Indiana semi-truck & commercial truck accident lawyer

A loaded semi can weigh up to 80,000 pounds on an interstate—roughly twenty times the weight of a typical car. When a tractor-trailer, box truck, tanker, or delivery truck hits a passenger vehicle, the injuries are often life-changing, and the claim that follows is very different from an ordinary car wreck. Poynter & Bucheri helps people hurt in semi and commercial truck crashes on Indiana’s interstates, state highways, and city streets, from the Borman Expressway in Lake County to I-64 along the Ohio River.

How does a truck accident claim work in Indiana?

A semi-truck claim usually involves a motor carrier, commercial insurance (most for-hire interstate carriers must carry at least $750,000 in liability coverage under 49 CFR 387.9), federal FMCSA safety rules, and electronic evidence such as black box and ELD data that can be overwritten. Poynter & Bucheri offers a free case review to people hurt in truck crashes anywhere in Indiana, and you owe no fee and no costs unless we recover for you.

Why semi-truck cases are different from car accident cases

In a typical car crash, there is one at-fault driver and one personal auto policy. A truck crash usually involves a business: a motor carrier with safety departments, commercial insurance, adjusters who may arrive within hours, and federal safety rules that apply to almost everything the driver and company did before the wreck. That changes the case in three important ways:

• More insurance is usually available. Federal rules (49 CFR 387.9) require most for-hire interstate carriers hauling general freight to carry at least $750,000 in liability coverage, with higher minimums for oil and hazardous materials ($1 million and up to $5 million). Many carriers carry excess or umbrella coverage on top of that. A personal auto policy in Indiana may be as low as $25,000 per person.
• More people and companies can share responsibility. The driver, the motor carrier, the owner of the trailer, the shipper or loader, a freight broker, a maintenance shop, or a parts manufacturer may each have played a role. See who can be liable in an Indiana truck crash.
• The evidence is electronic and it does not last forever. Engine control modules, electronic logging devices (ELDs), dash cameras, and GPS telematics can show speed, braking, hours on duty, and what the driver was doing. Some of it can be overwritten or discarded on routine schedules. See truck black box and ELD evidence.

The federal safety rules that apply to truck drivers and carriers

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) publishes the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations, found mainly in 49 CFR Parts 382 through 399. When a truck crash happens, a careful investigation compares what the driver and company actually did to what these rules required. Common areas include:

• Hours of service (Part 395). Property-carrying drivers generally may drive no more than 11 hours after 10 consecutive hours off duty, may not drive past the 14th hour after coming on duty, must take a 30-minute break after 8 cumulative hours of driving, and are limited to 60 hours in 7 days or 70 hours in 8 days. More detail: Indiana truck drivers and hours-of-service rules.
• Driver qualification (Part 391). Carriers must check a driver’s history, keep a qualification file, and make sure the driver is medically certified.
• Drug and alcohol testing (Part 382). Carriers must test drivers before hiring, randomly, and after certain crashes.
• Driving rules (Part 392). These cover things such as operating while ill or fatigued and limits on hand-held phone use and texting.
• Equipment and cargo securement (Part 393). Brakes, lights, rear impact guards, and how cargo must be tied down.
• Inspection and maintenance (Part 396). Carriers must systematically inspect, repair, and maintain their vehicles and keep records; drivers must complete inspection reports.

Indiana has adopted much of this framework for intrastate trucking as well, and the Indiana State Police Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Division inspects trucks on Indiana roads. A violation is not automatically the cause of a crash, but rule violations often help explain why a crash happened and whether the company bears its own responsibility.

Common causes of semi and big-truck crashes in Indiana

• Fatigue and pressure to deliver. Long hauls through Indiana’s freight corridors and tight delivery windows can push drivers past safe limits.
• Following too closely and speed in traffic. A heavy truck needs far more distance to stop. Rear-end crashes into slowed or stopped interstate traffic—especially in construction zones—are among the most serious.
• Distraction. Phones, dispatch tablets, and in-cab devices.
• Brake and equipment failures. Out-of-adjustment brakes, worn tires, and lighting defects.
• Improper loading. Overweight, unbalanced, or unsecured cargo can cause rollovers, jackknifes, and spilled loads.
• Wide turns and blind spots. Trucks turning right at intersections, merging, or changing lanes on I-465 and other multi-lane highways.
• Winter weather. Snow, ice, and lake-effect squalls in Northwest Indiana call for slower speeds and more space; bad weather does not excuse unsafe driving.
• Underride and jackknife crashes. A car can slide beneath a trailer, or a trailer can swing across lanes when brakes lock.

