Differences Between a Truck Crash vs Car Crash

If a semi, a delivery truck or another commercial truck hit you, your claim won’t work quite like a car crash claim, even if the crash looked similar. There are six main differences. (For the whole claim, from who is liable to the evidence, see truck accident claims.) Injuries tend to be worse, because a loaded tractor-trailer can weigh up to 80,000 pounds, and Michigan’s weight law allows some trucks up to 164,000. More people and companies can share the blame. Federal safety rules govern the driver and the trucking company, and those rules create records that can show what went wrong. Many trucks must carry more insurance. And some of that evidence only has to be kept for a few months, so the first weeks matter.

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What are the main differences between a truck crash and a car crash?

Trucking is regulated by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), whose rules are in Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). Figures here are current as of September 2026. For the basics of any crash claim, see our car accident lawsuit guide.

Why are truck crash injuries often worse?

It comes down to size. FMCSA says trucks are often 20 to 30 times heavier than passenger vehicles and need the length of up to two football fields to stop safely. Because trucks sit high, a car that hits the back of one can slide or be pushed underneath.

In 2022, the latest year in FMCSA’s Large Truck and Bus Crash Facts, there were 5,279 fatal crashes involving large trucks (those rated over 10,000 pounds), and 82% of the people killed were not in the truck. Those figures count crashes, not blame: FMCSA notes that its crash data don’t show who caused a crash.

Worse injuries usually mean larger losses, so finding every responsible party and insurance policy matters more; see what drives the value of a crash settlement.

Who can be held responsible for a truck crash?

After a car crash, the claim is usually against the other driver and sometimes the vehicle’s owner. After a truck crash, liability isn’t either/or: the tractor owner, the trailer owner, the motor carrier (the trucking company operating the truck), the driver, the shipper or loader and maintenance contractors can each share it.

The trucking company

For the driver’s mistakes. Employers are generally responsible for employees’ wrongful acts on the job, a form of vicarious liability called respondeat superior. States set their own tests, and the rule generally doesn’t cover independent contractors (Legal Information Institute), such as some owner-operators who lease their trucks to carriers. But federal safety rules count such a driver as the carrier’s “employee” for their purposes (49 CFR 390.5T). And when a carrier leases a truck under the federal leasing rules, the lease must say the carrier takes “complete responsibility for the operation of the equipment,” though that doesn’t settle whether the driver is an employee (49 CFR 376.12(c)). State law decides the result.

For its own mistakes. A carrier must make its drivers follow the safety rules, check a new driver’s last three years of driving records and safety history, avoid schedules that would require speeding, and keep its trucks inspected, repaired and maintained (49 CFR 390.11, 391.23, 392.6, 396.3). It must also keep a qualification file on every driver, with the job application, driving records and medical examiner’s certificate (49 CFR 391.51). In a 2026 Supreme Court case, all the parties agreed that a federal trucking law doesn’t block state-law suits against a trucking company that kept an unsafe truck or hired an at-fault driver (Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II, LLC, concurring opinion).

Everyone else who may share the blame

Owners. The tractor and trailer can belong to the carrier, the driver or a leasing company, and state law decides when an owner who wasn’t driving is responsible. A federal law generally shields rental and leasing businesses from liability based only on ownership, unless they were negligent or did something criminal (49 U.S.C. 30106).

Freight brokers. A broker arranges, for pay, for a trucking company to haul freight (49 CFR 371.2). In May 2026, a unanimous Supreme Court held that federal trucking law doesn’t block a state-law claim that a broker negligently hired an unsafe carrier (Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II, LLC). You still must prove the broker was careless, and the Court didn’t decide claims over trips within one state, which fall under a separate provision with no safety exception (49 U.S.C. 14501(b)).

Shippers and loaders. Cargo must be properly distributed and secured, and drivers must check it before and during the trip, except on a sealed trailer they were told not to open or a load that can’t practically be inspected (49 CFR 392.9). If cargo shifted or fell, the company that loaded it may share responsibility.

Repair shops and parts makers. A shop that did careless brake or tire work can share responsibility, and so can the maker of a defective truck or part; see how product liability claims work.

Other drivers. In a chain-reaction crash, several drivers can share the fault; see how fault works in a pileup.

Which federal safety rules apply to trucks?

FMCSA’s safety rules generally cover commercial trucks rated or weighing 10,001 pounds or more in interstate commerce (49 CFR 390.5T). Most of them leave a paper or electronic trail.

Hours of service and electronic logs

A driver hauling freight needs 10 hours off before a shift, can drive up to 11 hours in it, can’t drive once 14 hours have passed since coming on duty, and must take a 30-minute break after 8 hours of driving (49 CFR 395.3).

Most carriers must have drivers log their hours on an electronic logging device (ELD), with some exceptions, such as short-haul drivers who stay within 150 air miles and are released within 14 hours (49 CFR 395.8(a), 395.1(e)). The ELD automatically records the date, time, location, engine hours, miles, and the driver, truck and carrier at every change of duty status, when the engine starts or shuts off, and at least hourly while the truck is moving (49 CFR 395.26). On trucks from model year 2000 on that have an engine computer, called an electronic control module, the ELD must link to it (49 CFR Part 395, Subpart B, Appendix A). Carriers also keep supporting documents, such as bills of lading, dispatch records and fleet-management messages (49 CFR 395.11).

