Last updated in October 2026

A truck accident claim is fundamentally different from a car accident claim. As your New Jersey truck accident lawyers, we handle three critical steps that a standard crash usually does not require. We find every company that shares responsibility for the truck. We lock down trucking records before the carrier’s six-month retention clock runs out. We also deal with a commercial insurer whose policy starts at $750,000 under federal rules, against a $35,000 state minimum for a private car, and whose adjusters start work on the crash right away.

If a tractor-trailer, dump truck, box truck, or delivery van hit you on the Turnpike, I-78, Route 1&9, or a local street in Newark or Paterson, this page explains what comes next. We cover who may be liable, what New Jersey and federal law say about your claim, what evidence disappears fast, and what a case like yours is realistically worth.

Birkhold & Maider is a personal injury firm in Montclair, Essex County. Motor vehicle crashes are the focus of our work, and commercial vehicle cases are a priority within that. Our entire team works in English and Spanish. The case evaluation is free, and you pay nothing unless we recover money for you.

What should you do after a truck accident in New Jersey?

Your physical recovery comes first. After that, your goal is to preserve evidence and protect your rights. Do not give a recorded statement to the trucking company’s insurer before you talk to a lawyer. Here is the order of what to do:

1. Treat the injury, even if it feels minor today. Some injuries are not obvious at the scene. Getting checked the same day means nothing is missed and the medical record starts immediately. Your own auto policy’s Personal Injury Protection (PIP) pays your medical bills regardless of who caused the crash, so there is no reason to delay care.
2. Get the police report number. Ask the responding officer for it, whether that is the State Police or a local department. If no report was filed, we can still build the case from other evidence.
3. Photograph the truck, not just your car. Capture the USDOT number and carrier name on the door, the trailer number, the license plates, the cargo, skid marks, and road conditions. The tractor and the trailer are often owned by different companies.
4. Write down what the driver said. Comments about how long they had been driving, where they were coming from, or problems with the truck matter later.
5. Do not talk to the carrier’s insurer or sign anything. You are required to report the crash to your own insurer. You are not required to give the trucking company’s adjuster a statement. Early statements are often used to argue you share fault.
6. Call a lawyer early. We do not say this to pressure you. Some trucking records are only required to be kept for months, and a preservation letter has to go out before they are gone.

Our post on eight steps to take after a truck accident covers each of these in more detail.

Who can be held liable in a New Jersey truck accident?

In a truck case, liability, which means legal responsibility for the harm, often spreads across several companies instead of just the driver. Each one may carry its own insurance policy. Identifying all of them is usually what determines whether a seriously injured person is fully compensated.

Here is a look at who might share responsibility in your case.

Potentially liable party	When they share responsibility
Truck driver	Speeding, distraction, fatigue, impairment, following too closely, unsafe lane changes, driving over hours limits
Motor carrier (trucking company)	Responsible for its employee driver’s negligence; also for its own hiring, training, supervision, scheduling, and maintenance failures
Truck or trailer owner / leasing company	When the tractor or trailer is owned or leased by a different company than the one operating it
Freight broker	When a broker chose a carrier with a poor safety record or exercised control over how the load moved
Shipper or loader	Overloaded, unbalanced, or unsecured cargo that caused a rollover, jackknife, or spill
Maintenance contractor	Brake, tire, steering, or lighting failures tied to negligent repair or inspection
Other drivers	A third vehicle that cut the truck off or triggered a chain-reaction crash

Finding these parties takes work the police report does not do. We pull the carrier’s federal safety profile, identify the registered owners of the tractor and trailer, request the bill of lading and dispatch records to see who arranged the load, and look at the carrier’s inspection and crash history. Our article on how fault is established in a NJ truck accident walks through the process.

Can you sue a truck driver?

Yes. A truck driver who causes a crash through negligence can be sued personally. In practice, the claim is almost always brought against the driver and the trucking company together. The trucking company answers for its driver’s negligence on the job, as well as for its own hiring, training, and maintenance decisions. The company’s commercial policy is also where the money to pay a serious injury claim actually sits.

If the driver is an independent owner-operator leased to a carrier, federal leasing rules require the carrier to take “complete responsibility for the operation of the equipment” during the lease. This means the carrier’s policy is still in play alongside the owner-operator’s own.

Which federal trucking rules matter in your case?

Interstate trucking is governed by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). A carrier’s violation of these rules is often the clearest proof of negligence in a case, which is why we request these records immediately.

