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What Happens in the First 48 Hours
A serious truck crash triggers two investigations, and only one of them is looking out for you.
Law enforcement investigates the crash. Separately, the motor carrier’s insurer often dispatches a rapid-response team — investigators, and sometimes counsel — who may reach the scene within hours. They photograph vehicle positions, download electronic data, interview the driver, and begin building the carrier’s account of what happened while the evidence is fresh.
Nothing about that is improper. It is simply asymmetric: one side is documenting the crash professionally from hour one, and the other is in an emergency room. Most of what an injured person can do early is defensive — get treated, get the report number, photograph what you can, and decline to give a recorded statement until you have advice.
Guides in This Section
Each guide below covers one stage of the process in detail, with the Florida rules that apply.
What to Do After a Crash
The first 72 hours, and the steps that protect a claim before a lawyer is involved.
Who Is Liable
Driver, carrier, broker, shipper, manufacturer — and how responsibility is apportioned.
FMCSA Regulations
The federal rules governing hours, maintenance, securement, and qualification.
Trucking Insurance
Federal minimums, layered policies, and why coverage shapes a claim.
Evidence: Black Box & ELD
What the truck records, and how long it survives before being overwritten.
Statute of Limitations
Florida’s two-year deadline and the exceptions that shorten it.
The Settlement Process
From demand package to resolution, and what happens at each stage.
Dealing With Adjusters
Recorded statements, early offers, and the tactics to expect.
Hiring a Truck Accident Lawyer
Contingency fees, what to ask, and when to get advice.
Truck Accident FAQ
Direct answers to the questions asked most often after a crash.
These guides are in progress. Until they publish, Florida Truck Accident Laws covers the deadlines and fault rules, and each accident type guide covers the evidence specific to that crash mechanism.
The Stages of a Truck Accident Claim
Most claims move through the same sequence, though the timeline varies enormously with injury severity and disputed liability:
- Preservation. A spoliation letter demands the carrier retain the vehicle, electronic data, logs, and maintenance records. This is time-critical and often the first thing done.
- Investigation. Crash reports, scene evidence, black box and ELD downloads, driver qualification files, maintenance history, and witness statements. Reconstruction experts may be retained.
- Medical treatment and documentation. The claim generally does not resolve until the treating physicians can say whether the injuries are permanent, because that determines what damages are available.
- Demand. A package setting out liability, the evidence supporting it, the medical record, and the damages claimed goes to the carrier’s insurer.
- Negotiation. Offers and counters. Many claims resolve here.
- Litigation, if needed. Filing suit opens discovery — depositions of the driver, the safety director, and corporate representatives, and production of records a carrier will not hand over voluntarily.
- Mediation or trial. Florida courts typically require mediation before trial; most cases resolve before a verdict.
Understanding this sequence matters mainly for one reason: the early stages, where an injured person has the least energy and the least information, are the ones that determine what is possible later.
Shiner Law Group, P.A.
Founded by David I. Shiner, Esq. · AV Preeminent® rated · Florida Bar member since 2002
Shiner Law Group was founded by David I. Shiner, Esq., a Nova Southeastern University law graduate, a member of The Florida Bar since 2002, and AV Preeminent® rated by Martindale-Hubbell. The firm represents injured people across Florida from offices in Boca Raton, West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Pierce, Orlando, Wellington, and Belle Glade, and handles truck accident cases on contingency: free consultations, and no fee unless there is a recovery.
Who Ends Up on the Other Side of a Truck Claim
Unlike a car accident, a truck claim frequently involves several companies whose interests do not align with each other:
| Potentially Liable Party | Typical Basis for Liability |
|---|---|
| Motor carrier | The company operating the truck; usually vicariously liable for its driver and directly liable for hiring, training, and maintenance |
| The driver | Sometimes an employee, sometimes an owner-operator with separate insurance |
| Trailer owner | Often a different company from the tractor’s owner |
| Shipper or loader | Where cargo loading or securement contributed |
| Freight broker | Where an unsafe carrier was selected |
| Maintenance contractor | Where servicing left the vehicle unsafe |
| Manufacturers | Where a defective component failed |
| Multiple insurers | Primary and excess layers, each with separate counsel and separate incentives |
Under Fla. Stat. § 768.81, fault is apportioned among those found responsible, and an injured person recovers as long as they are not more than 50% at fault. That structure gives every defendant an incentive to point at the others — and at you.
The other side started investigating on day one.
Shiner Law Group offers free case reviews for Florida truck accident victims and families — 24/7, no fee unless you win.
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What Can Be Recovered in a Florida Truck Claim
Florida law divides recoverable losses into categories. What applies to a given claim depends on the injuries, the evidence, and the insurance available — but the categories themselves are worth understanding early, because several of them require documentation that has to be gathered as it happens rather than reconstructed later.
| Category | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Medical expenses | Emergency care, hospitalisation, surgery, imaging, therapy, medication, and assistive equipment already incurred |
| Future medical care | Projected treatment, revision surgery, and attendant care — usually established through a life care plan in catastrophic cases |
| Lost earnings | Income already lost to injury and recovery, documented through employment and tax records |
| Lost earning capacity | Reduced ability to earn going forward, which is distinct from wages already missed and often the larger figure in a serious injury |
| Pain and suffering | Non-economic damages, generally requiring a permanent injury, significant permanent scarring or disfigurement, or death under Fla. Stat. § 627.737 |
| Loss of consortium | A spouse’s claim for lost companionship and services |
| Wrongful death damages | Governed by Florida’s Wrongful Death Act, with specific rules on who may recover and for what |
Two practical points. First, future losses are frequently larger than past ones in a serious truck case, and they are the categories insurers contest hardest, because they rest on projection rather than receipts. Second, no responsible source can tell you what your claim is worth without reviewing the medical records, the fault evidence, and the coverage available — the range across superficially similar crashes is enormous.
Common Early Mistakes
- Giving a recorded statement to the carrier’s insurer before understanding the injuries. Early statements are used later to contradict a fuller picture.
- Accepting a fast settlement before the medical picture is clear. Once released, a claim cannot be reopened because an injury turned out to be permanent.
- Gaps in medical treatment, which insurers characterize as recovery.
- Posting about the crash or your activities on social media, which is routinely reviewed.
- Assuming the police report settles fault. It is evidence, not a verdict, and it is sometimes amended.
- Waiting. Electronic evidence has a short retention window, and the two-year limitations period runs from the crash date (Fla. Stat. § 95.11(5)(a)).
Florida Rules That Shape the Process
Florida law differs from many states in ways that affect strategy from the beginning:
- Two-year limitations period for negligence claims arising after March 24, 2023, shortened from four years by HB 837.
- Modified comparative negligence with a 50% bar under Fla. Stat. § 768.81 — above 50% fault, recovery is barred entirely.
- No-fault PIP under Fla. Stat. § 627.736, providing $10,000 with treatment required within 14 days.
- Permanent injury threshold under Fla. Stat. § 627.737 for non-economic damages.
- Sovereign immunity limits and pre-suit notice where a government entity is involved in road design or maintenance — deadlines here are much shorter.
Read the detail in Florida Truck Accident Laws, including an interactive illustration of how the comparative fault rule changes a recovery.