By Shannon J. Sagan, Esq., The Dash Cam Lawyer®, Fla. Bar #10793

If an 18 wheeler or semi truck hit you or a family member in West Palm Beach, get medical care within 14 days (preferably less), keep every record, and speak with an attorney before you talk to any insurance company. Trucking companies can legally destroy key evidence within months, so acting early protects your claim.

Why an 18 Wheeler Crash Is Not Just a Bigger Car Accident

A fully loaded tractor trailer can weigh up to 80,000 pounds. A typical passenger car weighs about 4,000. When the two collide, the physics are brutal, and the injuries are often severe: brain injuries, spinal damage, crush injuries, and worse. But the weight difference is only part of the story.

Commercial trucking is a federally regulated industry. Interstate carriers must follow the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations, which govern driver qualifications, hours of service, drug and alcohol testing, vehicle inspection, and maintenance. Florida law (Section 316.302, Florida Statutes) applies most of those same federal rules to trucks that operate only within Florida. Every one of those rules is a potential source of evidence about what the trucking company did wrong.

There is one more difference that surprises people: the trucking company starts working against your claim immediately. Many carriers and their insurers send rapid response investigators to serious crash scenes within hours and often, minutes. While you are in the emergency room, their team may already be photographing the scene and building a defense. That is why the steps you take in the first days matter so much.

Who Can Be Held Liable When a Commercial Truck Hits You in Florida

In a typical car accident there is one at-fault driver and one perhaps two  insurance policies (if driver and owner have different policies). In an 18 wheeler case, several parties may share legal responsibility:

• The truck driver, for negligent driving, fatigue, distraction, impairment, or hours of service violations.
• The motor carrier (the trucking company), which is generally responsible for its driver’s on-the-job negligence and can also be directly liable for negligent hiring, training, retention, or supervision.
• The owner or lessor of the tractor or trailer, if different from the carrier.
• A maintenance contractor, if brake, tire, or equipment failures contributed to the crash.
• The shipper or loader, if shifting or improperly secured cargo played a role.

Identifying every responsible party matters because it determines how much insurance coverage is actually available. Keep in mind that Florida now uses a modified comparative negligence system (Section 768.81, Florida Statutes, as amended by House Bill 837 in 2023). If you are found more than 50 percent at fault for the crash, you recover nothing, and any fault assigned to you reduces your recovery. Trucking insurers know this, and they work hard to shift blame onto the injured person. Good evidence is the antidote.

Truck Crash Evidence Disappears Quickly

This is the single most important thing to understand about semi truck cases. Much of the evidence that can prove your claim is in the trucking company’s hands, and the law lets them get rid of it on a schedule:

• Electronic logging device (ELD) data: federal rules require carriers to keep a driver’s hours of service records for only six months (49 CFR 395.8(k)(1)). After that, they can lawfully be destroyed.
• Fleet dash cam and telematics footage: many commercial trucks now carry forward facing and driver facing cameras. No law requires the company to keep that footage long term, and many systems overwrite video in days or weeks.
• Maintenance and inspection records, dispatch records, and post-crash drug and alcohol test results, each with its own limited retention practice.

An attorney can send the carrier a preservation letter (sometimes called a spoliation letter) demanding that all of this evidence be preserved. Once that letter is received, destroying the evidence can have serious consequences for the trucking company in court. This is one of the strongest reasons to involve an attorney early rather than waiting to see how you feel or how the insurer treats you.

Your own dash cam matters too. If your vehicle had a camera running, that footage can be powerful proof of what happened, and Florida courts admit it when it is properly authenticated (Section 90.901, Florida Statutes). Save the file immediately in more than one place. One caution: Florida is an all-party consent state for audio recordings (Section 934.03, Florida Statutes), so talk to an attorney about any audio your camera captured before sharing it.

What to Do After a Semi Truck Accident in West Palm Beach

1. Call 911 and have a police officer come to the scene
2. Get a medical evaluation. Some serious injuries do not hurt at first. If you were in your own car, remember that Florida’s no-fault law requires you to get initial medical care within 14 days to access your Personal Injury Protection (PIP) benefits (Section 627.736, Florida Statutes).
3. Document everything you safely can: photos of the vehicles, the truck’s USDOT number and carrier name, the trailer plate, skid marks, debris, and your injuries. Get names and phone numbers of witnesses.
4. Save your own dash cam footage right away, before it can be overwritten.
5. Do not call your own insurance company yet. Most people call their insurer from the accident scene by instinct. We advise against that. Speak with an attorney about your rights first. You do have an obligation to cooperate with your own insurer under your policy, but that obligation does not require you to do it immediately.
6. Never give a recorded statement to the trucking company’s insurer or to your own insurer without speaking to an attorney first. Recorded statements taken in the confusing days after a crash are routinely used to minimize claims.
7. Talk to an attorney promptly. Florida generally gives you two years from the date of a crash to file a negligence lawsuit (Section 95.11(5)(a), Florida Statutes), but the evidence in a truck case can vanish long before that deadline.

Insurance in Truck Cases: Bigger Policies, Harder Fights

Federal law requires interstate carriers hauling general freight to carry at least $750,000 in liability coverage, and hazardous materials carriers must carry up to $5 million (49 CFR 387.9). Many carriers hold $1 million policies. That is far more coverage than a typical car accident case, and it changes how the defense behaves: insurers protect large policies aggressively, with experienced adjusters and defense lawyers involved from day one.