Truck accidents on Indiana’s interstates

Indiana calls itself the “Crossroads of America,” and the interstates that cross the state carry heavy national freight traffic every day. Each corridor has its own patterns—work zones, interchanges, rural stretches, weather, and nearby distribution centers. We have written a guide to each major route:

What to do after a semi-truck accident

1. Get medical care right away. Truck crashes often cause brain injuries, spinal injuries, internal injuries, and fractures that are not obvious at the scene.
2. Call 911 and ask for a crash report. On interstates, the Indiana State Police often investigate. Note the trooper’s name and the report number if you can.
3. Capture the truck’s identity. If you are able, photograph the cab door showing the company name and USDOT number, the trailer number, and the license plates. A carrier’s USDOT number can be looked up on FMCSA’s public SAFER website.
4. Photograph everything. Vehicle positions, skid marks, debris, cargo, road conditions, construction signs, and your injuries.
5. Get witness names. Other drivers—including other truckers—often see what happened.
6. Don’t give a recorded statement to the trucking company’s insurer before you understand your rights. Carriers often have rapid-response teams working on their side of the case.
7. Talk to a lawyer quickly about preserving evidence. A preservation (spoliation) letter asking the carrier to keep ELD data, engine data, video, and maintenance records should go out as early as possible.

Indiana law notes for truck accident claims

• Two-year deadline. Most Indiana personal injury lawsuits must be filed within two years of the crash (Indiana Code 34-11-2-4). Wrongful death claims generally must be filed within two years of the death.
• Shorter notice deadlines for government defendants. If a city, county, or state vehicle—or a dangerous road condition—played a role, the Indiana Tort Claims Act requires written notice within 180 days for local governments and 270 days for the State (IC 34-13-3-8 and 34-13-3-6).
• Modified comparative fault. Under Indiana’s Comparative Fault Act (IC 34-51-2), your damages are reduced by your percentage of fault, and you cannot recover if your fault is greater than the combined fault of everyone else. Trucking defendants often try to shift blame onto the injured driver.
• The “nonparty” defense. Indiana lets a defendant argue that someone who is not in the lawsuit was at fault. Identifying every responsible company early helps prevent fault from being assigned to someone you never sued.
• Punitive damages are limited. Indiana caps punitive damages at the greater of three times compensatory damages or $50,000 (IC 34-51-3-4), and most of any punitive award goes to the State.

What compensation can include

Depending on the facts, an injured person may seek medical expenses (past and future), lost wages and lost earning capacity, property damage, pain and suffering, disfigurement, and disability. When a crash takes a life, Indiana’s wrongful death statutes control who may bring the claim and what damages are available. See Indiana wrongful death claims.

More Indiana truck crash guides

Plain-English answers to common questions after a crash with a semi or commercial truck:

How Poynter & Bucheri handles truck cases

Our firm has helped injured Hoosiers since 1996. In truck cases, that means moving quickly to preserve evidence, identifying the carrier and every other company involved, and bringing in outside professionals when the case calls for it. In one case described on our firm website, we hired a trucking engineer to inspect a semi that struck our clients’ pickup in stopped interstate traffic, and the inspection revealed faulty brakes; an economics professor was retained to calculate economic losses, and the matter was resolved at pre-suit mediation. Partner Richard Bucheri works extensively on auto and truck accident matters, and attorney John Norman’s practice includes semi-truck collisions. Learn more about our attorneys.

We work on a contingency fee: if you do not win your case, you will pay no attorneys’ fees. If there is no recovery, the client owes no fee and no costs. Case costs and expenses are paid from any settlement or recovery—ask us for details about how fees and costs work in a truck case during your free case review. (Our advertised 25%* fee applies to motor vehicle accident cases, including car, truck, and motorcycle crashes; see the fee disclaimer below.)

General information only—not legal advice. Laws change and every case is different; deadlines can be shorter in some situations. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.