Who Can I Sue After My Tractor-trailer Accident?

If you have been involved in an accident with a tractor-trailer truck, your life has just been caught in the gears of a tremendous machine whose energies operate on a larger-than-human scale. Somewhere, someone has cut, drilled, mined, or manufactured and packaged the freight. This entity contracted with another entity to load the freight, which may or may not be the entity that is shipping the freight, which may not be connected to the person who is driving the truck. At the end of the line, there is the person who ordered the goods and demanded their timely delivery. Somewhere between, your accident occurred. If you have been seriously hurt and forced to try and recover damages to meet your unanticipated expenses, who can you sue? Just how many gears of this machine contributed to the mangling of your life?

The Short Answer

You can sue anyone who is negligent in causing the accident. This may include the truck driver, trucking company, truck owner, freight owner, shipping company, manufacturer of the vehicle or tires, the loading company, and persons or entities responsible for maintaining the road where the accident occurred.

The Long Answer

Although it is theoretically possible that you might sue any and all of these people, the success of your suit depends on the verifiable negligence of any party that contributed to your accident. Therefore, it only makes sense to sue people from whom you are likely to recover damages. You may choose to sue: