When a commercial truck causes serious injuries, one of the first questions people ask me is who they should actually sue. The driver? The company? Can you go after both? It’s a fair question, and the answer isn’t always simple.
Who Can Be Held Liable After A Truck Accident
You’ve got options here. Sometimes the driver is clearly at fault. They were texting, they ran a red light, and they’d been driving for sixteen hours straight. That’s on them, but trucking companies? They can be just as responsible, sometimes more so. Did they properly maintain the truck? Did they hire someone with a terrible driving record? Were they pushing drivers to meet impossible deadlines that forced them to skip rest breaks? Florida law allows you to pursue claims against both parties. And honestly, that’s often the smartest move because trucking companies carry insurance policies that dwarf what individual drivers have.
Financial Differences Between Claims
Most truck drivers carry basic commercial insurance. It might cover your initial hospital bills and fix your car. But if you’ve got a traumatic brain injury or you’ll never work again? That policy isn’t going to come close. Trucking companies are required by federal law to maintain substantial coverage. We’re talking $750,000 to over $1 million, depending on what they haul. That’s not pocket change. When you work with a Delray Beach truck accident lawyer, part of what we do is identify every available insurance policy. Because you need actual money to pay for years of medical treatment, not just sympathy.
Proving Negligence Against Each Party
Going after the driver means focusing on what they did wrong in that moment. We’ll pull cell phone records if they were texting. We’ll get their logbooks to prove they violated hours-of-service rules. Toxicology reports if there’s any question about impairment. Traffic cameras, witness statements, the whole nine yards.
Suing the company requires different ammunition. We need to dig into their hiring practices. Their maintenance records. Training protocols. Company-wide policies that may have encouraged unsafe behavior. If they hired a driver with three DUIs and a suspended license, that’s on them. If they ignored federal safety regulations to save money, same thing. It’s about proving a pattern of negligence, not just one bad decision.
The Role Of Employer Liability
Florida follows something called respondeat superior. Fancy Latin term, simple concept. If an employee hurts someone while doing their job, the employer is liable too. You don’t need to prove the company told the driver to do anything wrong. If the driver was on the clock, hauling the company’s freight, following the company’s route, the employer shares responsibility. Period. Now, independent contractors complicate this. Companies love to classify drivers as contractors because it limits their liability. But just because they call someone an independent contractor doesn’t make it true. We challenge those classifications all the time.
Why Companies Try To Shift Blame
Trucking companies have entire legal departments dedicated to avoiding responsibility. They’ll argue the driver was an independent contractor. They’ll say the accident happened outside the scope of employment. They’ll claim they had no way of knowing the driver would make that mistake. It’s all designed to protect their bottom line, and they’re good at it. These aren’t mom-and-pop operations. They’ve got resources and experience fighting these claims. That’s why you need someone on your side who knows their playbook. Working with Warner & Fitzmartin – Personal Injury Lawyers means you’ve got attorneys who’ve been through this before and won’t be intimidated by corporate legal teams.
Time Limits And Legal Procedures
You’ve got four years in Florida to file a lawsuit after a truck accident. Sounds like plenty of time, right? But certain situations can shorten that deadline. And even with four years, evidence disappears. Witnesses forget details. Companies “lose” maintenance records. Cases against trucking companies involve more work than going after just the driver. More depositions. More document requests. More back and forth with their lawyers. We’re talking about reviewing internal company policies, interviewing executives, and analyzing fleet-wide safety records. Your Delray Beach truck accident lawyer handles all of that while you’re focused on physical therapy and getting your life back together.
Making The Right Choice For Your Case
Whether you should sue the driver, the company, or both depends on your case. Sometimes the driver’s an independent owner-operator with decent insurance and clear liability. Sometimes the company’s negligence is so obvious that’s where we focus. Often, we go after both because that gives us the best shot at full compensation. If you’ve been injured in a collision involving a commercial truck, contact us today.