Massachusetts Truck Accident Lawyer

Which Massachusetts roads see the most serious truck crashes?

The most dangerous corridors are the ones that move freight through tight, congested space. The Mass Pike, I-95 and Route 128, I-495, I-93 through Boston and I-84 toward Hartford carry a steady stream of tractor-trailers mixed with heavy commuter traffic.

Several features make these crashes worse than an ordinary collision:

• Container and fuel trucks leaving the Port of Boston and terminals in Chelsea and East Boston must merge into dense city traffic.
• Distribution centers along I-495 send trucks onto ramps designed decades ago for lighter loads.
• Low overpasses on Storrow Drive and Memorial Drive are struck by trucks and rental vans whose drivers ignore posted clearance signs, which closes lanes and causes secondary crashes.
• Winter brings ice sheets falling from trailer roofs, a hazard that can shatter a windshield behind the truck.

Delivery vans and box trucks working in Boston, Worcester and Springfield neighborhoods add right-turn and double-parking crashes involving pedestrians and cyclists.

Who can be held responsible for a Massachusetts truck crash?

Often more than one company. A trucking case can name the driver, the motor carrier, a freight broker, the shipper who loaded the trailer and the shop that maintained the brakes.

Each party carries its own insurance, and federal rules require interstate carriers to maintain much higher limits than an ordinary car policy. A carrier that hired an unqualified driver or ignored past violations can be liable for its own negligence, not only for what the driver did. A shipper that overloaded or poorly secured a trailer may share fault for a rollover. Our truck accident practice investigates each link in that chain.

Massachusetts compares your fault with the total fault of all the defendants you sue. Imagine a jury values your losses at $500,000 and assigns 40 percent to the driver, 25 percent to the carrier, 15 percent to the maintenance company and 20 percent to you. Because your 20 percent is far less than their combined 80 percent, you recover $400,000. If you had been found 55 percent at fault, you would recover nothing in the lawsuit.

What evidence disappears first after a truck collision?

Electronic data and video go first. Engine control modules, electronic logging devices and dash cameras can be overwritten in the normal course of business, sometimes within days.

Federal hours-of-service rules limit how long a commercial driver may drive and stay on duty, and they require breaks and off-duty time. Logging devices record that time automatically. When the logs, fuel receipts and phone records do not line up, they can show fatigue or falsified hours. Other key records include:

• driver qualification files, drug and alcohol test results and training history,
• inspection and repair reports for brakes, tires and lights,
• dispatch messages that show pressure to meet delivery windows,
• the bill of lading and weight tickets for the load.

We send preservation letters to the carrier and its insurer early, which puts them on notice that destroying evidence can carry consequences in court.

How does no-fault insurance apply when a truck hits your car?

Your PIP benefits still pay first, up to $8,000, even when a commercial truck caused the crash. Because truck crashes so often cause fractures and other qualifying injuries, most victims quickly meet the threshold for a full claim against the trucking company.

That full claim can include future medical care, lost earning capacity, home modifications and pain and suffering. If you were working when the crash happened, for example driving a company van, workers' compensation may pay benefits too, and the truck claim proceeds separately as a third-party case. Our workplace injury page explains how those two systems interact.

Does it matter whether the truck stayed inside Massachusetts?

It can. Interstate carriers follow federal motor carrier safety rules, while trucks that operate only within the state are also subject to state registration and safety requirements. Either way, the basic negligence questions are the same.

Local delivery companies, construction haulers and waste trucks often stay in-state, and their insurance and record-keeping can look different from a national carrier's. A dump truck backing through a Boston job site or a municipal plow striking a car raises its own questions. Claims involving a city or town vehicle require written presentment to the public employer within 2 years, as described in our Massachusetts injury overview.

If a truck crash took the life of someone you love, our Massachusetts wrongful death page explains how the estate brings the claim. Our team offers a free case review, and you pay no fee unless we win.