If you were injured in a truck accident in California, get medical care the same day and put the trucking company on written notice to preserve its records within days, not months. A commercial claim is not a bigger car accident claim: several companies may share responsibility, a federal rulebook sets the standard of care, the key evidence is electronic and need only be kept six months, and the limits are far higher.
We are B&D Law Group, APLC, and our team handles commercial vehicle collisions across California. We push hard in the first two weeks for a mechanical reason: the documents that decide a truck case sit on the defendant’s servers, and federal law lets it delete much of them on a short cycle.
Who Can Be Held Responsible Besides the Driver
In a two-car collision there is usually one negligent driver and one policy. A commercial crash is layered. The driver is one defendant; the carrier that employed him is another, both for his conduct and its own. A claim can also reach the trailer’s owner, the crew that loaded the freight, a contractor that serviced the brakes, and a component maker.
Freight brokers are their own question. A broker arranges the load but does not drive it, and 49 CFR 387.307 requires only a $75,000 surety bond or trust fund, which exists to pay shippers or carriers when the broker fails to perform its contracts. It is not an injury policy. A broker can be sued for negligently selecting an unsafe carrier: in Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II, LLC (May 14, 2026), a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court held that the FAAAA’s safety exception saves a negligent-hiring claim against a broker from preemption, as the Ninth Circuit had held in Miller v. C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc., 976 F.3d 1016 (9th Cir. 2020).
The Federal Rules That Supply the Standard of Care
Interstate carriers operate under the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations, and those rules do real work in a civil case because they tell a jury what care actually required. Under 49 CFR 392.2 a commercial vehicle must be operated according to the laws of the jurisdiction it is driven in, and where a federal rule imposes a higher standard of care, the federal rule controls. Section 383.23 bars driving one without federal knowledge and skills testing and a CDL.
The rule that produces the most litigation is the hours-of-service limit. Under 49 CFR 395.3 a property-carrying driver may drive 11 hours after 10 consecutive hours off duty, and may not drive at all after the 14th consecutive hour following that off-duty period. Driving stops once more than 8 hours of driving time have passed without a consecutive 30-minute interruption, which off-duty, sleeper berth or on-duty-not-driving time can satisfy. A driver also may not drive after 60 hours on duty in 7 consecutive days if the carrier does not run every day of the week, or 70 hours in 8 consecutive days if it does, with either period restarting after 34 consecutive hours off duty.
The defense will reach for exceptions. FMCSA states that adverse driving conditions let a driver extend both the 11-hour limit and the 14-hour window by up to 2 hours, and the short-haul exception in 49 CFR 395.1(e) relieves drivers who stay within a 150 air-mile radius of their reporting location and are released within 14 consecutive hours of ordinary logging duties.
Electronic Logs, and the Six-Month Clock Running on Them
Most drivers no longer keep a paper logbook. Under 49 CFR 395.8 a carrier must require each driver to record duty status for every 24-hour period, and for most operations an electronic logging device tied to the engine generates it, capturing engine power status, vehicle motion, miles and periodic location. Read against fuel receipts and dispatch messages, it can show a driver moving during hours he logged as rest.
The problem is how briefly the carrier must keep it. Under 49 CFR 395.8(k)(1) a motor carrier must retain records of duty status and supporting documents for each driver for not less than six months from the date of receipt. FMCSA applies the same six months to ELD data, and 49 CFR 395.22(i) requires a back-up copy on a separate device. Nothing obligates a carrier to tell you the clock is running:
| Record | Minimum retention | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Driver vehicle inspection report | 3 months | 49 CFR 396.11 |
| Duty status records, supporting documents, ELD data | 6 months from receipt | 49 CFR 395.8(k)(1); 395.22(i) |
| Maintenance and repair records | 1 year, plus 6 months after the vehicle leaves the carrier’s control | 49 CFR 396.3(c) |
| Periodic (annual) inspection report | 14 months | 49 CFR 396.21 |
| Accident register | 3 years | 49 CFR 390.15(b) |
| Driver qualification file | Employment + 3 years | 49 CFR 391.51 |
Set that against the two-year deadline to sue: the logs for the week of your crash can lawfully be gone before you finish treating, while eighteen months of your filing window remain. California adds a layer, since Vehicle Code section 34500 directs the Highway Patrol to adopt its own rules for the safe operation of trucks and buses.
Why a Preservation Letter Goes Out Before Anything Else
A preservation letter is a written demand to the carrier and its insurer identifying what must be held: ELD and engine control module data, dispatch logs, the driver qualification file, maintenance history, any video, and the tractor and trailer themselves. Sent early, it moves those items into a litigation hold.
