Munley Law’s Philadelphia truck accident lawyers help injured victims pursue full compensation after serious collisions with commercial trucks. We understand how overwhelming medical bills, lost income, and long-term recovery can feel, and we step in immediately to protect your rights.
Recognized nationally for excellence in personal injury law, our family-run firm has earned top verdicts and settlements and has served in leadership roles in organizations like the American Association for Justice. With nearly seven decades of experience, our attorneys have built a reputation for results in complex truck accident cases.
We handle every aspect of your truck accident claim in Philadelphia, from investigating liability to negotiating with insurers and taking cases to trial when necessary. Every case is prepared as if it will go to court. So, when trucking companies and insurers push back, we stand ready to hold them accountable and pursue the outcome you deserve. Contact us for a free consultation.
Call Us At 844-686-5397 How Can a Philadelphia Truck Accident Lawyer Help You After a Crash?
A truck accident lawyer in Philadelphia is a personal injury attorney who specializes in helping injury victims following truck collisions involving large trucks, such as 18-wheelers, tractor-trailers, or semis. Munley Law’s truck wreck attorneys have the experience and knowledge to obtain compensation for your injuries.
Munley Law is the only firm in Pennsylvania with three board-certified Truck Accident Law attorneys recognized by the National Board of Trial Advocacy (NBTA): Marion Munley, Daniel Munley, and Katie Nealon. Marion Munley and Daniel Munley are also board-certified by the Academy of Truck Accident Attorneys (ATAA), and have both been named Top 10 Trucking Trial Lawyers by the National Trial Lawyers Association (NTLA).
Our Philadelphia truck accident attorneys can help your case in the following ways:
- Identify liable parties: Truck accidents often involve several parties beyond the truck drivers, such as the trucking company, the cargo loader, or the maintenance provider. Using the information gathered after the truck accident, your accident lawyer will be able to determine who is responsible for your injuries.
- Collect evidence: Evidence after a truck accident can be challenging to collect. As soon as the truck accident occurs, the trucking company will have a response team at the scene within a few hours, and evidence can quickly disappear. Munley Law’s Philadelphia personal injury lawyers will know what evidence is needed to build a substantial truck accident claim and how to collect that evidence. They will gather police reports, photos, witness statements, maintenance records, driver logs, and data from the event data recorder, better known as the black box.
- Consult with professionals: Experienced witnesses can play a vital part in your injury claim. They will analyze the cause of the accident and quantify your damages. Our lawyers will speak with reconstruction and medical professionals to understand what happened before and during the truck crash.
- Negotiate with the insurance companies: Truck accident claims can be more complex than any other motor vehicle accident because there may be more than one party involved. You will need your Philadelphia lawyers to speak with your insurance company and the negligent parties’ insurance companies, the driver’s employer, the vehicle owner, and the tractor-trailer owner.
- Appear in court: Negotiations can often fail, and your Philadelphia lawyer must prepare and file a truck accident lawsuit. You will need an experienced truck accident lawyer with a solid track record representing truck accident victims in court.
What Compensation Can You Recover After a Truck Accident in Philadelphia?
Because every accident case is unique, crashes involving large commercial trucks can be especially complicated. Multiple parties, such as the driver, trucking company, cargo loaders, or maintenance providers, may share responsibility. You may be entitled to recover a wide range of damages depending on the circumstances.
Some truck accident cases are straightforward; others can be more complicated to win. Our experienced truck accident attorneys can help you get compensation. Damages owed to truck accident injury victims often include:
- Medical expenses such as doctor bills, surgeries, assistive medical devices, and lab results
- Loss of income, both present and future
- Lessened quality of life
- Pain and suffering
- Funeral costs for family and loved ones
In rare cases, punitive damages may be awarded to accident victims. These damages punish the other party for reckless or negligent behavior, and it’s worth noting that they are subject to tax.
It can be challenging to determine how much you may receive after an accident with a truck. All truck crashes are different, so what one injury victim receives differs from what another receives. However, during your first accident consultation, our Philadelphia lawyers will sit down with you and go through all your expenses following the accident. We can then provide a rough estimate of the value of your accident claim.
Who Can Be Held Liable in a Philadelphia Truck Accident Case?
Although the fault may lie with the driver involved, many potential defendants may be involved in a truck accident case. For example, after a truck accident on I-95, investigators learned the driver had fallen asleep at the wheel after driving 20 hours straight to meet a delivery deadline. If evidence shows that the trucking company pressured the driver to ignore the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) hours-of-service regulations, the company could be liable for the crash.
Experienced Philadelphia lawyers may look at the following parties to hold them accountable for your injuries:
- The truck driver;
- Owner of the truck or tractor-trailer;
- Person or company that leased the semi truck or tractor-trailer to the driver;
- Manufacturer of the vehicles, tires, or other parts that may have contributed to the cause or severity of the accident; and
- Shipper or loader of the truck’s cargo (in cases involving improper loading).
