules require interstate for-hire carriers with vehicles of 10,001 pounds or more to carry at least this much public liability coverage (49 CFR 387.9):
| What the truck carries | Minimum coverage |
|---|---|
| General freight (nonhazardous property) | $750,000 |
| Oil, and hazardous materials not in the top tier | $1,000,000 |
| Certain hazardous materials in bulk (some explosives, poison gas, radioactive loads) | $5,000,000 |
These are floors, not typical amounts: many carriers buy more, and some add umbrella policies. They have not changed since the 1980s, so a serious injury claim can exceed $750,000 quickly. That is one reason claims often include every liable party, not just the carrier. The $1 million and $5 million tiers also apply to private carriers hauling their own hazardous goods, and to some hazardous loads carried in bulk within one state. Other trucks that stay within one state follow that state’s own minimums, which can be lower.
State law still decides the claim
The federal rules supply evidence and insurance. The claim itself, for negligence, runs under the law of the state where the crash happened. Two state rules shape every truck case:
- The deadline to sue. Usually two or three years. Check your state in the statute of limitations table.
- How your own fault counts. If the trucking company says you braked suddenly or sat in its blind spot, your share of fault can reduce or bar recovery. See the fault rules by state.
If the crash was fatal, the family’s claim follows the state’s wrongful death statute, which has its own deadline and its own rules on who may file.
Questions
Is the trucking company always responsible for its driver?
For an employee driving on the job, usually yes. For an owner-operator, it depends on the lease and on whose operating authority the truck was running under. The federal leasing rule puts responsibility for leased equipment on the carrier for the duration of the lease.
Do I need a lawyer who handles truck cases specifically?
Not by law, but these cases depend on federal regulations, electronic records and several insurers. Ask any lawyer you speak to how many trucking cases they have handled and whether they send preservation letters right away.
How much does a truck accident lawyer charge?
Most work on contingency: a percentage of the recovery, often around a third, with costs on top. See how contingency fees work and the calculator there.
Can I get the truck’s black box data myself?
Usually not. The data sits in the truck’s own computer, under its owner’s control, and needs special equipment to download. What you can do is ask a lawyer quickly to demand that it be preserved.
- NHTSA, Traffic Safety Facts: Large Trucks, 2023 Data (DOT HS 813 717).
- Code of Federal Regulations, Title 49, Parts 376, 382, 387, 390, 391, 392, 395 and 396, as linked above (Cornell LII copy of the eCFR).
- U.S. Supreme Court, Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II, LLC, No. 24-1238 (May 14, 2026).
- 49 U.S.C. § 30106 (Graves Amendment).
Related guides
- What to do after a car accident: the scene and the first 30 days.
- Personal injury deadlines by state.
- Comparative negligence by state.
General information, not legal advice. Federal rules have exceptions (short-haul drivers, intrastate carriers, passenger carriers). Ask a licensed attorney in your state about your case.