Charlotte Truck Accident Lawyer for Serious Injuries

Seriously hurt in a crash with a commercial truck?

A loaded tractor-trailer weighs many times what a passenger car weighs. When one hits a car, the injuries can change a life: a brain or spinal cord injury, broken bones that need surgery, burns, the loss of a limb, or the death of someone you love.

Those are the cases this page is about. A claim like that is not a bigger version of a fender bender. It runs through federal safety rules, a commercial insurer and records the trucking company controls.

The Emory Law Firm, P.C. is in Charlotte, North Carolina. Randy Emory started it in 2001.

Why does it matter that Randy Emory started in claims?

Because he has seen a claim from the insurance company’s side. After law school Randy worked in State Farm’s claims department for three years and handled over three thousand auto claims. There he learned how an insurance company handles the claims it receives every day.

In 1991 he took that knowledge to an established personal injury firm in Charlotte, where he worked for ten years. In 2001 he started The Emory Law Firm. He has handled over 16,000 auto claims during his career.

Those are auto claims, and no background predicts the result of a case. A truck claim also adds rules of its own, which this page walks through.

How is a truck claim different from a car claim?

More people can be responsible, more rules apply, and the other side holds more of the evidence. Here is how the two compare.

	Typical car crash	Serious crash with a commercial truck
Who may be responsible	The other driver	The driver and the motor carrier, and possibly whoever loaded or maintained the truck
Safety rules	North Carolina traffic laws	Also federal rules on driving hours, inspection, maintenance and alcohol and drug testing
Key evidence	Photos, crash report, witnesses	Also duty-status logs, supporting documents, maintenance files and post-crash test results
Insurance	A personal auto policy	Commercial coverage, with a federal minimum starting at $750,000 for for-hire interstate general freight

Who can be responsible for a truck crash?

Often more than the driver. Federal rules put duties on the carrier as well. A motor carrier may not permit or require a driver to go past the hours limits, may not let a fatigued driver operate, and must systematically inspect, repair and maintain the vehicles it controls.

Read more about truck driver fatigue and the hours limits and what carriers must inspect and how long they keep the records.

What if the insurer says you were partly at fault?

In North Carolina that can decide the whole claim. The state Department of Insurance says contributory negligence law “bars a driver from collecting damages if determined to be partially at fault.”

So the adjuster’s questions matter from the first call. Read why one finding of fault can end your claim before you give a statement.

What should you do after a serious truck crash?

1. Get medical care and keep every bill, report and photo.
2. Call the police, and get the driver’s name, license and insurance details, and the names of any witnesses.
3. Write down the truck’s details: the company name on the door, any USDOT number and the trailer number.
4. Don’t agree to forget about it. The Department of Insurance warns that you may have hidden damages or unknown injuries.
5. Order the crash report from NCDMV on form TR-67A, by mail or in person.
6. Call the firm before you give a recorded statement to the trucking company’s insurer.

What records does the trucking company hold?

Most of the evidence, and it only has to keep some of it for a limited time.

• Driver logs and supporting documents: at least 6 months from the date of receipt.
• Driver vehicle inspection reports: 3 months.
• Inspection, repair and maintenance records: 1 year, and 6 months after the truck leaves the carrier’s control.
• Periodic inspection reports: 14 months.
• Alcohol and drug test records: 1 to 5 years, depending on the record.

A letter asking the carrier to preserve those records should go out early. Read about the 8-hour and 32-hour testing windows too.

How much insurance does a trucking company have to carry?

Federal rules set minimums based on what the truck hauls. For-hire interstate carriers of general freight start at $750,000, and some hazardous loads require $1 million or $5 million. In a serious injury case, that matters. See how much insurance a trucking company must carry.

How long do you have to file?

Generally three years for a personal injury and two years for a wrongful death in North Carolina, and other rules can apply. Read how long you have after a serious truck crash.

Why call The Emory Law Firm?

• He started in claims. Three years in State Farm’s claims department and over 16,000 auto claims during his career.
• A Charlotte firm started in 2001, at 11020 David Taylor Dr #102.
• English and Spanish. The firm is bilingual.
• 337 Google reviews. Read what clients say.

Call (704) 371-4333, Monday to Thursday 9am to 5pm and Friday 9am to 4pm.