Proving these accident cases can be difficult because trucking, hauling, and leasing companies will deny responsibility for most accidents. The insurance companies will try to pass the blame to avoid compensating the accident victim. To help you build your personal injury case, you’ll need our experienced Philadelphia truck accident lawyers by your side.
How Do Trucking Companies Deny Fault for a Trucking Accident in Philadelphia?
To avoid liability for accidents, some trucking companies attempt to distance themselves from the driver, the vehicle, and the equipment. For instance, the driver might get a permit to operate the truck but then lease the equipment from the owner. The trucking company would then hire the driver as an independent contractor from the truck owner instead of hiring them as an employee. If an accident occurred, the trucking company could claim that the driver was not an actual employee and that the company was not responsible for the accident. However, under current federal law, that practice is now illegal. Any company that owns a truck permit is responsible, regardless of whether the driver is an employee or an independent contractor.
Trucking companies can also be held responsible for negligence in a car accident with a truck (or any other kind of truck crash), including failure to:
- Maintain the truck and parts
- Provide proper training to drivers
- Hire safe drivers
- Conduct background checks
- Properly monitor driver safety
- Check log books and require accurate entries
- Enforce limited driving hours
Our team of highly skilled Philadelphia truck accident lawyers focuses on helping people injured in accidents. Trucking companies might use tricky tactics to avoid paying you what you deserve, but we have much experience dealing with these situations. We will work hard to prepare your case and ensure you get the best possible outcome. You can trust us to do everything we can to bring you the justice you deserve.
What Causes Large Trucking Accidents in Philadelphia?
Some of the most dangerous and congested highways in Pennsylvania, such as the Delaware Expressway (I-95), the Schuylkill (I-76), and the Blue Route (I-476), run right through the middle of Philadelphia. Large trucks barrel down these roads daily to reach the suburban areas surrounding Philly and hop the Northeast Extension or cross into New Jersey.
According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, truck drivers are constantly frustrated by the high levels of congestion on our streets. And with frustration, traffic, and tight deadlines, truck accidents in Philadelphia are bound to occur.
When you get into an accident with a truck, finding the cause of the accident is essential to your case. Experienced Philadelphia truck accident lawyers can help you with the challenges of finding the cause of your accident. Common causes of trucking accidents include:
Ignoring the Hours of Service Regulations
If a driver is tired, it can result in reckless behavior. This includes failure to keep in the proper lane, failing to stop for traffic, or suddenly running off the road. Many equate drowsy driving to driving under the influence. In both instances, the reaction time is decreased, making it difficult to stop suddenly if an emergency arises.
In June 2020, the FMCSA instituted new provisions to the hours of service regulations to help curb truckers’ long hours and fatigue. Under these regulations, truck drivers must take a 30-minute break after eight consecutive hours of driving time. In addition, drivers must spend at least seven of their required 10 off-duty hours in the sleeper berth. Although these laws have helped reduce the number of accidents, driver fatigue still contributes to a significant share of truck accidents nationwide.
Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol or Drugs
According to the latest accident statistics from PennDOT, the number of alcohol-related fatalities was 244, making up roughly 22% of total traffic fatalities in 2024.
Drinking and driving is illegal for all drivers, but the standards are even stricter for commercial truck drivers. If a trucker is under the influence of either drugs or alcohol at the time of the accident, not only will they face criminal charges, but risk losing their commercial driver’s license (CDL) as a direct result of the accident.
Driver Error
When semi trucks travel at rates exceeding 55 mph, they are speeding, and the risk of a jackknife or rollover accident increases dramatically. Common driver errors that cause crashes include making overly broad turns, failing to stop after following too closely, overlooking vehicles in blind spots, texting while driving, and other distracted or unsafe driving.
Substandard Inspection
According to the FMCSA, more than two million roadside inspections revealed that 23.2% of trucks had serious safety violations. Truck companies may try to save some money by neglecting regular fleet maintenance and inspections. As a result, defective and unsafe trucks remain a major cause of devastating crashes on the nation’s highways.
What Injuries Are Common in Philadelphia Truck Accidents?
When you’re involved in a crash with a big rig, the sheer size and force of a semi truck can cause catastrophic injuries. This means your injuries could range from minor harm to severe spinal cord damage or other lifelong trauma. The Philadelphia truck accident lawyers at Munley Law Personal Injury Attorneys can guide you through your case and fight to secure compensation from the parties responsible.
The accident injuries seen most often in a truck crash include:
- Internal injuries: Internal damage can be life-threatening, mainly because these injuries are not visible and may go unnoticed without medical testing. It’s imperative, no matter how you are feeling, that you seek medical attention after a serious tractor-trailer accident. Internal injuries could take days, if not weeks, to appear, so the sooner you get checked out by a medical professional, the better.
- Back injuries: While common in many motor vehicle accidents, back injuries from truck crashes tend to be more severe due to the extreme force involved. They can lead to chronic pain, limited mobility, and long-term disability.
