Seeking Compensation After a Swift Transportation Trucking Accident: Your Rights and Options

The Impact of Swift Transportation Accidents

As unfortunate as it is to say, trucking accidents have increased value when in regard to personal injury claims, especially when they result in severe injuries. This tends to boil down to one explanation: physics. Since trucks are much larger than most other road vehicles, accidents tend to be more severe and sometimes fatal. Trucks traveling at highway speeds carry an immense momentum that can lead to ordinary passenger vehicles being crushed or damaged severely.

In addition, jurors tend to be more generous to underdogs. So when the run-of-the-mill driver is in an accident with a significant corporation and their negligent employees, these corporations know the risk of going to litigation. Which, in turn, pressures them into valuing a claim higher and wanting to settle earlier rather than later.

Swift prefers to hire many drivers who have recently graduated from driving school, and the majority of its drivers are direct employees. Like many other large transportation companies, Swift Transportation utilizes independent contractors when necessary to cover vacancies in specific positions. This can significantly impact personal injury claims and litigation involving Swift Transportation, as Swift may not be directly liable in situations involving independent contractors, or it may be much more challenging to establish the company’s liability. The training and responsibility of a truck driver are crucial factors in determining liability in these cases.

Limits of coverage for significant claims will depend on who is or is not found legally liable. It is essential to have a personal injury attorney with the necessary expertise to pursue all possible means of recovery. Seeking fair compensation is vital to ensure that victims receive a just and equitable amount for their damages.

Even though trucking accidents are technically traffic accidents, when claiming injuries against Swift Transportation and other large trucking companies, there will be crucial information that needs to be gathered that is not generally thought of in a regular case. That is because trucking companies have to abide by special state and federal regulations unique to them. These regulations include detailed training, testing, and discipline records for employees, along with data such as how long they spend on the road, breaks, and sleep time records. Trucks are also equipped with digital recorders that track long-term and short-term statistics that shed light on information regarding the accident—having an experienced personal injury attorney who knows how, where, and when to secure this critical information about drivers and trucks.