It matters for a specific reason. In Cedars-Sinai Medical Center v. Superior Court (1998) 18 Cal.4th 1, the California Supreme Court held there is no tort remedy for intentional spoliation by a party where the victim knew or should have known of it before trial. The court pointed instead to remedies inside the case: the Evidence Code section 413 inference against a party who willfully suppresses evidence, and discovery sanctions up to terminating sanctions. Both work better when a dated letter shows the carrier knew what to keep.
Two Ways to Hold the Trucking Company Responsible
The first is vicarious liability: under respondeat superior a carrier answers for its driver’s negligence within the scope of employment, with no separate proof the company did anything wrong. The second is direct negligence: negligent hiring, retention, supervision, training or entrustment, or a dispatch and pay structure that pushed the driver past the hours-of-service limits. Those theories reach the company’s own conduct.
California complicates the second path. In Diaz v. Carcamo (2011) 51 Cal.4th 1148, the California Supreme Court held that an employer’s admission of vicarious liability for an employee’s negligent driving in the course of employment bars the plaintiff from pursuing negligent entrustment or negligent hiring against that employer. In practice a carrier can concede liability for the driver and keep his hiring file and prior violations from the jury. The court preserved one limit: an employer may still be liable for negligence independent of its employee, such as supplying a defective truck.
There is an opening. In CRST, Inc. v. Superior Court (2017) 11 Cal.App.5th 1255, the Court of Appeal held that admitting vicarious liability does not bar a punitive damages claim where the plaintiff makes the managing-agent showing Civil Code section 3294(b) requires. Whether that door opens is fact-specific, so raise it with counsel.
Insurance Limits and the Deadlines That Control Your Claim
The financial picture differs. Under 49 CFR 387.9 a for-hire carrier running a vehicle rated at 10,001 pounds or more in interstate commerce must carry at least $750,000 in public liability coverage for non-hazardous property, at least $1,000,000 for oil and most hazardous materials, and at least $5,000,000 for the highest-risk cargo. A private California driver has carried a 30/60/15 minimum since January 1, 2025. These federal figures are floors, not ceilings. For scale, FMCSA’s Large Truck and Bus Crash Facts 2022 reports 5,837 large trucks involved in fatal crashes that year.
The deadlines are unforgiving. Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1 gives you two years from the date of injury to file a personal injury or wrongful death suit. If a public entity such as a transit agency is involved, Government Code section 911.2 requires a written claim within six months before you can sue at all. Under Li v. Yellow Cab Co. (1975) California applies pure comparative fault, so partial fault reduces recovery in proportion rather than barring it.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long do I have to file a truck accident lawsuit in California?
Two years from the date of injury under Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1, for both personal injury and wrongful death claims. That is the outside limit, not a safe amount of time to wait, because the carrier’s records have much shorter lives. If a public entity is involved, Government Code section 911.2 requires a written claim within six months. Different rules can apply to minors, so confirm your deadline with a lawyer.
How long does a trucking company have to keep the driver’s logs?
Six months. Under 49 CFR 395.8(k)(1) a carrier must retain records of duty status and supporting documents for not less than six months from the date of receipt, and 49 CFR 395.22(i) requires a back-up copy kept six months on a separate device. Other records run on their own clocks, including inspection reports at three months under 49 CFR 396.11.
Does the federal insurance minimum cap what I can recover?
No. The figures in 49 CFR 387.9, running from $750,000 up to $5,000,000 depending on cargo, are minimum levels of financial responsibility a carrier must maintain to operate. They are not damages caps or a valuation of any claim, many carriers buy well above that floor, and a claim may also reach a shipper, loader or component manufacturer.
Can I hold the trucking company responsible if only the driver made the mistake?
Usually yes. Under respondeat superior a carrier is vicariously liable for its driver’s negligence within the scope of employment, and carriers also face direct claims for negligent hiring, retention, supervision and entrustment. California limits that second route: under Diaz v. Carcamo (2011) 51 Cal.4th 1148, an employer that admits vicarious liability bars negligent hiring or entrustment claims against it, though CRST, Inc. v. Superior Court (2017) 11 Cal.App.5th 1255 held the admission does not bar a properly supported punitive damages claim.
What should I do in the first week after a truck accident?
See a doctor even if you feel able to walk away, photograph the scene and both vehicles, and write down the USDOT number on the truck. Note nearby businesses with cameras, because private video is often overwritten within days. Then get a written preservation demand to the carrier and its insurer, and give recorded statements only after you have talked to a lawyer.
If a commercial vehicle hurt you or a family member, the sooner someone demands records the more of it survives. We handle these claims through our truck accident attorneys practice, along with the catastrophic injury and wrongful death claims that follow. Call (888) 977-2238 or use our contact page.
This article is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every case is different and past results do not guarantee a similar outcome. If you have been injured, speak with a licensed attorney about your specific situation.