Truck Accident Lawyer in New York City

Truck accident cases we take

​

The firm takes truck crashes that cause catastrophic injury or death: brain and spinal cord injuries, fractures that need surgery, amputations and crush injuries, severe burns and fatal crashes. Typical cases include:

​

• Tractor-trailer and 18-wheeler crashes on the BQE, the Cross Bronx, the Long Island Expressway and the Major Deegan

• Box trucks and rental moving trucks

• Delivery trucks and vans

• Dump trucks, cement mixers and other construction vehicles

• Private carting trucks and City sanitation trucks

• Pedestrians and cyclists hit by a right-turning truck (see pedestrian and bicycle accident claims)

• Jackknife crashes (the trailer swings out at an angle to the cab), rollovers, underride, blind-spot and wide-turn crashes

​

Minor soft-tissue injuries that heal in weeks are usually no-fault claims the firm often declines.

​

Who is liable in a truck accident?

​

Often several parties, each with its own insurance:

​

• The driver, for speeding, fatigue, distraction, impairment or an unsafe turn.

• The motor carrier, which answers for its employee driver and for hiring an unqualified one. An owner-operator's lease must give the carrier exclusive possession, control and use of the truck and complete responsibility for its operation (49 CFR 376.12(c)(1)). That does not by itself make the driver an employee (§ 376.12(c)(4)), but it is evidence of the carrier's responsibility for how the truck was run.

• The owners of the tractor and the trailer. The owner of any vehicle used or operated in New York is liable for the negligence of anyone driving it with permission, and the owners of a tractor and the trailer it pulls are jointly and severally liable (Vehicle and Traffic Law § 388(1)).

• Rental and leasing companies, but only for their own negligence, such as poor maintenance; federal law bars liability based on ownership alone (49 U.S.C. § 30106).

• In some cases a freight broker that chose a carrier it knew or should have known was unsafe, the loader of badly secured cargo, a repair shop, or the maker of a defective part.

​

Because the rule limiting some defendants to their share of pain-and-suffering damages does not cover vehicle owners and drivers (fire and police vehicles are treated differently), each liable one can owe the full amount (CPLR 1601; CPLR 1602(6)).

​

Federal trucking safety rules, and what a violation shows

​

Interstate trucks rated over 10,000 pounds, and their drivers, must follow the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations, and New York applies most of the same rules, with some changes, to many in-state trucks. A violation can be strong evidence of negligence:

​

• Hours of service. A property-carrying driver may drive no more than 11 hours after 10 consecutive hours off duty, may not drive after the 14th hour since coming on duty, needs a 30-minute break after 8 hours of driving, and may not drive after 60 hours on duty in 7 days or 70 hours in 8 days (49 CFR 395.3).

• Electronic logging devices. Most carriers must have drivers record duty status on an ELD, and false duty-status reports are forbidden (49 CFR 395.8).

• Driver qualification. The carrier must keep a file on each driver, including the application, driving records and medical certificate (49 CFR 391.51).

• Inspection and maintenance. Carriers must systematically inspect, repair and maintain their trucks (49 CFR 396.3).

• Drug and alcohol testing after a crash. After a death, or a moving-violation ticket where someone is treated away from the scene or a vehicle is towed, a driver who needs a commercial driver's license must generally be tested, alcohol within 8 hours and drugs within 32 (49 CFR 382.303).

​

Logs that conflict with fuel receipts, GPS data or delivery times can show a fatigued driver and a carrier that allowed it.

​

How much insurance does a trucking company carry?

​

A for-hire carrier hauling ordinary freight across state lines in a truck rated at 10,001 pounds or more must carry at least $750,000 in liability coverage; oil and many hazardous materials require $1,000,000, and certain hazardous loads $5,000,000 (49 CFR 387.9). Many carriers carry more.

​

A truck outside the federal rule may carry as little as New York's minimum of $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident (Vehicle and Traffic Law § 311(4)(a)). Finding every policy, including your own underinsured-motorist coverage, is early work.

​

Evidence that disappears: logs, engine data and video

​

Much of the proof belongs to the carrier, and federal rules require some records to be kept only briefly:

​

• Hours-of-service and electronic logging records, and supporting documents such as dispatch, trip and fleet-messaging records: at least six months (49 CFR 395.8(k), 395.11).

• Maintenance and inspection records: one year where the truck is kept, and six months after it leaves the carrier's control (49 CFR 396.3(c)).

• The carrier's accident register: three years (49 CFR 390.15).

• Engine ("black box") crash data, dashcam video and other telematics data: no federal retention period at all.

​

So a written preservation (spoliation) letter should go to the carrier, owners and insurers within days, naming the tractor, trailer, driver and each kind of data. A party that destroys evidence it had to keep can face sanctions, from an instruction letting the jury infer the evidence would have hurt it to an order striking its pleadings (CPLR 3126).

​

Keep your own car from salvage until it is inspected.

​

What to do after a truck accident

​

1. Call 911 and get medical care the same day, even if you feel fine.

2. Get the police report number. Photograph the truck, the trailer, both plates, the company name and the USDOT number usually shown on the cab door, the road and your injuries.

3. Get witnesses' phone numbers and ask nearby businesses in writing to keep their video.

4. Apply for no-fault benefits; the written application is generally due within 30 days (11 NYCRR 65-1.1). If you are in the hospital, a family member can file it; see who files the no-fault application when you can't.

