How to Prove a Trucking Company was Negligent in Indiana

In truck accident claims, you may be able to hold the driver responsible, but they may not have the money to cover your injuries. Instead, proving that the trucking company was responsible for the crash will often be a vital part of getting full compensation.

Trucking companies can be held responsible for a crash either in their role as the driver’s employer or for their own mistakes. When holding them responsible as the employer, you need to prove what the trucker did wrong to cause the crash. In holding them directly liable, you have to prove some kind of violation or other unreasonable action or inaction they committed.

To get started with a free case evaluation, call Wruck Paupore’s Indiana truck accident lawyers at (219) 322-1166 right away.

Types of Liability for Trucking Companies

Trucking companies can be held liable for a crash in a few different ways, one of which is a type of “vicarious” liability, and the rest of which involve the company’s direct liability.

Vicarious Liability: Respondeat Superior

You can often hold employers responsible for what their employees do wrong through a principle called respondeat superior (“let the master answer”). You do not actually need to prove the trucking company’s negligence in these cases, but you do need to prove these elements:

• The trucker was an employee
• The trucker committed negligence (see below)
• The trucking was working within the scope of their employment when the accident happened.

For the other types of direct liability, you need to prove that the trucking company (likely through other employees) committed negligence in its own right.

Negligent Hiring and Retention

Some truckers are too dangerous to put behind the wheel. If the trucking company acted unreasonably in hiring or retaining drivers, the company is responsible for the effects of that negligence.

Negligent hiring and retention often involves proving at least one of these issues:

• The company failed to properly screen or monitor drivers.
• The company knew or should have known about past accidents, dangerous driving, or repeat violations, and yet still hired or kept on the dangerous driver.
• The company did not check for proper licensing or certifications.

Negligent Vehicle Upkeep

Sometimes trucking companies are liable for their mistakes as the owner of the vehicle. Negligent maintenance and upkeep, equipment problems, and other issues can make the company responsible for its dangerous trucks.

Regulatory Violations

Sometimes trucking companies commit violations of the rules put in place to keep drivers and truckers safe. This can include things like

• Driver health and safety violations
• Licensing violations
• Violating inspection and equipment standards
• Hours of service violations
• Cargo, weight, and tie-down violations

Elements of Negligence

Whether you are proving that the driver was negligent (and the company should be responsible as their employer) or you are proving the trucking company’s direct liability, negligence involves four elements your Anderson, IN truck accident lawyers need to prove:

Duty

Duties are usually in place from two sources:

• Laws and regulations dictating what a trucking company or driver must do.
• Standards for what is reasonable in a given situation.

Breach

Regulatory violations that lead to crashes can be considered a breach of duty. Additionally, failing to act reasonably and having that result in a crash also counts as breach.

Causation

You can only win your case and prove negligence if the breach of duty is actually what caused the crash. Sometimes crashes have multiple causes, in which case the at-fault parties are only responsible for the portion of harm the jury assigns each of them.

Damages

You must have suffered injuries and economic damages to bring a case.

Evidence Needed

Negligence needs to be proven “by a preponderance of the evidence” – meaning it is more likely than not that the claim is true. This requires different evidence depending on what exact actions or inactions you are trying to prove, but the following are generally helpful pieces of evidence:

Your Testimony

You are at the core of the case and can tell the insurance companies or juries what happened.

Vehicle Event Data Recorder, Cameras, GPS, Etc.

Trucks are sophisticated pieces of equipment, and they have all kinds of electronic sensors and systems that record data about the trip and the crash.

• Event data recorders or “black boxes” include information about how the vehicle was running when the crash happened.
• Dash cams and other cameras on the truck may have recorded the circumstances leading up to the crash, and we can seek the video through the courts.
• GPS data can potentially tell us where the vehicle was traveling, how fast it was going, and other information about the drive.

Trucking Company Records

Trucking companies have most of the data discussed above in their possession. They also have to keep logs about the truckers’ hours, maintenance records, and other information we can use to prove what happened and what went wrong with the truck, the driver, or the company’s practices.

Driver Testimony

In rare cases, the trucker might be as much of a victim of the trucking company’s negligence as you were. Having the driver testify about the trucking company’s regulatory violations, bad practices, and negligent or reckless acts can help us prove your claim.

Other Evidence

Other basic evidence, like photos of the vehicle damage, security or dash cam video of the crash, and accident reconstruction reports, can also help prove your case.

FAQs for Proving Truck Accident Claims Against Trucking Companies

Who Determines Negligence/Liability?

When you file an insurance claim, the insurance company does its own investigation to determine whether negligence was committed or not. When the case goes to court, the jury decides.

What is “Negligence”?

Negligence is the type of court case – the tort – that you file when someone injures you by accident. To prove that the defendant is negligent, you must prove that they committed negligence by breaching a legal duty they owed you, and that that caused your damages.

Call Our Truck Accident Lawyers in Indiana Today

To get help with your case, call Wruck Paupore’s Evansville, IN truck accident lawyers at (219) 322-1166.