The Ultimate Fighters for
Victims of Injuries
Victims of Injuries
Commercial Truck Accidents
A collision involving a commercial truck can become a very different legal case from an ordinary two-car accident almost immediately. The vehicle may belong to a corporation, the driver may be working under a motor carrier’s authority, electronic records may document the truck’s movement, and federal safety rules may govern everything from the driver’s hours behind the wheel to the condition of the brakes and the way cargo was secured.
For someone seriously injured in Westchester County or Upstate New York, those differences matter. A trucking company and its insurer may begin investigating before the damaged vehicles have even been removed from the roadway. The injured person should have someone investigating with the same sense of urgency.
The Steiner Law Firm represents people injured in commercial truck accidents throughout Westchester County and communities across Upstate New York. Led by trial attorney Norman Steiner, our firm examines not only what happened at the moment of impact, but also the decisions made before the truck ever reached the scene.
Commercial Trucks Share New York Roads With Everyone
Commercial trucking is woven into daily travel throughout the Hudson Valley and Upstate New York. Tractor-trailers move along I-87 and I-287. Delivery trucks enter downtown streets in White Plains, Yonkers, Peekskill and New Rochelle. Box trucks, dump trucks, construction vehicles and commercial vans travel local roads where drivers, pedestrians and cyclists may have very little room to avoid them.
Major national and regional trucking companies regularly operate on New York’s highways and commercial routes. These include FedEx Freight, UPS, XPO, Old Dominion Freight Line and Estes Express Lines. Several maintain freight terminals or service networks in New York, including locations serving the Albany region, Long Island, New York City and Western New York. Their trucks share roads with smaller regional carriers, independent operators, construction fleets, delivery companies and other commercial vehicles throughout Westchester County and Upstate New York.
The physical difference between these vehicles and passenger cars can make a collision especially destructive. A truck also behaves differently under braking and cornering. Weight, load distribution, road grade, weather, speed and stopping distance can all become important when reconstructing how a crash occurred.
A commercial truck accident claim therefore should not automatically be treated as an oversized car accident. The investigation may need to reach into the trucking operation itself.
What We Look for Beyond the Police Accident Report
A police report is useful, but it rarely tells the complete story of a commercial trucking collision. The report may identify the drivers, record statements and provide an initial description of the crash. It generally does not reveal whether a driver exceeded federal driving limits three days earlier, whether a recurring brake defect had been reported, or whether the carrier placed unrealistic scheduling pressure on its drivers.
Depending on the circumstances, evidence in a truck accident case may include:
- Electronic logging device data, driver qualification records, dispatch communications, GPS information, inspection reports and hours-of-service records
- Engine control or electronic vehicle data, onboard camera footage, maintenance histories and repair documentation
- Bills of lading, cargo records, loading instructions, weight information and documents identifying companies involved in shipping or loading
- Cell phone records, witness statements, surveillance footage, photographs, roadway evidence and vehicle damage
- Employment, training and supervision records that may reveal whether the driver should have been placed behind the wheel
Some of that information may remain in the trucking company’s possession. Some electronic information can eventually be overwritten or lost. Prompt preservation efforts can therefore play an important role in a serious truck accident claim.
Federal Trucking Regulations Can Help Explain Why a Crash Happened
Interstate commercial motor carriers and drivers are subject to extensive Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations. A violation does not automatically determine the outcome of every lawsuit, but these rules can provide important evidence when deciding whether a driver or company failed to operate safely.
Driver Fatigue and Hours of Service
For many property-carrying commercial drivers, 49 C.F.R. § 395.3 generally limits driving to 11 hours after 10 consecutive hours off duty and restricts driving after the end of a 14-hour duty window. Other requirements and exceptions can apply depending on the operation.
Fatigue cases require more than simply asking whether a driver appeared sleepy. Electronic logs, fuel purchases, toll activity, GPS records and dispatch information may help determine how long the driver had actually been working and whether the recorded logs match the truck’s movements.
Federal regulation 49 C.F.R. § 392.3 also addresses operation of a commercial motor vehicle when a driver’s ability or alertness is impaired or likely to become impaired through fatigue, illness or another cause.
Inspection, Maintenance and Mechanical Safety
Commercial carriers have continuing responsibilities concerning vehicle condition. Under 49 C.F.R. § 396.3, motor carriers generally must systematically inspect, repair and maintain vehicles subject to their control.
