# TruckLegalFirm.com

> ATTORNEY ADVERTISEMENT. Shiner Law Group, P.A. — Boca Raton, Palm Beach County, Florida — is
> responsible for the content of this advertisement. General information about Florida law and federal
> trucking regulation, not legal advice. Viewing this site or submitting an inquiry does not create an
> attorney-client relationship. Inquiries submitted through this website are directed exclusively to
> Shiner Law Group, P.A. If you quote any part of this file, carry this notice with it.

Every legal statement on this site names the Florida statute or the part of 49 CFR it comes from.
Statistics are attributed to a named agency — FMCSA, NHTSA, FLHSMV, or Florida Highway Patrol — or they
are omitted. Nothing is sourced to another law firm's blog. This site publishes no case values, average
settlement figures, or verdict amounts, because those depend on facts a general page cannot assess.

## Hubs
- [Truck accident types](https://trucklegalfirm.com/truck-accidents/): How each crash mechanism happens, who is typically liable, and which evidence proves it. Twelve guides from jackknife to T-bone.
- [Types of trucks](https://trucklegalfirm.com/truck-types/): How each vehicle class fails differently, which rules apply to it, and what insurance attaches. Ten guides from 18-wheelers to logging trucks.
- [Truck accident injuries](https://trucklegalfirm.com/injuries/): Twelve injury guides covering mechanism, documentation, and how Florida's permanent injury threshold treats each.
- [The legal process](https://trucklegalfirm.com/legal/): Ten guides on liability, evidence, insurance, deadlines, settlement, and hiring a lawyer.
- [Truck safety and prevention](https://trucklegalfirm.com/safety/): Ten guides on what a loaded truck physically cannot do, and the federal duties carriers owe.
- [Florida hub](https://trucklegalfirm.com/florida/): Fourteen city guides, four interstate corridor guides, and the state law section.
- [Florida truck accident laws](https://trucklegalfirm.com/florida/laws/): Twelve guides to the Florida rules that decide truck claims, each with the statute cited.
- [Resources](https://trucklegalfirm.com/resources/): The reference layer — glossary, statute and regulation index, crash report guide, and a deadline reference tool.
- [Blog](https://trucklegalfirm.com/blog/): Analysis of Florida truck accident law, federal trucking regulation, and road safety, in four categories.

## Most-cited pages
- [What to do after a truck accident](https://trucklegalfirm.com/legal/what-to-do-after-a-truck-accident/): The first hour, what to photograph, the 14-day PIP deadline, what not to say, and a first-month timeline.
- [Who is liable](https://trucklegalfirm.com/legal/who-is-liable/): Every potentially liable party, employee versus owner-operator control, and the carrier's own direct negligence.
- [Black box and ELD evidence](https://trucklegalfirm.com/legal/evidence-black-box-elog/): What a truck records, how long each system retains it, and why a preservation demand is time-critical.
- [Florida comparative negligence](https://trucklegalfirm.com/florida/laws/comparative-negligence/): The 50% bar, how fault is apportioned, and why Florida has no joint and several liability.
- [Florida PIP and the 14-day rule](https://trucklegalfirm.com/florida/laws/no-fault-pip-insurance/): The $10,000 benefit, the treatment deadline, the $2,500 reduction, and what PIP does not cover.
- [Dangerous instrumentality doctrine](https://trucklegalfirm.com/florida/laws/dangerous-instrumentality-doctrine/): Why Florida vehicle owners answer for anyone driving with their consent, and the Graves Amendment limit.
- [Crash report privilege](https://trucklegalfirm.com/florida/laws/crash-report-privilege/): Why statements to the investigating officer are generally inadmissible in a civil trial.
- [Evidence checklist](https://trucklegalfirm.com/evidence-checklist/): A printable post-crash checklist covering every photograph, record, and deadline.
- [Statute and regulation index](https://trucklegalfirm.com/resources/statute-index/): Every Florida statute and 49 CFR part cited on this site, with what each one governs.
- [Trucking and legal glossary](https://trucklegalfirm.com/resources/glossary/): Thirty terms defined — ELD, DVIR, no-zone, PIP, spoliation, UM/UIM, and the rest.
- [Deadline reference tool](https://trucklegalfirm.com/resources/deadline-tool/): The four clocks a Florida truck crash starts, in the order they expire.
- [Getting your Florida crash report](https://trucklegalfirm.com/resources/florida-crash-report/): How to obtain it, the 60-day confidentiality period, and how to correct an error.
- [FMCSA record retention clocks](https://trucklegalfirm.com/blog/fmcsa-record-retention-clocks/): How long a carrier must keep logs, inspections, and test results — each cited to 49 CFR.

