Who Can Be Held Liable After a Semi-Truck Accident in Mid-Missouri?

About the Author

Ethan Charles (“EC”) Duckworth is the founding attorney of Duckworth Injury Law. EC earned his law degree from the University of Missouri - Columbia, where he graduated in the top 10 of his class and served as an Editor of the Missouri Law Review. EC currently serves as a member of the Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys (MATA) and is a graduate of the Ross T. Roberts Trial Academy. EC has represented hundreds of injury victims throughout his career resulting in tens of millions of dollars in compensation recovered. EC routinely handles serious injury motor vehicle collisions regarding commercial motor vehicles such as semi-trucks. 

Who May Be Liable for a Serious Semi Truck Accident in Missouri? Understanding the Potentially Responsible Parties 

Semi-truck accidents are different from ordinary car accidents. The injuries are often more serious, the insurance coverage is typically larger, and most importantly, there may be several different people or companies responsible for causing the crash.

After a serious truck accident on Interstate 70 in Columbia, Highway 63 near Jefferson City, Highway 54 near the Lake of the Ozarks, or another Mid-Missouri roadway, determining who is legally responsible can require looking well beyond the truck driver. Depending on the circumstances, potential defendants may include the truck driver, trucking company, owner of the tractor or trailer, freight broker, maintenance company, cargo-loading company, or even a manufacturer of defective truck equipment.

At Duckworth Injury Law, we represent individuals and families injured in serious motor vehicle accidents throughout Mid-Missouri. Below are some of the parties who may potentially be held responsible following a Missouri semi-truck accident.

1. The Semi-Truck Driver

The first place to look is usually the person driving the truck. Commercial truck drivers are responsible for safely operating vehicles that may weigh many times more than an ordinary passenger vehicle. A moment of carelessness behind the wheel of an 18-wheeler can cause catastrophic injuries.

Truck-driver negligence may include:

• Speeding or driving too fast for conditions
• Following another vehicle too closely
• Unsafe lane changes
• Failing to keep a careful lookout
• Running a red light or stop sign
• Driving while distracted
• Driving while fatigued
• Driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol
• Failing to properly inspect the truck before operating it
• Violating federal or state commercial motor vehicle safety requirements

Fatigue can be particularly important in trucking cases. Federal regulations generally limit how long many interstate commercial drivers can operate before taking required breaks and require drivers and carriers to maintain records concerning driving time. Electronic logging device information, dispatch records, GPS information, fuel purchases, bills of lading, and other evidence may help determine what a driver was doing before a collision. That evidence needs to be identified and preserved early.

2. The Trucking Company

In many semi-truck accident cases, the trucking company can also be held responsible.

Under Missouri law, an employer may generally be responsible for negligence committed by an employee while the employee is acting within the course and scope of employment. Missouri courts recognize this principle through the doctrine of respondeat superior. In practical terms, if a company-employed truck driver negligently causes a crash while transporting freight for the company, the trucking company may also face liability for the resulting damages. 

The trucking company's own conduct may also become important. Depending upon the facts, questions may include whether the company:

• Properly screened the driver before hiring
• Verified the driver's commercial driver's license and qualifications
• Reviewed the driver's driving history
• Properly trained the driver
• Monitored safety violations
• Enforced hours-of-service requirements
• Allowed or encouraged unsafe driving schedules
• Properly maintained its commercial vehicles
• Continued allowing a driver to operate despite known safety concerns

Missouri law recognizes theories such as negligent entrustment and, in appropriate cases, negligent hiring or retention. However, the availability of particular direct-negligence claims against an employer may depend on the allegations, evidence, and whether the employer admits responsibility for the driver's negligence. That is one reason a serious trucking case requires more investigation than simply obtaining a crash report and submitting a claim to an insurance company.

3. The Owner of the Tractor or Trailer

The company whose name appears on the side of the truck is not necessarily the company that owns every part of the vehicle. Commercial trucking operations frequently involve complicated ownership and leasing arrangements. One company may own the tractor. Another may own the trailer. A separate motor carrier may operate the equipment. Another entity may employ or contract with the driver. Determining who actually owned and controlled the equipment involved in a crash can be important.

For example, an owner may potentially bear responsibility when defective or poorly maintained equipment contributes to an accident. Important evidence may include:

• Lease agreements
• Vehicle registrations
• Maintenance contracts
• Inspection records
• Repair invoices
• Agreements between the motor carrier, owner, and driver

Simply identifying the name painted on the truck may not identify every responsible party.

4. A Maintenance or Repair Company

Commercial trucks travel tremendous distances, placing substantial wear on brakes, tires, steering components, lighting systems, and other equipment. When mechanical failure causes or contributes to a collision, the maintenance history of the truck should be investigated. A trucking company may perform maintenance itself or hire an outside repair company.

Examples of potentially dangerous maintenance problems include:

• Worn or improperly adjusted brakes
• Bald or defective tires
• Steering problems
• Broken lights or reflectors
• Improperly repaired suspension components
• Failure to address problems identified during an inspection

If a repair facility performed negligent work that contributed to the crash, that company may potentially share responsibility. Inspection and maintenance records can therefore become critical evidence in a Missouri truck accident case.

