The importance of being quick and diligent with your trucking accident case.
In any lawsuit, it is important to be thorough in investigating all aspects of the conduct of the other party that may have caused or contributed to an injury. In cases resulting from accidents with tractor trailers, trucks, semi's or 18 wheelers, as they are often referred to, it may be equally important to begin the investigation quickly. The reason for this is that tractor trailer drivers and the trucking companies that hire them are required to comply with many regulations that are designed to ensure that the tractor trailer driver is a safe and competent driver and the company is adequately hiring and training its drivers.
In order to determine whether or not the trucking company is hiring safe drivers and the particular tractor trailer driver in any accident was qualified to safely operate the tractor trailer, the trucking company and driver are required to maintain certain documents. The existence of these documents can establish anything from proof that the trucking company is complying with all the required regulations to the exact opposite. Examples of such documents that may be important after an accident are: the results of a required post-accident drug and alcohol test, log books which show how much the tractor trailer driver had been driving and working prior to the accident (which can be evidence of driver fatigue), electronic or black box data in the tractor trailer which gives information about the truck's operation leading up to the crash and the driver's driving, criminal and employment histories.
However, the trucking company is not required to maintain all of these documents indefinitely, even if they know one of their drivers was involved in a serious accident. These documents are often thrown away or otherwise destroyed due to a routine records retention policy or because the company is careless in their record keeping. Often, the records are never kept at all.
These documents can tell a lot about a tractor trailer driver and the trucking company for whom he works. They can establish important reasons why an accident occurred and support arguments that both the tractor trailer driver and the trucking company were responsible for the accident. If there has been a crash with a tractor trailer involving injuries that may result in a lawsuit, it is very important to contact an attorney who is knowledgeable about the trucking industry regulations and practices at an early stage so that important evidence can be identified and preserved.
