Minnesota Truck Accident Lawyers Serving Minneapolis, St. Paul, and Beyond
A collision with a commercial truck can change your life in seconds. Semi-trucks, tractor-trailers, delivery vans, and other commercial vehicles can cause severe injuries and extensive property damage. The Minnesota truck accident lawyers at Keller, Woods & Thompson, P.A. help injured people pursue accountability and fair compensation after these devastating crashes.
Our attorneys have spent decades representing accident victims across Minnesota and western Wisconsin. Our law firm understands how trucking companies, commercial insurers, and defense lawyers respond to serious injury claims. We investigate each case carefully and prepare for trial when an insurance company refuses to offer a fair settlement.
If you were injured in a commercial vehicle collision, our lawyers can identify the responsible parties, preserve important evidence, and protect your right to seek compensation. We meet with clients through our Minneapolis and Little Falls law offices and offer virtual appointments.
Why Truck Accident Claims Are Different
Truck accident cases often involve more evidence, more insurance coverage, and more potentially responsible parties than other motor vehicle accident claims. Liability means legal responsibility for an injury or loss. In a commercial truck case, liability may extend beyond the driver who caused the collision.
Depending on the facts, our Minnesota truck accident attorneys may investigate:
- The truck driver: A driver may be responsible when careless conduct causes a crash. Negligence means failing to use the level of care a reasonably careful person would use under similar circumstances.
- The trucking company: An employer may be responsible for an employee’s actions performed as part of the job. This is sometimes called vicarious liability.
- Freight brokers and cargo loaders: A business may share responsibility if improperly loaded or secured cargo shifts, falls into traffic, or causes a rollover.
- Truck owners and leasing companies: The company that owns the truck may be different from the carrier operating it.
- Maintenance contractors: An outside contractor may be responsible if poor repairs or missed inspections contributed to a mechanical failure.
- Parts manufacturers: A manufacturer may be responsible when a defective truck part causes or worsens a collision.
Commercial carriers and drivers must also follow federal and Minnesota safety requirements. These rules may address driver qualifications, driving limits, rest periods, electronic logs, drug and alcohol testing, cargo securement, inspections, and maintenance. Evidence that a driver or company ignored a safety rule may help our lawyers establish negligence.
Finding every responsible person or business matters. It may affect the available insurance coverage and the compensation an injured person can pursue. Our law firm examines the entire trucking operation instead of focusing only on the driver.
What Causes Commercial Truck Accidents?
A truck crash may result from driver behavior, company practices, equipment problems, cargo issues, or dangerous road conditions. Some collisions involve several contributing factors.
Driver Fatigue, Distraction, and Impairment
Truck drivers often spend long hours on Minnesota and Wisconsin roads. Fatigue can slow reaction time and affect judgment. Phones, navigation systems, dispatch messages, and in-cab equipment may also take a driver’s attention away from traffic. Alcohol, illegal drugs, and some medications can further reduce a driver’s ability to operate a commercial vehicle safely.
Our attorneys may review electronic logs, delivery schedules, fuel receipts, cellphone records, testing records, and dispatch messages to determine whether fatigue, distraction, or impairment contributed to a crash.
Unsafe Speed and Winter Conditions
A large truck requires more time and distance to stop than a passenger vehicle, especially when fully loaded. Unsafe speed can become even more dangerous on Minnesota routes such as Interstate 35, Interstate 94, Interstate 90, and U.S. Highway 169.
Snow, black ice, wind, and poor visibility may contribute to jackknife crashes, rollovers, and chain-reaction collisions. Professional drivers must adjust their speed and driving to existing conditions. Our lawyers may examine whether the driver reduced speed, allowed enough following distance, inspected the truck, and stopped operating when conditions became unsafe.
Poor Maintenance and Equipment Failure
Brake problems, worn tires, lighting failures, steering defects, damaged trailer couplings, and defective safety equipment can contribute to a serious collision. An underride crash occurs when a smaller vehicle travels partly or completely beneath a truck or trailer. Questions about the condition and performance of rear-impact guards may become important in these cases.
Our Minnesota attorneys may review inspection reports, repair orders, maintenance schedules, prior driver complaints, and the physical equipment to determine whether a carrier, owner, contractor, or manufacturer ignored a known safety problem.
Improper Cargo Loading and Poor Training
Unsecured, overloaded, or uneven cargo can shift while a truck is moving. A shifting load may cause a rollover, make the driver lose control, or send debris into traffic. Trucking companies must also use qualified drivers and provide appropriate training.
Our law firm may investigate the carrier, freight broker, loading company, shipper, and other businesses involved in transporting the cargo. We may also pursue claims based on careless hiring, supervision, or training.