Rule	What it requires	Why it matters to your claim
Hours of service (49 CFR Part 395)	No more than 11 hours of driving after 10 consecutive hours off; no driving past the 14th hour on duty; a 30-minute break after 8 hours of driving; 60/70-hour weekly limits	Log data showing a driver past the limit is direct evidence of negligence by the driver and by the company that scheduled the run
Driver qualification (49 CFR Part 391)	A qualification file for every driver with license, driving history, medical certificate, and prior employer checks	Shows whether the company put a driver on the road who should not have been there
Drug and alcohol testing (49 CFR Part 382)	Pre-employment, random, and post-crash testing; reporting to the federal Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse	Post-crash test results, or a failure to test, go straight to the question of impairment
Inspection and maintenance (49 CFR Part 396)	Systematic inspection and repair; daily driver vehicle inspection reports (DVIRs); annual inspection of every vehicle	Brake and tire failures are rarely accidents. Maintenance records show whether a known defect went unrepaired

What truck accident evidence disappears fast?

The evidence that proves a truck case is held by the trucking company, and federal rules only require it to be kept for a limited time. A preservation letter is a formal written demand that the carrier keep specific records and the truck itself intact. This is the first document we send in every truck case, usually within days of being hired.

• Electronic logging device (ELD) data. Most interstate trucks are required to record driving time electronically. FMCSA guidance requires carriers to keep ELD records and supporting documents for only six months. After that, the record of how long the driver had been on the road can be lawfully deleted.
• Engine control module (“black box”) data. The truck’s engine module and event recorder capture speed, brake application, and fault codes in the seconds before a hard stop. If the truck is repaired and put back on the road, that data may be lost.
• Driver vehicle inspection reports. Carriers must keep DVIRs for only three months after the defects are certified repaired under Part 396.
• Dashcam and cab camera footage. Many fleets run forward and driver-facing cameras. Fleets are not required to keep footage, so it can be gone quickly.
• Dispatch, GPS, and delivery records. These show the schedule the driver was asked to meet, which is how fatigue and speeding get tied to the company rather than just the driver.
• Traffic and port cameras, nearby business cameras, and witness contact details. None of these belong to the carrier, and all of them are short-lived.

If a carrier destroys evidence it should have kept, New Jersey courts can allow the jury to infer that the missing evidence would have hurt the carrier’s case. The state Supreme Court described this remedy in Rosenblit v. Zimmerman. That protection is far stronger when the carrier was on written notice, which is why the letter has to go out early.

Why is truck insurance different from car insurance?

The money available is larger, and the insurer defends it harder. Federal law requires for-hire interstate carriers running trucks over 10,000 pounds and hauling general freight to carry at least $750,000 in liability coverage, rising to $1 million or $5 million for hazardous cargo. Those federal figures are a floor, and shippers and brokers often require carriers to carry more. Compare that to New Jersey’s minimum private auto liability limit, which state law set at $25,000 per person for policies issued from 2023 and $35,000 per person for policies issued on or after January 1, 2026.

Those higher limits are why commercial insurers move quickly. An adjuster may call you within days. Their job is to get your version of events on record early and, where possible, to close the claim before the full extent of your injury is known. You do not need to take that call. Once you hire us, the insurer deals with us. We step in so you do not have to, and we do not respond to any offer without first explaining it to you and getting your consent.

What New Jersey laws apply to a truck accident claim?

You have two years to file a lawsuit

New Jersey requires an injury lawsuit to be filed within two years of the crash under N.J.S.A. 2A:14-2. A wrongful death claim runs two years from the date of death. Two years sounds like a long time, but truck cases involve records that expire in months and multiple defendants who need to be identified before filing. Getting answers early is the practical reason to call, not fear of the deadline. Our post on how long you have to file covers the exceptions. The biggest one is that a claim against a town, county, or state agency requires a written notice of claim within 90 days under the New Jersey Tort Claims Act.

You can recover if you were less than 51% at fault

New Jersey uses modified comparative negligence under N.J.S.A. 2A:15-5.1. You can recover as long as your share of fault is not greater than the defendants’ combined share, and your award is reduced by your percentage. If a jury finds you 20% responsible for a $500,000 verdict, you receive $400,000. If it finds you 51%, you receive nothing. Trucking insurers know this, so expect them to look for a way to put some of the fault on you. They might claim you cut the truck off, stopped short, or were in the truck’s blind spot. We cover this in how comparative negligence affects your claim.

Your own PIP pays the medical bills first

New Jersey is a no-fault state for medical bills. Under N.J.S.A. 39:6A-4, your own policy’s PIP coverage pays your crash-related treatment regardless of who caused it. This ranges from a $15,000 minimum up to $250,000 depending on the option you chose. This surprises people in a truck case because the fault is obvious and the truck’s insurer is large. The truck’s insurer still pays for your pain and suffering, lost wages above PIP limits, and other losses. It just does not pay the hospital directly. If you have no auto policy of your own, there may still be a source of PIP coverage. Tell us that in the first call and we will find it. Our guide to how PIP works in New Jersey explains the details, including the deductibles and co-pays we negotiate down with providers.