Drug and alcohol testing

Drivers who need a commercial driver’s license are covered by federal drug and alcohol rules (49 CFR 382.103). They can’t be on duty with an alcohol concentration of 0.04 or more, or drink within 4 hours before duty (49 CFR 382.201, 392.5). After a crash, the employer must test the driver if someone died, or if the driver is ticketed for a moving violation arising from the crash and someone was treated away from the scene or a vehicle was towed. Alcohol testing stops after 8 hours and drug testing after 32, so these results exist only if the tests happen quickly (49 CFR 382.303).

Inspection and maintenance

Carriers must systematically inspect, repair and maintain their trucks and keep records (49 CFR 396.3). Drivers must report defects in parts such as brakes, steering, lights and tires at the end of each day’s work (49 CFR 396.11), and every truck and trailer needs an inspection at least every 12 months (49 CFR 396.17).

How long do trucking companies have to keep their records?

Once a period ends, the federal rules no longer require the carrier to keep the record. That’s why a preservation letter matters.

What is a preservation letter, and why send it quickly?

A preservation letter, usually sent by your lawyer, tells the trucking company and others that a claim is coming and that they must keep specific evidence. (Destroying or losing evidence is called spoliation, so it’s also called a spoliation letter.) It should name items such as:

• the truck and trailer, before repair or sale
• ELD records and backups, and engine computer, camera and GPS data
• dispatch records, fleet messages, bills of lading and loading records
• the driver’s qualification file and drug and alcohol test results
• inspection, maintenance and repair records, and the accident register

It needs to go out quickly because some records only have to be kept for months, and a damaged truck can be repaired and put back on the road.

Once a lawsuit should be expected, destroying evidence can backfire. In federal court, if electronic information that should have been kept is lost because a party didn’t take reasonable steps to keep it, and it can’t be restored or replaced, the judge can order measures to cure the harm to the other side. If the party meant to deprive the other side of it, the judge can presume it was unfavorable, tell the jury it may or must presume so, or decide the case against that party (Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37(e)). State courts have their own rules.

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How is truck insurance different from car insurance?

Federal rules set minimum insurance (or an equivalent bond or approved self-insurance) for for-hire carriers hauling property across state or national lines, and for carriers of hazardous materials, including some that stay within one state (49 CFR 387.3, 387.7). As of September 2026, the main minimums are (49 CFR 387.9):

These are floors, not caps, and other responsible companies may have their own insurance. A carrier’s proof of coverage is public information it must produce on reasonable request (49 CFR 387.7(e)). The federal minimums don’t cover a company hauling its own nonhazardous goods, or a for-hire carrier hauling ordinary freight only within one state; state law decides what those trucks must carry.

Car minimums are set by each state. In Michigan, for policies issued or renewed after July 1, 2020, liability coverage is at least $250,000 per person and $500,000 per crash unless the policyholder signed a form choosing lower limits, as low as $50,000 and $100,000 (MCL 500.3009(1), (5)).

Who pays your medical bills first depends on your state and your own coverage.

What to do next

1. Get medical care and keep every record. See a doctor promptly and follow the treatment plan. Our checklist of things to do after a car accident covers the first days.
2. Write down who the truck belongs to. Trucks generally must show the carrier’s name and USDOT number on both sides (49 CFR 390.21T). Photograph them, the trailer and the plates, and get the police report number and witnesses’ names. FMCSA’s free SAFER Company Snapshot shows a carrier’s safety rating (if it has one), inspection summary and crashes.
3. Be careful what you say and sign. Don’t give the trucking company’s insurer a recorded statement or sign a release before you get advice. A signed release generally ends the claim.
4. Get a free case review within days, not months. A lawyer can send a preservation letter while the records must still be kept and look for every responsible company’s insurance. Get a free case review, or, in Michigan, compare Michigan truck accident lawyers. Get the fee agreement in writing; see how injury lawyers get paid.

What waiting can cost

• The evidence. Driver logs only have to be kept for 6 months and end-of-day inspection reports for 3 months (49 CFR 395.8(k), 396.11), and a damaged truck can be repaired and put back on the road.
• Your right to sue. Every state sets a deadline to file a lawsuit, called the statute of limitations. Miss it, and the claim is generally over.

What a good outcome looks like

Your medical bills get paid by the right insurer while you heal. Every responsible party is identified early, and the records that show what happened are saved before anyone can discard them. Your claim is valued on your full injuries and all the insurance available (if a family member died, see how wrongful death claims work). And you decide whether to settle knowing the evidence, the deadlines and your lawyer’s fee. From wondering how a truck crash differs from a car crash to knowing who may share the blame, which records matter and how truck insurance works. For more, see our car, truck and motorcycle accident guides or the guide to Michigan injury law.

Updated September 25, 2026

This guide is general information, not legal advice, and laws change. For advice about your situation, talk to a lawyer licensed in your state. Reading this page or contacting us does not create an attorney-client relationship.