5. Do not give the trucking company's insurer a recorded statement, and talk to a lawyer before data is erased.

​

No-fault, serious injury and shared fault in truck crashes

​

For people in cars, and for pedestrians and cyclists hit by a truck, no-fault pays medical bills and part of lost wages up to $50,000 per person whoever caused the crash (Insurance Law § 5102), and suing for pain and suffering requires a "serious injury" (§ 5102(d)), such as a fracture or a permanent or significant limitation. If you were riding a motorcycle, no-fault and the serious-injury rule generally do not apply to you (§ 5103(a)(1); § 5104(a)).

​

In a no-fault vehicle lawsuit filed on or after May 26, 2026, you recover nothing if your fault is greater than that of all the defendants combined (CPLR 1411(b)). Details are on our page on car accident claims.

​

How long do you have to sue after a truck accident?

​

Usually three years from the crash (CPLR 214(5)), but public trucks have much shorter deadlines:

​

• Damage to your car or other property: three years (CPLR 214(4)).

• A death: two years from the death (EPTL 5-4.1), or at least one year after a criminal case against the same defendant ends. Against a public body, the 90-day notice runs from the estate representative's appointment.

• A City sanitation truck, fire truck or other City or local public vehicle: a sworn notice of claim within 90 days (General Municipal Law § 50-e) and suit within one year and 90 days (§ 50-i).

• A New York State truck: within 90 days, file the claim and serve it on the Attorney General, or serve a notice of intention and then file and serve the claim within two years (Court of Claims Act § 10(3)).

• A truck driven by a federal employee on the job, such as a postal truck: the firm takes these Federal Tort Claims Act cases (a private contractor's truck is sued like any other). A written claim must reach the agency within two years (28 U.S.C. § 2401(b)). You can sue only after a written denial or six months without a decision (28 U.S.C. § 2675(a)), and within six months after a denial is mailed (§ 2401(b)).

​

A truck, public or private, actually engaged in work on the road is exempt from most traffic rules but liable for reckless disregard of others' safety (Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1103(b)). A fire truck on an emergency run with lights and siren on gets that standard only for what the law lets it do, such as speeding, running a red light or parking anywhere; other careless driving is ordinary negligence (§ 1104). A private carting truck needs no notice of claim, and the three-year deadline applies.

​

When a truck crash is fatal

​

The estate's personal representative, usually a close family member appointed by the Surrogate's Court, brings a wrongful death claim. Reza Yassi works with the estate lawyers who handle the appointment and brings the injury and death claims himself.

​

How much is a truck accident settlement worth?

​

No formula or average predicts it. In a truck case, value turns on the injury and whether it is permanent, how clearly the driver and carrier were at fault, your own share of fault, and how many defendants and policies there are.

​

The damages are the same as in a car accident claim: medical costs and lost earnings beyond no-fault, pain and suffering once the serious-injury threshold is met where it applies, a spouse's claim and, in a fatal crash, the family's losses.

​

What a truck accident lawyer costs

​

There is no fee unless money is recovered, and in most injury cases the fee is one-third of the net recovery. The fee and the handling of case expenses are set out in a written retainer agreement. Meetings are at the Manhattan office, by phone or by video, and Reza Yassi visits clients at home or in the hospital when an injury makes travel hard. Learn more about Reza Yassi.

​

Guides on this topic

​

• Who files your no-fault application after a truck crash when you can't: how a family member meets the 30-day deadline.

• The 90-day notice of claim when a City truck hits you: what the notice must say, the 50-h hearing, and late notice.

• The Graves Amendment and suing a rental or leasing company: when a rental or leasing owner can still be sued.

• Comparative negligence under CPLR 1411, in plain language: how shared fault is measured, and when it bars a claim.

• The recorded statement trap after a New York crash: why the insurer calls so soon, and what not to say.

​

Frequently asked questions

​

How do I sue a trucking company in New York?

Through a negligence lawsuit, usually in State Supreme Court, against the driver, carrier and other responsible companies, generally within three years. City, State and federal trucks need a notice or claim first.

​

Can I sue a trucking company for falsifying logs?

Not as a separate claim, but falsified logs can be powerful evidence. Federal rules forbid false duty-status reports (49 CFR 395.8(e)), and records that contradict the logs can show the driver was over the hours limits with the carrier's knowledge.

​

Is the owner of a truck liable if someone else was driving?

Usually yes. The owner of a vehicle used in New York, wherever the owner is based, is liable for the negligence of a permitted driver, and the owners of a tractor and its trailer are each liable (Vehicle and Traffic Law § 388). Rental and leasing companies are liable only for their own negligence.

​

What happens when a truck driver has an accident?

The carrier must log a serious crash in its accident register. After a death, or a ticket where someone is treated away from the scene or a vehicle is towed, a driver who needs a commercial driver's license must generally be tested for drugs and alcohol. The carrier's insurer investigates at once.

​

Can you sue if a City sanitation truck or fire truck hits you?

Yes, with a notice of claim within 90 days and suit within one year and 90 days. A truck working on the road, or a fire truck speeding or running a red light on an emergency run with lights and siren on, is liable only for reckless disregard; other careless driving is judged as ordinary negligence.

​

How long does a truck accident lawsuit take?

Often two years or more when the injury is serious, because getting the carrier's driver file, logs, engine data and maintenance records, and deposing several defendants, takes time.

​

How do I choose a truck accident lawyer?

Whatever a search for the "best commercial truck accident lawyer" turns up, ask who will handle your case day to day, how fast the preservation letters go out, and whether the fee is in writing. At Yassi Law P.C., you deal directly with Reza Yassi.

​

If you or a family member was seriously hurt or killed in a truck crash in New York City or on Long Island, call Reza Yassi at (646) 992-2138, email ry@yassilaw.com, or contact the office for a free consultation.