Your own coverage still plays a role. If you occupied your own car, your PIP benefits cover up to $10,000 of initial medical care and lost income under Florida’s no-fault system. 

To recover pain and suffering damages from the at-fault parties, an injured car occupant generally must meet Florida’s permanent injury threshold (Section 627.737, Florida Statutes). The violent forces in semi truck collisions unfortunately mean that threshold is often met.

Compensation After an 18 Wheeler Accident

Depending on the facts, an injured person (or the family of someone killed) may pursue compensation for medical bills already incurred, future medical and rehabilitation care, lost wages and lost earning capacity, out-of-pocket expenses, and pain and suffering where the law allows it. When a crash takes a life, Florida’s Wrongful Death Act allows certain family members to bring a claim.

Every case is different. The value of a claim depends on the injuries, the evidence, the available insurance, and how well the case is prepared. No attorney can honestly promise a particular result, and you should be cautious with anyone who does.

Truck Traffic in West Palm Beach and Palm Beach County

Palm Beach County sees heavy commercial truck traffic every day. Interstate 95 and Florida’s Turnpike carry long-haul freight straight through West Palm Beach. Southern Boulevard (US 98) and Okeechobee Boulevard funnel trucks between the interstate and the western communities. The Port of Palm Beach in Riviera Beach generates constant container and tanker traffic, and the US 27 corridor connects the agricultural operations around Belle Glade and the Glades to the coast. More trucks means more truck crashes, on highways, on surface streets, and at busy interchanges.

The Dash Cam Lawyer® serves injured people throughout Palm Beach County from offices in Palm Springs and Belle Glade, including West Palm Beach, Riviera Beach, Lake Worth Beach, Greenacres, Wellington, Royal Palm Beach, Boynton Beach, Delray Beach, Boca Raton, Jupiter, Palm Beach Gardens, and the Glades communities.

How The Dash Cam Lawyer® Approaches Truck Accident Cases

Our firm’s focus is video and electronic evidence: fleet dash cams, your dash cam, ELD data, telematics, and traffic cameras. In a truck case, that evidence often tells the story more clearly than any witness can. We move quickly to send preservation demands so the trucking company cannot quietly discard the proof, and we build the claim around what the footage and the data actually show.

Attorney Shannon J. Sagan (Florida Bar #10793) handles truck and auto accident cases throughout Palm Beach County. Consultations are free, and we work on a contingency basis: no fee unless we recover for you.

Frequently Asked Questions

Should I hire a lawyer after being hit by a semi truck in Florida?

In almost every semi truck case, yes, and quickly. Truck cases involve federal regulations, multiple potentially liable parties, large commercial insurance policies, and evidence that the carrier can lawfully destroy within months. An attorney can lock down that evidence with a preservation letter and deal with the insurers so you do not face their investigators alone. Consultations with our firm are free, so it costs nothing to find out where you stand.

Who is liable when a commercial truck hits you in Florida?

Potentially several parties: the driver, the motor carrier, the owner of the tractor or trailer, a maintenance contractor, and the company that loaded the cargo. The right answer depends on why the crash happened, which is exactly what the electronic evidence (driver logs, dash cam footage, maintenance records) helps establish.

What should I do if a family member is hit by a semi truck in Florida?

Focus on their medical care first. Then preserve what you can: photos, the carrier’s name and USDOT number, witness contacts, and any dash cam footage. Do not let anyone in the family give a recorded statement to any insurer, including your own, before speaking with an attorney. If the worst happens, Florida’s Wrongful Death Act allows certain family members to bring a claim, and the same two-year deadline generally applies.

What is the average truck accident settlement in Florida?

There is no meaningful average. Truck settlements range enormously because they depend on the severity of the injuries, the strength of the liability evidence, and the insurance available. Larger federal insurance minimums mean truck cases often involve more coverage than car cases, but no honest attorney can quote you an average or promise a result. A free consultation about your specific facts will tell you far more than any statistic.

Should I talk to my own insurance company after an 18 wheeler accident?

Not right away. Speak with an attorney about your rights before you call your own insurer. Your policy requires you to cooperate with your insurance company, but it does not require you to do so immediately, and it does not require you to give a recorded statement on their schedule. Never give a recorded statement to the trucking company’s insurer or your own insurer without talking to an attorney first.

How long do I have to file a truck accident claim in Florida?

Generally two years from the date of the crash for a negligence lawsuit (Section 95.11(5)(a), Florida Statutes). But do not wait: the trucking company’s hours of service records can be lawfully destroyed after six months, and camera footage can disappear much sooner. The practical deadline for protecting evidence is measured in days and weeks, not years.

Talk to The Dash Cam Lawyer® About Your Truck Accident

If you or a family member was hit by an 18 wheeler, semi truck, or any commercial vehicle in West Palm Beach or anywhere in Palm Beach County, call The Dash Cam Lawyer® at 561-561-DASH (3274) for a free consultation. We will listen to what happened, explain your options, and move fast to preserve the evidence. No fee unless we recover for you.

This article is for general information only and is not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every case is different; consult an attorney about your specific situation.