Miami Truck Accident Lawyer

Why Truck Accident Claims Are Different

A fully loaded tractor trailer can weigh as much as 80,000 pounds, roughly twenty times the weight of the car it hits. When that much steel collides with a passenger vehicle on I-95, the Palmetto, or the Turnpike, the injuries are rarely minor. Victims often face surgeries, long recoveries, and bills that arrive faster than the paychecks stop.

The trucking company knows this. Many carriers and their insurance companies send rapid response teams to serious crash scenes within hours, collecting evidence and shaping a defense before you have even left the hospital. Facing that machine alone is not a fair fight.

At Leyva Law, your case is handled directly by attorney Daniela Leyva, not passed off to a call center. She moves quickly to lock down the evidence, identifies every responsible party and policy, and prepares the claim as if it will go to trial. You pay nothing unless we recover for you.

Who Can Be Held Responsible for a Miami Truck Crash

A typical car accident involves one driver and one insurance company. Truck cases are different: several companies may share responsibility for the same crash, each with its own policy and its own defense team. Depending on the facts, responsible parties can include:

The Truck Driver

Speeding, fatigue, distraction, or driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol are common causes of serious truck crashes.

The Trucking Company

Negligent hiring, poor training, or pressure to skip required rest can make the carrier directly responsible. The company is also generally responsible for the acts of its driver on the job.

The Truck's Owner

Under Florida's dangerous instrumentality doctrine, the owner of a vehicle who entrusts it to a driver can be held responsible for the harm that driver causes, even if the owner was nowhere near the crash.

Cargo Loaders and Maintenance Contractors

Overloaded or badly secured cargo, failed brakes, and worn tires point to the companies that loaded and serviced the truck.

Identifying every responsible party matters because commercial policies are far larger than personal auto policies. Federal law generally requires interstate freight carriers to carry at least $750,000 in liability coverage, and many carry more. Finding all the available coverage can be the difference between a claim that covers your losses and one that falls short.

The Evidence That Wins Truck Cases Disappears Fast

Modern trucks record their own story. The electronic logging device (ELD) and the engine's black box capture speed, braking, and hours behind the wheel. The carrier's files hold driver logs, inspection and maintenance records, drug and alcohol testing results, and hiring paperwork.

None of that evidence has to be kept forever. Federal rules allow carriers to destroy certain records, including driver logs, after as little as six months, and black box data can be overwritten in the ordinary course of business. That is why one of the first things we do is send a preservation letter: a formal demand that the carrier keep every record related to your crash. Once that letter arrives, destroying evidence carries serious legal consequences.

Federal Safety Rules Can Prove Negligence

Interstate trucking is governed by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). Its rules limit how many hours a trucker can drive before mandatory rest, require regular inspection and maintenance, mandate drug and alcohol testing, and set standards for securing cargo.

When a carrier or driver breaks those rules and someone gets hurt, the violation itself becomes powerful evidence of negligence. We compare the driver logs, the ELD data, and the maintenance records against what federal law required, and we use every gap we find.

Florida Deadlines and Shared Fault Rules

For crashes that happened after March 24, 2023, Florida generally gives you two years to file a negligence lawsuit (section 95.11(5)(a), Florida Statutes). Crashes before that date usually fall under the older four-year deadline. Two years sounds like a long time, but truck cases take months to investigate properly, so the sooner we start, the stronger your position.

Florida also applies a modified comparative negligence rule (section 768.81(6), Florida Statutes). Your recovery is reduced by your percentage of fault, and if you are found more than 50 percent at fault, you recover nothing. Expect the trucking company's insurer to push as much blame onto you as it can. Part of our job is refusing to let them rewrite what happened.

One more note: your own Personal Injury Protection coverage (section 627.736, Florida Statutes) pays a portion of your initial medical bills regardless of fault, but only if you begin treatment within 14 days of the crash. See a doctor right away, even if you feel fine.

Truck Accident Cases We Handle in Miami-Dade

• Semi-Truck and Tractor-Trailer Collisions
• Delivery and Box Truck Accidents
• Dump Truck and Construction Vehicle Crashes
• Jackknife and Rollover Accidents
• Underride Collisions
• Overloaded and Shifting Cargo
• Fatigued and Distracted Truck Drivers
• Hit-and-Run Truck Accidents
• Wrongful Death

Miami Truck Accident FAQ

Related: property insurance claims · all personal injury cases · meet the attorney. This page is general information, not legal advice, and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.