- Paralysis: The immense force of a truck accident can cause severe spinal cord damage, sometimes resulting in permanent paralysis.
Truck accidents can be deadly. Passengers in smaller vehicles often suffer more fatalities than truck drivers. When a life is tragically lost, ensuring the surviving family’s financial security and justice becomes critically important. The family does have the option to file a wrongful death lawsuit against those at fault for the accident. If this happened to a family member, please reach out to our truck accident lawyers in Philadelphia. We can start the investigation right away.
Why Choose Munley Law’s Philadelphia Truck Accident Lawyers?
If you’ve been injured in a truck accident in Philadelphia, the decision to hire a Philadelphia semi-truck accident attorney to represent you should be an easy one. You need an experienced truck accident attorney from Munley Law to protect your rights. Trucking companies, big and small, will have their investigators and attorneys fighting for them. So, you must ensure you have someone fighting for you.
Munley Law has proven results in catastrophic injury and truck accident litigation. Some of our top recoveries for truck accidents include the record-setting $26 million, as well as $11 million and $9 million. We have also won $20 million for a commercial vehicle accident and $6.9 million for a victim whose car was struck by a garbage truck.
Frequently Asked Questions About Philadelphia Truck Accidents
Is the Truck Company Liable If a Speeding Truck Driver Injured Me?
Potentially, yes. If the driver who hit you was employed by one of the trucking companies, then the trucking company could be liable for your accident injuries. This is true for commercial drivers, not only for speeding but also for other common driving mistakes that lead to an accident, such as:
- Braking too suddenly or too late
- Failing to maintain control
- Falling asleep behind the wheel
- Following too closely
- Merging without looking
- Talking or texting behind the wheel
What Are Some Other Common Factors in Commercial Truck Accidents?
Along with truck driver negligence, there are several other common factors in commercial trucking accidents. Many of these have to do with maintenance and loading issues, including:
- Brake, engine, and transmission failures
- Failure to conduct routine maintenance
- Faulty brake jobs and other negligent repairs
- Unpressurized liquid cargo
- Unsecured and unbalanced cargo loads
How Can I Prove That the Truck Driver’s Negligence Caused My Accident?
In a trucking accident case, the following conditions need to be met to prove who is at fault for the accident:
- The truck driver or trucking company keeps you safe from harm.
- The at-fault parties failed to keep you safe, causing a truck accident.
- The truck crash resulted in an injury.
- The injured party now has expenses, such as medical bills and lost wages, due to the accident.
Our Philadelphia tractor-trailer accident lawyers have years of experience gathering necessary evidence and building strong cases.
Is There a Statute of Limitations on Truck Accidents in Philadelphia?
Yes. Like the rest of Pennsylvania, there is a two-year limit on filing a personal injury claim. If you fail to file the claim during this period, you may be unable to collect compensation for your injury. That’s why speaking with our experienced truck accident lawyer today is essential to start the claim process immediately.
How Is a Truck Accident Different from a Regular Car Accident Case?
Truck accident claims tend to be more complex because they often involve multiple liable parties, such as trucking companies, contractors, and manufacturers. Federal regulations also apply, including hours-of-service rules and maintenance requirements. These cases typically involve more severe injuries and more serious damages. As a result, they require deeper investigation and legal experience.
What Evidence Is Most Important in a Truck Accident Case?
Key evidence in a truck accident case includes black box data, driver logs, maintenance records, and surveillance footage. Police reports and witness statements also play a significant role. Legal action is critical because trucking companies may move quickly to secure or limit access to evidence. That is why legal teams often send preservation letters immediately after being hired.
Can I Sue the Trucking Company Directly?
Yes, trucking companies can often be held directly liable for accidents involving their drivers. This may include negligent hiring, poor training, or failure to maintain vehicles. Federal regulations also impose responsibility on carriers, even when drivers are classified as independent contractors. Identifying all liable parties increases your potential compensation.
What If the Truck Driver Was Working for Multiple Companies?
Complex employment agreements are common in the trucking industry. Liability may extend to multiple entities, including the carrier, contractor, and equipment owner. Investigating contracts and operational control is essential in determining liability in these cases, and this is where experienced legal representation becomes critical.
Contact a Philadelphia Truck Accident Attorney at Munley Law
Our accident attorneys work on a contingency fee basis. You do not have to pay a fee once you hire our personal injury law firm. Once your trucking accident case is settled or a verdict is reached, we will take a percentage of your recovery for our fee. This arrangement gives the injured victim a chance to recover from the truck accident while still having the opportunity to receive exceptional legal representation for their truck accident claim.
Contact us today for a free consultation with our award-winning truck accident lawyers.
Daniel W. Munley
Daniel W. Munley is an award-winning personal-injury attorney and champion of plaintiffs’ rights. For decades he’s won multi-million verdicts and settlements and is recognized as a national leader in truck and rideshare litigation,including a record $26 million truck settlement in Northeastern Pennsylvania and a $20 million recovery in 2024 for life-altering commercial-vehicle injuries.