That makes maintenance records particularly important when a collision may have involved brake failure, worn tires, steering problems, defective lighting or another mechanical condition. A mechanical problem that appears sudden at the roadside may have been developing for weeks.
Cargo Securement
Federal cargo securement requirements found in 49 C.F.R. Part 393 govern how many types of commercial loads must be restrained. Improperly secured cargo can shift the truck’s center of gravity, fall into traffic or contribute to a rollover or loss of control.
The driver may not be the only party whose conduct needs examination. Depending on the arrangement, a shipper, loader, contractor or other business may have participated in preparing the load.
Who Can Be Responsible for a Commercial Truck Accident?
Determining who caused the collision and determining who is legally responsible for it are related but separate questions.
The truck driver may be responsible for speeding, following too closely, unsafe lane changes, distraction, fatigue or another driving error. The motor carrier may face separate issues involving hiring, supervision, scheduling, maintenance or company safety practices. Other defendants can arise when maintenance was outsourced, cargo was loaded by another company or a defective truck component contributed to the crash.
New York Vehicle and Traffic Law § 388 is also significant. Subject to the statute and applicable law, it generally makes a vehicle owner responsible for injuries resulting from negligence in the vehicle’s use or operation by someone operating it with the owner’s express or implied permission. In truck cases involving tractors, trailers, leased equipment and corporate ownership arrangements, identifying the correct owners can be a critical part of the investigation.
Potential responsibility may involve:
- The commercial driver and the motor carrier employing or supervising the driver
- The owner or lessor of the tractor or trailer
- A maintenance or repair contractor
- A shipper, freight company or cargo-loading company
- A manufacturer or seller when a defective vehicle or component contributed to the collision
- Another driver or entity whose independent negligence helped cause the crash
Commercial arrangements can be complicated. The company name painted on the truck is not necessarily the only business connected to its operation.
Serious Injuries Require More Than a List of Diagnoses
Truck collisions can cause fractures, traumatic brain injuries, spinal injuries, amputations, internal injuries, nerve damage and other permanent conditions. Establishing the medical diagnosis is only part of the job.
A serious injury changes routines. It can affect how someone gets out of bed, uses stairs, drives, works, sleeps, cares for children, exercises or participates in ordinary family life. Future surgeries, rehabilitation, assistive devices, reduced earning ability and long-term medical treatment may also need to be considered before a claim can be evaluated responsibly.
This is an area in which Norman Steiner’s personal experience directly informs the way he communicates an injury case.
Norm is a longtime trial attorney who has tried approximately 50 cases before juries. He also understands catastrophic injury from outside the courtroom. After a catastrophic motorcycle collision in 2006, Norm lost a leg and became an amputee. His rehabilitation required him to confront many of the same practical questions that arise in catastrophic injury cases: what a person can still do, what now takes longer, what hurts, what requires adaptation and what other people simply do not see.
That experience can be particularly valuable when explaining an injury to an insurance adjuster, judge or jury. A medical term in a chart may take only a few words. Explaining what that injury actually means over the course of a person’s day can require considerably more understanding. Norm’s role is not merely to identify the injury, but to communicate its consequences in a way that makes the human loss understandable.
New York No-Fault Law and the Serious Injury Requirement
New York’s no-fault system applies to many motor vehicle accidents, including collisions involving commercial trucks.
Insurance Law § 5102 defines basic economic loss and provides for up to $50,000 per person in qualifying basic economic losses, subject to the statute’s requirements and limitations. These benefits can include qualifying medical expenses and portions of lost earnings regardless of who caused the collision.
A separate claim against an at-fault party may permit recovery beyond no-fault benefits. For non-economic damages such as pain and suffering in an action between covered persons, Insurance Law § 5104 generally requires the injured person to establish a “serious injury” as defined by Insurance Law § 5102(d).
The statutory definition includes injuries such as death, dismemberment, significant disfigurement, fracture, loss of a fetus, permanent loss of use and certain permanent or significant limitations of bodily organs, members, functions or systems.
New York changed portions of its motor vehicle injury laws effective May 26, 2026, so older descriptions of the state’s no-fault and comparative-fault rules may no longer accurately describe a newly filed case.
Comparative Fault After New York’s 2026 Law Change
Comparative fault can become a major issue when a trucking company argues that the injured motorist also contributed to the collision.