Why Truck Accident Evidence Must Be Preserved Quickly
A commercial truck may contain electronic and physical evidence that is not available in an ordinary passenger vehicle case. Some records can be overwritten, deleted, repaired, or lost during normal business operations. Acting quickly gives an attorney a better opportunity to preserve available evidence.
A truck’s Electronic Control Module, sometimes called a “black box,” may contain information about speed, braking, throttle use, and other vehicle activity. Other useful evidence may include:
- Electronic Logging Device records
- Driver qualification and training files
- Dashcam and surveillance footage
- Inspection and maintenance records
- Dispatch messages and delivery instructions
- Cargo loading and weight documents
- Cellphone and navigation records
- Drug and alcohol testing records
- Photographs of the vehicles and crash scene
Our lawyers may send a preservation notice asking a trucking company and other parties to keep relevant records. This notice is often called a spoliation letter. Spoliation means the destruction, loss, or significant alteration of evidence that may be relevant to a legal dispute.
Early investigation can also help our attorneys locate witnesses, document vehicle damage, inspect the truck and trailer, and evaluate road conditions before important details disappear.
Common Truck Accident Injuries and Compensation
Commercial truck crashes can cause catastrophic injuries because trucks are much larger and heavier than passenger vehicles. A serious injury may affect your ability to work, care for your family, live independently, and complete daily activities.
Our Minnesota truck accident lawyers represent people who have suffered:
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Spinal cord injuries and paralysis
- Neck and back injuries
- Broken or crushed bones
- Severe burns and scarring
- Amputation or loss of function
- Internal organ injuries
- Permanent disabilities
A traumatic brain injury, or TBI, is an injury that disrupts the brain’s normal function. Symptoms may include headaches, memory problems, confusion, mood changes, dizziness, sleep problems, and difficulty concentrating.
Damages are the financial and personal losses for which an injured person may seek compensation. Depending on the case, damages may include medical expenses, lost income, reduced earning ability, pain, disability, and future care needs.
Commercial truck claims may also involve several insurance policies. Minnesota no-fault benefits may help with certain medical expenses and income losses, while a separate liability claim may be brought against the driver, carrier, or another responsible party. Our lawyers can identify potential sources of coverage and explain how the claims may work together.
If a loved one died because of a commercial truck collision, our attorneys can help your family understand a potential wrongful death claim. Wrongful death is a legal claim brought after a person dies because of another party’s wrongful act or negligence.
Commercial Delivery Van and Fleet Accident Claims
Not every commercial vehicle case involves an 18-wheeler. Delivery vans, cargo vans, box trucks, and other fleet vehicles travel throughout Minneapolis, St. Paul, Little Falls, and surrounding Minnesota communities.
Delivery networks may use several businesses to move a package from a warehouse to its destination. A driver may work for a local contractor rather than the company whose name appears on the vehicle. These arrangements can make it harder to determine who employed the driver, who controlled the delivery schedule, who maintained the vehicle, and which insurance policy applies.
Our Minnesota truck accident attorneys review employment agreements, delivery contracts, insurance policies, vehicle records, route data, and dispatch information. Our lawyers use this evidence to identify the businesses that controlled the work and may bear legal responsibility.
How Our Minnesota Truck Accident Lawyers Can Help
After a serious collision, you should be able to focus on your health and family. Our law firm can handle communications with insurers and manage the legal work required to pursue your claim.
Depending on your case, our attorneys may:
- Investigate the collision and inspect available evidence
- Send notices requesting preservation of important records
- Identify the driver, carrier, owner, contractors, and insurers
- Review electronic logs, black-box data, inspection reports, and maintenance files
- Interview witnesses and obtain available video footage
- Investigate federal and Minnesota safety violations
- Consult medical and accident reconstruction specialists
- Document medical expenses, lost earnings, and future losses
- Negotiate with commercial insurance carriers
- Prepare the case for trial when a fair settlement is unavailable
Our lawyers handle truck accident cases on a contingency fee basis. A contingency fee means the attorney’s fee depends on whether the law firm obtains compensation for the client. The specific terms are explained in the written representation agreement.
Trucking companies and insurers may have investigators and defense attorneys working on a claim soon after a collision. Our Minnesota law office gives injured people a legal team focused on protecting their interests and presenting the strongest case supported by the evidence.
Speak With a Minnesota Truck Accident Lawyer
If you or a family member was injured in a commercial truck accident in Minnesota or western Wisconsin, Keller, Woods & Thompson, P.A. is ready to listen. Our attorneys can explain the claims process, answer your questions, and discuss the next steps available in your situation.
Our Minnesota truck accident lawyers serve clients through our Minneapolis and Little Falls law offices and virtual appointments. We are prepared to investigate the trucking company, preserve critical evidence, challenge an unfair insurance offer, and take the case to trial when necessary. Contact our law firm to schedule a free consultation.