Truck Accident Claims in California: What Is Different

You were hit by a big rig or a commercial box truck, and the injuries are worse than in an ordinary fender-bender. Now you are hearing from a trucking company's insurer, maybe within days. This post explains what makes a truck accident claim in California different from a car crash claim: who can be responsible, how much insurance may be available, and which evidence has a short shelf life.

The short version: truck claims usually involve more parties, more insurance, and more records. They also tend to give the other side a head start, because a commercial carrier and its insurer handle crashes for a living and you do not.

More than one party may be responsible

In a car crash there is usually one driver and one policy. In a truck crash, the list of people who may share responsibility can be longer:

• The driver, for the driving itself.
• The motor carrier, the company whose operating authority the truck runs under. That is not always the company whose name is on the trailer.
• The truck or trailer owner, if the equipment was leased.
• The shipper or loader, if cargo that was overloaded or badly secured played a part.
• A maintenance company or parts manufacturer, if brakes, tires, or lights failed.

Carriers sometimes respond by saying the driver was an "independent contractor" and not their problem. California courts have been skeptical of that for a long time. In Eli v. Murphy, decided in 1952, the California Supreme Court held that a carrier operating under a public franchise has nondelegable duties and cannot insulate itself from liability for negligence by hiring an independent contractor. In 2015, the Court of Appeal in Vargas v. FMI, Inc. relied on the same principle and on a federal rule, 49 U.S.C. § 14102, that requires motor carriers using leased vehicles to "have control of and be responsible for" them. The court explained that the purpose is to protect the public from often judgment-proof owner-operators.

The label in the driver's contract does not settle the question. What matters is how the truck was actually operated, and under whose authority.

The insurance picture is different

Since January 1, 2025, California's minimum auto liability limits for an ordinary car policy have been $30,000 per person and $60,000 per accident. Commercial trucks in interstate commerce play by federal rules instead.

Under 49 CFR § 387.9, a for-hire carrier hauling non-hazardous property in interstate commerce, in a vehicle rated at 10,001 pounds or more, must carry at least $750,000 in public liability coverage. The minimum rises to $1,000,000 or $5,000,000 for certain hazardous materials. The $750,000 figure is still listed in the regulation's schedule under the date January 1, 1985.

Those are floors, and many carriers carry more. More coverage does not mean an easier claim, though. A larger policy usually comes with a more experienced adjuster and defense counsel who get involved early. And a truck that runs only within California may fall under different requirements, so the carrier's actual coverage has to be confirmed rather than assumed.

The evidence that matters, and how long it lasts

Trucks generate records that cars do not, and those records are often the strongest evidence in the case. They do not last forever.

Hours-of-service records. Federal rules limit how long a truck driver can work. Under 49 CFR § 395.3, a property-carrying driver must start a shift with 10 consecutive hours off duty, may drive no more than 11 hours, and may not drive after the 14th hour since coming on duty. A driver who has gone 8 hours of driving time without a 30-minute interruption has to take a break. There are also weekly limits of 60 hours in 7 days or 70 hours in 8 days, depending on the carrier's schedule. A crash at the end of a long shift raises an obvious question, and the logs answer it.

How long carriers must keep them. Under 49 CFR § 395.8(k), a motor carrier must keep each driver's records of duty status and supporting documents for not less than 6 months. Six months is a minimum, not a promise. If no one has asked the carrier in writing to preserve the records, routine deletion is a real risk.

Other records worth preserving include electronic logging device data, engine and braking data from the truck's onboard systems, dispatch messages, driver qualification and drug-testing files, maintenance and inspection records, cargo and weight documents, and any dashcam footage.

The practical tool is a written preservation letter sent to the carrier and its insurer early, identifying the truck, the driver, the date, and the categories of records to keep. It costs little, and it changes the carrier's position if records go missing later.

Expect a fast, prepared insurer

You may hear from the trucking company's insurer quickly, often with a friendly request for a recorded statement and sometimes an early offer.

None of that is unusual, and none of it obligates you. You do not have to give the trucking company's insurer a recorded statement. If you are considering it, read about recorded statement traps first. If you are still treating, any number offered now is a guess about injuries that are not fully known yet.

If the crash happened while you were stopped, for example on a freeway shoulder with a breakdown, our post on being hit while stopped on the shoulder covers the fault questions that come up most.

What this means in California

The federal trucking rules govern the carrier's conduct and insurance. Your claim itself still runs on California law.

The statute of limitations for personal injury under CCP § 335.1 is generally two years from the date of injury. That is far longer than the six-month minimum for keeping driver logs, so waiting until near the deadline can mean suing over records that no longer exist.

If a public entity is involved, such as a city-owned truck, a public works vehicle, or a road condition that contributed to the crash, a government claim is usually due within six months. See our guide to the six-month government claim deadline.

California's pure comparative negligence rule applies too. If the carrier argues you were partly at fault, for example for a lane change near the truck's blind spot, your recovery is reduced by your share rather than eliminated. Expect that argument to be made.

Practical next steps

Get medical care and follow through on it. Write down the truck's company name, the USDOT number if one is displayed on the truck, the trailer number, and the names of any witnesses. Photograph the scene and the vehicles if you can do so safely. Get the police report. Do not give a recorded statement or sign anything for the trucking company's insurer until you understand what it covers. Make sure a written preservation request goes out well before the six-month mark. A free consultation with our firm costs nothing, and there is no fee unless there is a recovery.