CPLR § 1411 was amended in 2026. For personal injury actions subject to Article 51 of the Insurance Law, the new subsection (b) can bar recovery when the claimant’s culpable conduct is greater than the culpable conduct of the person against whom recovery is sought, or greater than the combined culpable conduct of the persons against whom recovery is sought.
For other claims governed by CPLR § 1411(a), comparative fault generally reduces recoverable damages according to the claimant’s share of responsibility rather than automatically eliminating the claim.
Because the applicable rule can depend on the nature and timing of the case, fault allegations should be analyzed under the current statute rather than assumptions based on pre-2026 New York law.
Damages After a Commercial Truck Collision
The value of a case depends on the evidence, injuries and individual circumstances rather than a formula. Depending on the claim, recoverable damages may address past and future medical treatment, rehabilitation, lost earnings, diminished earning ability, pain and suffering, disability, loss of enjoyment of life and other legally recognized losses.
Catastrophic cases often require looking years into the future. Settling before the long-term medical picture is sufficiently understood can leave an injured person responsible for costs that were never included in the settlement.
Our objective is to document not only what has already happened, but what the injury is reasonably expected to require going forward.
Deadlines Can Arrive Before a Truck Case Is Fully Understood
CPLR § 214 generally provides a three-year statute of limitations for a New York personal injury action, although different deadlines can apply in particular circumstances. Claims involving government-owned vehicles or public entities can involve substantially shorter notice requirements.
No-fault insurance claims also involve their own procedural deadlines.
The legal filing deadline should not be confused with the practical deadline for preserving evidence. Trucking records, electronic information, surveillance video and physical evidence may become harder to obtain long before the statute of limitations expires.
Frequently Asked Questions About Commercial Truck Accidents
Is a delivery truck considered a commercial vehicle?
It can be. Commercial vehicles include much more than tractor-trailers. Depending on the vehicle and operation, a case may involve box trucks, delivery vehicles, dump trucks, buses, construction trucks, tow trucks or other vehicles being operated for business purposes. Not every commercial vehicle is subject to every federal trucking regulation.
Can I sue the trucking company as well as the driver?
Potentially. Liability depends on the driver’s relationship with the company and the facts surrounding the crash. A company may also face claims based on its own conduct, such as negligent hiring, supervision or maintenance. Vehicle ownership under New York Vehicle and Traffic Law § 388 may create additional issues.
What if the truck driver says I caused the accident?
The driver’s version is evidence, not the final determination. Physical evidence, cameras, witnesses, electronic truck data, roadway markings, vehicle damage and other records may provide a much more complete account. Current New York comparative-fault rules also make accurate fault analysis particularly important.
Do commercial trucks have black boxes?
Many modern commercial trucks contain electronic systems capable of recording information about vehicle operation. The exact information available depends on the truck, its equipment and the circumstances. Electronic logging devices, GPS platforms and onboard camera systems may provide additional evidence separate from engine data.
Should I speak with the trucking company’s insurance adjuster?
You should be cautious about providing recorded statements or discussing your injuries before understanding why the insurer is requesting the information. Commercial insurers investigate claims to protect their insureds and financial interests. You have the right to seek legal advice before giving a statement.
How long does a commercial truck accident case take?
There is no reliable standard timeline. A case involving disputed liability, multiple companies, catastrophic injuries or extensive expert analysis may take longer than a straightforward collision. The goal should be to develop the case thoroughly without unnecessarily delaying a resolution.
What if the trucking company is based outside New York?
A company does not avoid potential responsibility simply because its headquarters are in another state. Interstate trucking is common. A collision occurring in New York may involve New York law, federal motor carrier regulations and jurisdictional issues that require careful analysis.
Talk With The Steiner Law Firm About a Commercial Truck Accident
A trucking company may have drivers, dispatchers, safety personnel, insurers and investigators working on a collision almost immediately. An injured person deserves an investigation that is just as focused.
The Steiner Law Firm represents people injured in commercial truck accidents throughout Westchester County and Upstate New York. Norman Steiner brings decades of courtroom experience together with a personal understanding of what catastrophic injury can take from someone’s everyday life. That perspective helps us investigate the mechanics of a collision while never losing sight of the person whose future has been changed by it.
If you or someone in your family was seriously injured in a crash involving a tractor-trailer, delivery truck, box truck or other commercial vehicle, contact The Steiner Law Firm for a free consultation. We can review the circumstances, identify evidence that should be preserved, determine which companies may be responsible and explain the legal options available under current New York law.