Can I Sue a Trucking Company?

Yes. You can absolutely sue a trucking company when its actions, or the actions of its driver, lead to a crash. The Providence truck accident lawyers at our firm are here to help.

Collisions between passenger vehicles and large trucks are almost always serious. In 2023 alone, more than 5,470 people were killed and over 153,000 were injured in truck crashes. Because Rhode Island is intersected by major highways, particularly I-95, one of the busiest freight corridors on the East Coast, along with I-195 and I-295, the state experiences a significant number of serious truck crashes.

At Mandell, Boisclair & Mandell, we’ve seen the devastation a wreck with a semi-truck can cause. If you’ve been hurt or a loved one has died from truck accident injuries, we are here to stand by your side, hold the proper parties accountable, and help you pursue maximum compensation.

Serious Injuries Linked to Truck Accidents

Truck accidents often result in life-altering injuries that can require extensive medical care and lengthy recoveries. Some truck accident injuries may prove impossible to recover from, necessitating a lifetime of assistance.

Common truck crash injuries in Rhode Island include:

• Orthopedic injuries and fractures
• Spinal cord injury
• Traumatic brain injury
• Severe burns
• Amputation
• Organ damage

When you or someone you care about suffers a serious injury in a collision with a commercial vehicle, it can be difficult to know where to turn for help. This is where our firm comes in. We have decades of experience representing families shattered by truck accidents in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. We will assess how your injuries have impacted your life (and how they may continue to do so) to ensure all of your financial, physical, and emotional damages are included in your claim.

Need to Sue a Trucking Company? Contact Us for FREE

To schedule a FREE case review with one of the Providence truck accident attorneys at Mandell, Boisclair & Mandell, call 401-273-8330 today. Located in Providence, we serve all surrounding areas of Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

Top Causes of Truck Crashes in Rhode Island

According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), the leading causes of large truck crashes are:

• Speeding, tailgating, and similarly dangerous driving behaviors
• Inattention, distraction, daydreaming, and inadequate surveillance
• Fatigue, medical events, and loss of consciousness
• Panic and oversteering

These types of behaviors account for 83% of the truck accidents in the nation. Vehicle factors, such as brake failure, along with road defects and weather events, make up most of the remainder.

Because there can be so many factors that contribute to a truck crash, it’s important that your wreck be thoroughly investigated by an experienced truck accident lawyer. Through the investigative process, it can be determined what factors played a role in your collision, which is essential for determining who can be held liable for your damages.

The Providence truck accident lawyers at Mandell, Boisclair & Mandell have been investigating these accidents for nearly 50 years. With our comprehensive process, we work to identify all liable parties, enabling us to hold each to full account and seek the total compensation you are due.

Potentially Liable Parties in Rhode Island Truck Accidents

When it comes to trucking accidents, there may be several people involved in the decisions that led to your injury. These can include:

• The Truck Driver. Drivers are responsible for their actions and can be held accountable for things like speeding, distraction, and fatigue.
• The Trucking Company. Also known as the “motor carrier,” trucking companies have an obligation to hire and train drivers responsibly, maintain their vehicles, and ensure drivers do not break federal or state trucking laws.
• Trailer Owner or Leasing Company. Owners are required to make sure vehicles are mechanically fit. They can be held liable when poor maintenance leads to injury.
• Shipping/Brokerage Company. Properly securing cargo and complying with weight restrictions is the job of cargo loaders. Failure to do these things can make the shipping or brokerage company liable.
• Maintenance Contractor or Parts Manufacturer. Defective truck parts and inadequate or sloppy maintenance put both the trucker and everyone else on the road at risk.
• Government Entities and Road Contractors. Unsafe road design, poor upkeep, missing signs, and similar issues can see state and local governments held accountable under certain circumstances.

Because there might be multiple parties involved in your crash, some of whom could be thousands of miles away, having a truck accident attorney investigate your crash is essential. During your complimentary case review with one of our attorneys, we can discuss potentially liable parties and how our investigative process helps to uncover them all.

When Is a Trucking Company Liable for a Crash?

You can sue a trucking company for injuries sustained in a crash when its conduct, or lack of oversight, created the conditions for the accident. But they may be only one of several defendants.

In Rhode Island, you can bring a claim directly against a motor carrier, even if the company admits vicarious liability for the driver’s mistakes. That means you don’t have to choose between blaming the driver or the business. You can take action against both.

Situations where a trucking company may be wholly or partly liable for your injuries include:

• Negligent Hiring. This may include hiring drivers with FMCSA out-of-service orders violations, a previous DUI, or other known dangerous driving behaviors behind the wheel.
• Inadequate Training/Supervision: This can include failure to train drivers, inadequate ride-along times, and failing to monitor Hours-of-Service (HoS) logs or CSA scores.
• HoS Coercion: This may include setting delivery schedules that cannot be legally met, pressured log entries, and pay-per-mile incentives.
• Maintenance Lapses: These can include skipped brake inspections, failure to replace bald tires, ignored safety lights, and similar failures.
• Safety-Culture Breakdown: This can include bonuses tied to on-time delivery and failing to discipline things like logbook falsification.

When a crash can be traced back to a corporate decision, such as shoddy hiring, corner-cutting maintenance, and profit-driven schedules, the trucking company may be liable for your injuries.

The Providence truck accident lawyers at our firm work to secure key evidence, including black-box data, ELD files, dispatch emails, and maintenance work orders, to uncover all signs of negligence. If a trucking company played a role in your collision, we’ll hold them accountable and fight tooth and nail for every penny you’re due.

A Closer Look at Hours of Service (“HoS”) Violations

The federal HoS rules cap most drivers at 11 hours behind the wheel in any 14-hour on-duty window. Further, HoS regulations limit drivers to no more than 60 hours on-duty over seven consecutive days or 70 hours in any eight, after which they must take a 10-day break from driving. Many of these rules went into effect in September of 2020. 

In a report to Congress in 2023, the FMCSA stated that violations of HoS rules had increased from 7.6% during driver inspections pre-rule change to 8.5% after, with out-of-service violations rising as well. Much of this has to do with trucking companies setting impossible delivery slots or threatening to blacklist drivers who refuse to bend the clock.

At Mandell, Boisclair & Mandell, we can subpoena trip sheets and other pertinent information to find patterns of coercion, incentivized HoS violations, or similar indications of trucking company liability and hold negligent motor carriers accountable for the damages they have caused.

When to Talk to a Truck Accident Attorney

If you have been in a crash with a large truck and sustained an injury, it’s a good idea to talk to a truck accident lawyer as soon as possible. You may be entitled to compensation for medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, and more. The best way to learn about your options and your rights is through a private and cost-free consultation with a qualified attorney.

Mandell, Boisclair & Mandell has a proud history and proven track record of holding negligent trucking companies accountable. We are thorough and attentive during every stage of the process, from the initial investigation and calculating damages through resolution. Our award-winning team of trial lawyers is here to help you get justice. If you suspect a motor carrier’s negligence played a role in your accident, let us hold them accountable and set things right.

Contact Our Truck Accident Lawyers to Learn More

To schedule your FREE consultation with one of our experienced truck accident attorneys, contact Mandell, Boisclair & Mandell online or call our Providence office today. We’ve spent nearly five decades helping individuals and families in Rhode Island and Massachusetts seek justice. Reach out today to learn how we can help you.