Hit by a Semi in Michigan? Why the Claim Is Different

An 80,000-pound truck doesn't hit you the way a sedan does. The claim afterward doesn't work like a car-crash claim either.

The injuries are usually more serious, the trucking company has a team working the file within hours, and the records that prove what happened sit on the carrier's own servers. If you or a family member was hit by a commercial truck, our personal injury practice can explain the moving parts.

Michigan no-fault still applies

Start with the part that doesn't change. A crash with a commercial truck is still a Michigan motor vehicle accident, so no-fault benefits come first. Personal Injury Protection covers medical care, a portion of lost wages, and replacement services, regardless of who caused the crash.

The separate claim against the at-fault side, for pain and suffering and for economic losses above the no-fault limits, is where the trucking case gets its own shape. That claim generally requires showing a serious impairment of body function under Michigan law.

More than one possible defendant

In a two-car crash, you usually look at the other driver. In a truck case, responsibility can be spread across several businesses:

• The driver, for what happened behind the wheel
• The motor carrier, both for the driver's conduct on the job and for its own decisions about hiring, training, supervision and scheduling
• The company that loaded the cargo, if the load was improperly secured or distributed
• A maintenance contractor, if a brake or tire failure traces back to service work
• A manufacturer, in the smaller set of cases involving a defective part

Each of those may carry its own insurance. Sorting out who is responsible for what is one of the first jobs in a truck case, and it shapes everything after.

Federal rules sit on top of Michigan law

Interstate trucking is regulated by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, whose rules sit in Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations, including the hours-of-service rules in 49 C.F.R. Part 395. Those rules cover areas that matter directly to a crash:

• Hours of service, which limit driving time and require rest
• Driver qualification, including licensing, medical certification and testing
• Inspection, repair and maintenance records
• Cargo securement standards
• Drug and alcohol testing after certain crashes

A violation of one of these rules doesn't automatically decide a case, but it can be powerful evidence about how the crash happened. It's also a category of proof that simply doesn't exist in an ordinary car-crash file.

The evidence problem: records that can legally disappear

This is the part people don't expect. Much of the best evidence in a truck case belongs to the trucking company, and some of it is only required to be kept for a limited time.

Electronic logging device data can show hours of service, location and movement. Carriers are generally required to retain that data for a limited retention period, commonly described as six months, after which it may be overwritten or destroyed in the normal course of business. Dashcam video may be overwritten sooner. The same goes for dispatch records, driver qualification files, maintenance logs and telematics data.

That's why lawyers in these cases move fast to send a spoliation letter, a written demand that the carrier preserve specific categories of evidence. Sent early, it can stop routine deletion. Sent late, it may arrive after the file is already thinner than it should be.

Meanwhile, the other side is usually already working. Many carriers and their insurers send a rapid response team to the scene, sometimes the same day, to photograph, measure and interview.

What that means for you

You can't send preservation letters from a hospital bed, and you shouldn't have to. But a few things help:

• Get medical care and follow through with it. Gaps in treatment become arguments later.
• Write down what you remember while it's fresh: weather, lane position, what the truck did, what was said at the scene.
• Photograph everything you can or ask someone to do it: the vehicles, the road, skid marks, debris, the truck's markings and numbers.
• Save the police report number and the names of any witnesses.
• Be careful with the carrier's adjuster. A recorded statement taken in the first days, while you're medicated and shaken, can be used to narrow your claim later.
• Don't accept a quick offer. Serious injuries take time to define. We wrote about that in Should You Accept the Insurance Company's First Offer?

The causes that keep showing up

Truck cases tend to turn on a familiar set of failures, and each one leaves a different paper trail:

• Fatigue. Hours-of-service limits exist because tired driving is dangerous. Logs, dispatch records and fuel receipts can tell you whether the driver should have been on the road at all.
• Speed and weight. A loaded tractor-trailer needs far more distance to stop than a car. Speed that would be unremarkable in a sedan can be unreasonable in an 80,000-pound vehicle, especially in rain or snow.
• Improper loading. A load that shifts changes how the truck handles. Cargo securement rules and loading records matter here, and the shipper may be a separate defendant.
• Maintenance failures. Brakes and tires are the usual suspects. Inspection reports, repair invoices and roadside inspection history are the proof.
• Driver qualification. Hiring records may show a driver who shouldn't have been hired, or who wasn't trained for the route or equipment.
• Blind spots and turns. Wide right turns and no-zones produce a specific crash pattern that often gets misread at the scene.

A good investigation looks for all of these, because the answer changes who pays.

What the other side is doing while you recover

It helps to picture the other half of the file. Within hours, the carrier's insurer may have:

• Photographs and measurements from the scene, taken before the road was cleared
• Downloaded data from the truck's engine control module
• Statements from the driver, taken by people on the driver's side
• A liability assessment written before you've even been discharged

None of that is improper. It's just a head start. The counterweight is early preservation and your own investigation, which is why the first days matter more in truck cases than in almost any other kind of crash.

If someone died

When a truck crash is fatal, the claim changes form. A wrongful death claim in Michigan is brought by a personal representative of the estate, and the categories of recoverable damages are set by statute. It runs on its own procedural track, including court involvement in appointing the representative and in approving any settlement.

Families often ask whether they should wait until after the funeral to make any calls. You should take the time you need. Just know that the evidence timeline keeps running in the background, and a preservation letter can be sent while everything else is on hold.

Deadlines run on more than one track

Michigan claims have different clocks depending on the type of claim. No-fault benefits have their own notice and filing rules that run in about a year, while negligence claims against an at-fault party generally run longer. Claims involving a government-owned vehicle can have much shorter notice requirements.

The safest way to think about it: the evidence clock is shorter than the legal clock. Waiting until the filing deadline approaches can mean losing the proof that would have made the case. We explain the general timelines in How Long Do You Have to File an Injury Claim in Michigan?

When to call ELN

Call us early after a truck crash, ideally in the first days. We can send preservation letters for the ELD data, driver file and maintenance records, identify every company that may share responsibility, coordinate your no-fault benefits so bills get paid while the liability case develops, and deal with the carrier's adjusters so you don't have to.

If you're caring for an injured family member and don't know where to start, that's a fine reason to call too. Schedule a consultation or visit our personal injury practice.

You Call You Win.