As the victim of a recent accident with a commercial truck, you are likely wondering who is liable for the accident and has to pay for the damage to your car and your medical bills. This is a common puzzle that truck accident attorney's struggle to solve every day. The good news is that sometimes there is more than one party who is responsible for covering your losses from the accident.

Here is some information to explain the process of determining the liable party for the commercial truck that caused your recent accident:

Trucks Driven by an Employee of a Company

Large corporations often have a fleet of delivery trucks and hire their own drivers as employees. If the truck that caused your recent accident was owned by a company whose employee was driving it, then your attorney will ask the company's insurance to cover your damages from the accident. This is generally the easiest type of injury case to settle outside of court.

Trucks Driven by an Independent Contractor of a Company

Some large companies have a truck fleet and use independent contractors to move their loads from one place to another. In this case, the company who owns the truck will carry insurance on it. Additionally, many independent contractor drivers also carry their own insurance just in case they are involved in an accident and the company they were contracting with did not have insurance for whatever reason. 

Trucks Driven by a Lessor

Truck drivers often lease a truck and work as independent contractors to move other trucking company's overflow loads. In this situation, the company that owns and leased out the truck will carry insurance on the truck. The driver of the truck will also carry insurance.

To recover your damages from an accident with a leased truck, your truck accident attorney will file suit against both the lessee and the lessor. The two insurance companies will work together on a settlement for your case.

Trucks Driven by an Owner Operator

Finally, some semi trucks are driven by the same person as the owner of the truck. Often, truck drivers will save their money and purchase a truck so that they can work independently. In the trucking business, this is called being an owner operator. If the truck that caused your accident is an owner-operated truck, then the owner will have insurance on the vehicle and is liable for your damages.

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