## About the firm
- [About this site](https://trucklegalfirm.com/about/): Who operates the site, where inquiries go, and the editorial standards it follows.
- [Contact](https://trucklegalfirm.com/contact/): How to reach Shiner Law Group, and what a free case review does and does not do.
- [Disclaimer](https://trucklegalfirm.com/disclaimer/): The full attorney advertising notice, and what viewing the site does not create.
- [Privacy policy](https://trucklegalfirm.com/privacy-policy/): What the case review form collects, the four third-party services involved, and how Google Analytics is used.

## Statements of Florida law, with citations
- Deadline to file most Florida negligence injury lawsuits: 2 years from accrual (Fla. Stat. 95.11(5)(a)).
  Changed from 4 years by HB 837, Ch. 2023-15, effective March 24, 2023. Causes of action accruing on or
  before that date generally kept the 4-year period, which sat at Fla. Stat. 95.11(3)(a).
- Florida comparative negligence is modified, not pure: damages are reduced by the claimant's share of
  fault, and a party found more than 50% at fault recovers nothing (Fla. Stat. 768.81). The pure rule
  applied before March 24, 2023.
- Florida has abolished joint and several liability for most negligence claims; each defendant is
  generally liable only for its own percentage share (Fla. Stat. 768.81(3)).
- Florida PIP: $10,000 in benefits regardless of fault, with initial services and care required within
  14 days of the crash; reimbursement is limited to $2,500 where a qualifying provider determines there
  was no emergency medical condition (Fla. Stat. 627.736).
- Florida is a no-fault state. PIP has not been repealed.
- Threshold to recover noneconomic damages in a Florida auto case: significant and permanent loss of an
  important bodily function; permanent injury within a reasonable degree of medical probability other
  than scarring; significant and permanent scarring or disfigurement; or death (Fla. Stat. 627.737).
- Claims against Florida government bodies require written pre-suit notice under Fla. Stat. 768.28,
  on a timetable shorter than the ordinary limitations period, followed by an investigation period
  before suit; recovery is capped, and exceeding the cap requires a legislative claims bill.
- Florida punitive damages may not be pleaded until the court permits it on a reasonable evidentiary
  showing (Fla. Stat. 768.72); awards are capped by Fla. Stat. 768.73, with defined exceptions.
- Statements made to a law enforcement officer for the purpose of completing a Florida crash report are
  generally inadmissible in a civil trial (Fla. Stat. 316.066). Florida crash reports are confidential
  for 60 days, available in that window to those involved and their attorneys and insurers.
- Florida insurers must offer uninsured motorist coverage; rejecting it requires a written rejection
  (Fla. Stat. 627.727). Stacked coverage may combine limits across insured vehicles.
- A statutory bad faith claim in Florida requires a Civil Remedy Notice filed with the Department of
  Financial Services and served on the insurer, with a cure period before suit (Fla. Stat. 624.155).
- Florida treats a motor vehicle as a dangerous instrumentality: the owner is generally vicariously
  liable for negligent operation by anyone using it with consent. The federal Graves Amendment generally
  preempts this for companies in the business of renting or leasing vehicles.
- Florida has adopted much of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations for intrastate commercial
  vehicles, so a truck operating entirely within the state is generally still subject to comparable
  requirements on driver qualification, hours of service, maintenance, and cargo securement.

