Collisions involving semi-trucks are among the most devastating crashes on Missouri roads. The sheer size and weight of these commercial vehicles often result in catastrophic injuries or fatalities, and the legal landscape around these cases is unlike any ordinary car accident claim.
1. Trucking Cases Differ Significantly from Car Accidents
Semi-truck crashes are governed by multiple layers of federal and state law. The trucking industry operates under the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSR), which cover driver qualifications and training, hours of service to combat driver fatigue, vehicle maintenance and inspection, and load securement. Our team investigates whether violations of these rules contributed to the crash and whether the trucking company itself can be held accountable, not just the driver.
2. Immediate Action Is Key
After a major truck crash, trucking companies and their insurers move fast. Defense teams are often on the scene within hours to secure physical evidence, control access to logs and data, and interview witnesses. We move just as fast: issuing preservation of evidence letters, securing black box (ECM) data and cell phone records, photographing the scene and vehicles, and interviewing first responders and witnesses before memories fade.
3. A Comprehensive Investigation Is Vital
Our investigations focus on driver fatigue and hours-of-service violations, improper maintenance and defective brakes, improper loading that causes rollovers or loss of control, and distracted or impaired driving. We work with accident reconstructionists, trucking industry professionals, and medical experts to build a case that will hold up in front of a jury.
4. High Stakes Demand Trial-Ready Representation
Because the outcomes are severe, trucking companies and their insurers defend these cases aggressively. They blame other drivers, dispute the severity of injuries, and claim regulatory compliance even where violations occurred. The answer to those defenses is a case built for trial from day one. Insurers value cases differently when the firm across the table actually tries them.
5. Our Results in Missouri Truck and Serious Injury Cases
Presley & Presley has handled complex truck and catastrophic injury cases throughout Missouri, including a $5 million Jackson County jury verdict in a semi-truck crash involving distracted driving and cell phone use, for a client whose spinal disc injury did not require surgery. We focus on proving systemic safety failures at the company level, not just driver error, and on obtaining full value in serious injury and wrongful death cases.
If you or a loved one has been injured in a semi-truck crash, contact us for a free consultation. Presley & Presley Trial Lawyers is based in Kansas City, Missouri, handling catastrophic injury, wrongful death, and insurance bad faith cases across the country.