The “limitation on lawsuit” option usually does not block a truck claim

Many New Jersey drivers choose the cheaper “limitation on lawsuit” (verbal threshold) option on their auto policy. It means you can only sue for pain and suffering if your injury falls into one of six categories under N.J.S.A. 39:6A-8. Those are death, dismemberment, significant disfigurement or scarring, displaced fractures, loss of a fetus, or a permanent injury confirmed by a doctor.

Here is the part that matters for truck cases. The statute applies that limit to claims against the owner or driver of an “automobile” as the no-fault law defines it. That definition covers private passenger cars, pickups, and vans, not tractor-trailers or heavy commercial trucks. New Jersey courts have applied the same logic to hold that a bus is not an “automobile” for threshold purposes, as seen in Lymon v. Cape Transit Corp. In many truck cases, the threshold does not stand between you and a pain and suffering claim even if you chose it. Whether that applies to your crash depends on the exact vehicle and how it was insured, which is one of the first things we check.

Where do truck accidents happen in New Jersey?

The Port of New York and New Jersey, whose container terminals sit in Newark and Elizabeth, is the busiest container port on the East Coast. It handled about 8.7 million containers (TEUs) in 2024. Much of that freight moves by truck on the same roads our clients drive every day.

• The New Jersey Turnpike (I-95). The 148-mile Turnpike runs up to 14 lanes wide through Middlesex, Union, Essex, and Hudson counties. Trucks are restricted to the outer roadway on its dual-dual section under the Turnpike Authority’s design standards. The port-area interchanges, 13A at Elizabeth and 14 at Newark Airport and I-78, are where we see many of the most serious crashes.
• I-78 and I-280. I-78 carries port traffic west out of Newark. I-280 runs from the Turnpike in Kearny and Newark west through East Orange and the Oranges.
• I-80 and I-287. I-80 runs east and west through Paterson and Passaic and Bergen counties. I-287 carries truck traffic through Morris, Somerset, and Middlesex counties.
• Routes 1&9, 3, and 17. These are the local arteries where tractor-trailers, box trucks, and delivery vans share lanes with commuters, buses, and pedestrians in Newark, Elizabeth, Kearny, Jersey City, Clifton, and Hackensack. Rear-end, intersection, and wide-turn crashes are common here.

Nationally, FMCSA reports 5,837 large trucks involved in fatal crashes in 2022, and 82% of the people killed were not in the truck. New Jersey’s own safety plan filed with FMCSA counted 4,541 large trucks involved in crashes in the state in 2020.

What types of commercial vehicle cases do we handle?

• 18-wheeler, semi-truck, and tractor-trailer accidents. Jackknifes, underride crashes, rollovers, and highway rear-end collisions, often involving an interstate carrier and a separate trailer owner.
• Dump truck accidents. Construction and demolition hauling in and around Newark, Jersey City, and the suburbs, where overloaded beds, spilled debris, and backing maneuvers injure drivers, pedestrians, and workers.
• Delivery truck and van accidents. Box trucks, step vans, and sprinter-style vans on residential streets, with the added question of whether the driver was an employee or a contractor and whose policy applies. We handle these on a dedicated delivery truck accident page.
• Commercial vans and work trucks. Contractor vans, utility trucks, and fleet vehicles. One of our largest results was for a woman struck by a commercial van who needed two spinal surgeries.
• Tanker and hazmat trucks. Fuel and chemical carriers, where the crash itself is often followed by burn injuries.
• Garbage trucks, tow trucks, and buses. Including vehicles owned by towns and public agencies, which bring the 90-day Tort Claims Act notice rule into play.

Truck crashes rarely injure one person. We regularly represent several members of the same family from a single crash, including passengers and children. We also represent truck drivers themselves when another driver or a third party caused the crash. A truck driver hurt on the job may have both a workers’ compensation claim and a separate third-party negligence claim. One of our documented results is $750,000 for a tractor-trailer driver who needed spinal surgery after a crash.

What is a New Jersey truck accident case worth?

The honest answer is that it depends on two things. It depends on the severity and permanence of your injury, and the insurance available to pay for it. Higher commercial policy limits often mean the full value of a serious injury can actually be collected, which is not always true when a private driver’s policy is the only coverage. The categories of compensation are:

• Medical bills beyond what PIP covers, including future surgeries and care
• Lost wages and lost future earning capacity
• Pain and suffering, and loss of enjoyment of life
• Vehicle damage and other out-of-pocket costs
• In a fatal crash, wrongful death damages for the family’s financial losses and funeral costs

Our documented results include $2.5 million for a woman struck by a commercial van who required two spinal surgeries, $1.875 million for a man T-boned at an intersection who required a cervical fusion, and $750,000 for a tractor-trailer driver with spinal injuries requiring surgery. You can see more on our case results page. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes. Every case turns on its own injuries, evidence, and policies.