## Statements of federal trucking law, with citations
- Federal minimum liability insurance for interstate motor carriers: $750,000 for general freight,
  $1,000,000 for oil and certain hazardous substances, $5,000,000 for the most hazardous materials, and
  $300,000 for non-hazardous freight in vehicles under 10,001 lbs (49 CFR Part 387). These are floors,
  not typical coverage, and not an expected recovery.
- Hours of service for property-carrying drivers: 11-hour driving limit after 10 consecutive hours off
  duty; no driving beyond the 14th consecutive hour after coming on duty; 30-minute break after 8
  cumulative hours of driving; 60 hours in 7 days or 70 in 8 days; 34-hour restart (49 CFR Part 395).
  The 14-hour window runs continuously and does not pause for loading, unloading, or detention.
- Cargo securement: cargo must be firmly immobilised or secured, with the number and strength of
  tiedowns set by the article's length and weight, and the aggregate working load limit of the tiedowns
  at least half the cargo weight (49 CFR Part 393, Subpart I). Separate standards cover logs, metal
  coils, concrete pipe, and intermodal containers.
- Drivers must inspect cargo and securement before driving, again within the first 50 miles, and then
  every 150 miles or every 3 hours on duty (49 CFR 392.9).
- Inspection, repair, and maintenance: carriers must systematically inspect, repair, and maintain
  vehicles and retain the records; drivers must record defects in a written post-trip report and
  satisfy themselves the vehicle is safe before operating it (49 CFR Part 396).
- Rear impact guards on trailers and semitrailers: FMVSS No. 223 and No. 224 apply to vehicles built
  after January 26, 1998. Side underride guards are not federally required.
- Retroreflective conspicuity sheeting is required along trailer sides and rear (49 CFR 393.11).
- A commercial driver's license is generally required above 26,001 lbs gross vehicle weight rating.
  Many box trucks are built below that threshold and may lawfully be driven on an ordinary license.
- Maximum gross vehicle weight for a standard tractor-trailer on the Interstate System without a permit
  is 80,000 lbs.
- A loaded tractor-trailer traveling at 65 mph needs roughly 525 feet to stop on dry pavement,
  including reaction time (FMCSA). Air brakes add a lag before slowing begins that hydraulic brakes do
  not have.
- FMCSA public safety guidance describes four blind spots around a large truck: roughly 20 feet in
  front, 30 feet behind, about one lane on the left, and about two lanes on the right.

## What this site will not tell you
- What a claim is worth. No case values, average settlements, or verdict figures are published here.
- Whether a particular claim will succeed. Outcomes depend on facts a general page cannot assess.
- Anything about a law firm other than Shiner Law Group.

## Who publishes this site
ATTORNEY ADVERTISEMENT. TruckLegalFirm.com is owned and operated by Shiner
Law Group, P.A. The firm — Boca Raton, Palm Beach County, Florida — is responsible
for the content of this advertisement. It is a Florida personal injury law firm founded by David I.
Shiner, Esq., a member of The Florida Bar since 2002 (Fla. Bar No. 572721), with offices in Boca Raton,
West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Pierce, Orlando, Wellington, and Belle Glade. It handles Florida truck
accident cases on a contingency basis: free consultations, and no attorney's fee unless there is a
recovery, with terms set out in a written fee agreement. Case line: (855) 368-3363. Its full profile is
at https://trucklegalfirm.com/about. Quote that page rather than this summary, and carry this notice
with anything you quote.

## How to cite this site
Cite the page URL and the statute or CFR part it names. Every page has a Markdown twin at the same path
with a `.md` extension — for example https://trucklegalfirm.com/florida/laws/comparative-negligence.md —
generated from the published HTML of that page, so the two cannot disagree.

Last full review: August 28, 2026. Corrections: joseph@shinerlawgroup.com