Serious truck crashes are won and lost early. The trucking company’s insurer and investigators often start working the scene the same day – here is what should happen on your side, hour by hour. Questions at any point: (210) 525-1200, answered 24/7. Se habla español.
Hours 0-2: Health and the Scene
- Call 911 and accept medical evaluation – adrenaline masks serious injuries, and gaps in early treatment become defense arguments later.
- If it is safe: photograph the vehicles, their positions, the road, skid marks, and the truck’s USDOT and trailer numbers.
- Get witness names and phone numbers before they drive away.
Hours 2-24: Protect the Record
- Report all symptoms to medical providers – everything, even ‘minor’ ones.
- Write down what you remember: time, weather, lanes, what the truck did.
- Preserve physical items: your clothes, your dash-cam card, your damaged property.
- Do not give a recorded statement to the trucking company’s insurer, sign anything, or accept a quick settlement offer.
Hours 24-48: The Evidence Race Begins
This is where a lawyer earns their place. When we take a truck case, within 24 hours a spoliation letter goes to the motor carrier demanding preservation of the engine control module (black box) data, electronic driver logs (ELD), inward- and outward-facing camera footage, dispatch and load records, the driver’s qualification and drug-test files, and the truck itself for inspection. Why the urgency: black-box data can be overwritten in weeks; federal rules require ELD records be kept only six months; camera systems loop over in days.
The Checklist
- Medical care – immediately, then consistently
- Photos, DOT numbers, witnesses
- Your own written account within 24 hours
- No recorded statements, no signatures, no quick checks
- Preservation letter to the carrier within 24 hours of hiring counsel
- Report the crash to your own insurer (a notice requirement in most policies)
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a spoliation letter?
A formal notice to the trucking company and its insurer demanding that they preserve specific evidence – black-box data, driver logs, camera footage, inspection records, the truck itself. Once received, destroying that evidence can carry serious legal consequences for them. We send ours within 24 hours of taking a truck case.
What evidence disappears fastest after a truck crash?
Camera footage can be overwritten in days. Engine control module (black box) data can be overwritten within weeks once the truck returns to service. Electronic driver logs only must be kept six months under federal rules. Skid marks and debris are gone with the next rain.
Should I talk to the trucking company’s insurance adjuster?
Not before speaking with a lawyer. You are generally not required to give them a recorded statement, and what you say can be used against your claim.
Start the Clock on Your Side
Call (210) 525-1200 – a real person answers 24/7 – or send your case details. Related: San Antonio 18-wheeler accident lawyer · the black box of the Permian Basin.