Realistically, a truck case with a serious injury usually takes longer than a car case. In our experience, it often takes a year or more, and sometimes several years. The reasons are concrete. We do not settle until your doctors can say what your long-term condition will be. Multiple defendants mean multiple insurers. Discovery, which is the stage where both sides exchange records and take sworn testimony, involves far more documents than a two-car crash. We tell you where the case stands at each stage so you are never waiting on a call back to find out.

Essex County truck accident lawyer

Our office is at 7 North Mountain Avenue in Montclair, and Essex County is where most of our clients live. The towns we hear from most are Newark, East Orange, Bloomfield, Orange, and Irvington. The crashes often happen on I-280, Routes 1&9 near the port, the Turnpike’s Newark interchanges, and the industrial streets around the port. Our attorneys appear regularly in the Essex County courts in Newark. We also handle truck cases throughout Bergen, Passaic, Hudson, Union, Morris, Middlesex, Somerset, Monmouth, and Mercer counties, and for New York and Pennsylvania residents injured on New Jersey roads. See our Essex County, Newark, and Montclair truck accident pages for local detail.

How we handle a truck accident case

A truck claim puts a heavy burden on you all at once. You are facing treatment, missed work, a totaled car, and an insurer that is organized and moving fast. Here is what we take off your shoulders and what the process looks like.

1. Free evaluation, in English or Spanish. We listen to what happened, tell you honestly whether you have a case, and explain the next steps. If you cannot travel, we come to your home or the hospital.
2. Preservation and investigation. Preservation letters go out to the carrier and every related company. We obtain the police report, identify every owner and insurer, pull the carrier’s federal safety history, locate camera footage, and, in serious cases, retain an accident reconstruction expert to examine the truck before it is repaired.
3. Insurance and medical bills, handled. We open your PIP claim and deal with the carrier’s adjuster so you never have to. We also use our relationships with medical providers to manage bills while the case is pending.
4. One attorney, start to finish. Your case is owned by one attorney and one paralegal, reachable by phone and text, with a response within 24 hours. You are told what is happening before you have to ask, and we never accept or reject an offer without your informed consent.
5. Demand, negotiation, and, if needed, trial. When your treatment reaches a stable point, we send a demand supported by the records and expert reports. Many cases settle before trial. When the insurer’s number does not reflect the injury, our team includes a certified civil trial attorney, and we file and try the case.

Immigration status does not affect your right to bring a truck accident claim, and it does not affect how we treat you. Our paralegals and attorneys are fluent in Spanish, and your entire case can be handled in Spanish from the first call to the final check. Visit our página de accidentes de camiones for the Spanish version of this page.

Frequently asked questions

Should I accept the trucking company’s first settlement offer?

Almost never before your medical picture is clear. Early offers are made before anyone knows whether you will need surgery or have a permanent injury, and signing a release ends the claim for good. Let a lawyer value the claim against the actual policy limits first.

What if the truck driver was an independent contractor?

This is often the case. When an owner-operator is leased to a carrier, federal leasing rules put responsibility for the truck’s operation on that carrier, so its policy is usually in play. We also look at the owner of the tractor and trailer, the broker, and the owner-operator’s own policy, and we pursue every policy that applies.

What if there was no police report?

The case can still be built from ELD and engine data, camera footage, witness statements, your medical records, and the damage to both vehicles. A report helps, but it is not required.

Will my own insurance go up if I use PIP?

PIP exists to pay your medical bills regardless of fault. Using it after a truck hit you is exactly what the coverage is for. If you are worried about your premium, raise it in the free evaluation and we will walk through your policy with you.

Why does the law firm ask for my Social Security number?

Insurers, Medicare, and Medicaid require it to process and resolve claims and to confirm whether any medical liens must be repaid from the settlement. It is kept confidential, and your immigration status has no bearing on your case.

Do I need a truck accident lawyer in NJ if the crash seems straightforward?

If you were injured, yes. Even a clear rear-end crash with a tractor-trailer involves a commercial insurer, federal records that expire, and a question of which of several companies is liable. Our clients tend to recover more than they would on their own because we know the policy limits and how adjusters negotiate. The first conversation costs nothing.

Tell us what happened

If a truck hit you or someone in your family in New Jersey, you do not have to work out the next step alone. Call 973-319-7795, or tell us what happened online, for a free case evaluation in English or Spanish. The line is answered 24 hours a day. There is no fee unless we recover for you, and the first conversation is simply about understanding your situation and what it likely means.