5. A Company That Loaded the Cargo

A tractor-trailer must not only be driven safely. Its cargo must also be properly loaded and secured. Improperly loaded cargo can shift during transit and make a truck difficult to control. Excess weight can affect stopping distance and handling. Improperly secured cargo can even fall from a trailer directly into traffic. Depending upon how the shipment was arranged, someone other than the truck driver or trucking company may have loaded or secured the freight.

A cargo-loading company, shipper, warehouse, or other entity may potentially be involved when improper loading contributes to an accident. This issue can arise with freight moving through the I-70 corridor between Kansas City and St. Louis, as well as commercial traffic traveling throughout Columbia, Boonville, Fulton, Kingdom City, Jefferson City, Sedalia, and surrounding Mid-Missouri communities.

6. A Freight Broker or Other Transportation Company

Modern trucking arrangements can involve several businesses. A shipper may hire a freight broker. The broker may arrange transportation through a motor carrier. The carrier may use an employee driver, owner-operator, leased tractor, leased trailer, or some combination of these arrangements. Whether a freight broker or another transportation company can be held liable is highly dependent on the facts and the applicable law.

Questions may include:

• What role did the company actually perform?
• Did it simply arrange transportation?
• Did it exercise control over the driver or transportation?
• Who selected the motor carrier?
• What contractual relationships existed between the parties?
• Were there known safety concerns with the carrier?

These cases can also raise issues involving federal transportation law, making careful review of the contracts and relationships between the companies particularly important.

Why Identifying Every Responsible Party Matters

Determining who caused a truck accident is important for several reasons. First, serious truck accidents frequently cause substantial damages. A collision involving an 80,000-pound tractor-trailer can result in spinal injuries, traumatic brain injuries, fractures, surgeries, permanent disability, or death. Medical expenses and future care needs can be significant.

Second, different defendants may have different insurance policies or sources of coverage.

Third, Missouri law contains rules governing how responsibility may be allocated among multiple defendants. For example, Missouri Revised Statute § 537.067 addresses the circumstances under which defendants may be responsible for portions of a tort judgment.

A complete investigation therefore should not stop after identifying the person behind the steering wheel.

Semi-Truck Accidents on Mid-Missouri Roads

Mid-Missouri sits at the intersection of several heavily traveled commercial routes.

Interstate 70 carries enormous amounts of tractor-trailer traffic through communities including:

• Columbia
• Boonville
• Rocheport
• Kingdom City
• Fulton-area interchanges
• Montgomery County

U.S. Highway 63 carries commercial traffic north and south through Columbia and Jefferson City and toward communities such as Moberly, Ashland, and Vienna.

U.S. Highway 54 is another major trucking route running through Jefferson City and continuing toward Eldon, Lake Ozark, Osage Beach, and the Lake of the Ozarks.

Other heavily traveled Mid-Missouri highways include:

• Highway 50 through Jefferson City and Sedalia
• Highway 5 through areas surrounding Boonville, Tipton, Versailles, and the Lake of the Ozarks
• Highway 24 through parts of northern Mid-Missouri
• Highway 65 near Sedalia
• Highway 179 near Jefferson City
• Numerous Missouri lettered highways connecting rural communities throughout Boone, Cole, Callaway, Cooper, Randolph, Pettis, Moniteau, Miller, Morgan, and Camden Counties

A serious commercial trucking collision can occur anywhere, but crashes involving high-speed interstate or highway traffic can be particularly devastating.

Evidence Can Disappear Quickly After a Truck Accident

Truck accident investigations often involve evidence that does not exist in an ordinary car accident case. Potential evidence may include:

• Electronic logging device records
• Electronic control module or vehicle data
• Dash-camera footage
• GPS and telematics information
• Driver qualification files
• Employment records
• Dispatch communications
• Cell-phone records
• Bills of lading
• Cargo and weight records
• Pre-trip and post-trip inspection records
• Maintenance records
• Drug and alcohol testing records
• Hours-of-service records
• Data from third-party fleet-management systems

Some of this evidence may be overwritten or lost with time. For that reason, one of the first steps after a serious commercial truck accident may be sending preservation or spoliation letters identifying information and physical evidence that should be retained.

Talk to a Mid-Missouri Truck Accident Lawyer

Semi-truck accidents can involve substantially more evidence, more insurance coverage, and more potentially responsible parties than a typical motor vehicle accident. If you or a family member has been seriously injured in a commercial truck accident, determining exactly what happened, and who was responsible, should begin as soon as possible.

Duckworth Injury Law represents injured people throughout Mid-Missouri, including Columbia, Jefferson City, Fulton, Boonville, Moberly, Sedalia, Ashland, Mexico, Kingdom City, Lake Ozark, Osage Beach, Eldon, Camdenton, and surrounding communities.

We handle serious truck accident claims throughout Boone County, Cole County, Callaway County, Cooper County, Randolph County, Pettis County, Moniteau County, Miller County, Morgan County, and Camden County, including crashes on Interstate 70, Highway 63, Highway 54, Highway 50, Highway 5, Highway 24, Highway 65, and other Mid-Missouri roadways.