Trucking Accident Intake: What to Capture on the First Call

This guide is for law firms. If you were injured, contact a licensed attorney in your state.

What should a trucking accident intake call capture?

A trucking accident intake call should capture who the carrier is, what the truck was doing, and what happened at the scene, before anything else fades. Record each item as the caller says it. The checklist is a list of facts, not questions to debate with someone who may still be in pain.

1. The company name on the cab or trailer, and the USDOT number if the caller or a witness saw it
2. Type of vehicle: tractor-trailer, box truck, dump truck, tanker or delivery van, and any hazardous materials placards
3. Date, time, road and direction of travel, and where the truck appeared to be heading
4. Whether anyone died, whether the caller was taken to hospital, and whether vehicles were towed
5. Which agency responded, whether the truck driver was cited, and the report number if known
6. Anything the driver said about their hours, their load or their dispatcher
7. Witnesses, photos and dashcam footage the caller has
8. Whether an insurer or company representative has contacted the caller, and whether they gave a statement

Which federal trucking records matter, and how long are they kept?

The records that matter most are the driver’s record of duty status and the carrier’s accident register, and federal rules require them to be kept for only six months and three years. Under 49 CFR § 395.8(k), a motor carrier must retain records of duty status and supporting documents for each driver for not less than 6 months from the date of receipt. Under § 390.15, a carrier must keep an accident register for 3 years after each accident, listing the date, location, injuries and fatalities. The register uses the FMCSA definition of an accident in § 390.5: a fatality, an injury treated away from the scene, or a vehicle towed for disabling damage.

Six months is a minimum, not a destruction date, but it explains why trucking firms move fast. Intake cannot send a preservation letter. It can identify the carrier on the first call so the attorney can decide on one the next morning.

Sources: 49 CFR § 395.8: Driver’s record of duty status, Legal Information Institute (eCFR text); 49 CFR § 390.15: Assistance in investigations and special studies, Legal Information Institute (eCFR text); 49 CFR § 390.5: Definitions, Legal Information Institute (eCFR text)

What do the hours-of-service rules mean for trucking accident intake?

The hours-of-service rules cap how long a truck driver may drive, so the time of the crash and the driver’s route are worth recording on the first call. Under 49 CFR § 395.3, a property-carrying driver must start a shift with 10 consecutive hours off duty, may not drive after 14 consecutive hours on duty, and may drive a total of 11 hours within that window. Except for short-haul drivers, driving is not permitted after 8 hours of driving time without a consecutive 30-minute break.

The intake specialist does not investigate violations. The call should still capture the time of the crash, the road, the direction of travel, and anything the driver said about how long they had been on the road or where they were heading. A caller may remember the driver saying they were behind schedule or had been driving all night. Those details give the attorney a reason to request the logs, and the six-month retention rule gives a reason to request them quickly.

Source: 49 CFR § 395.3: Maximum driving time for property-carrying vehicles, Legal Information Institute (eCFR text)

When must a trucking company test its driver after a crash?

A motor carrier must test its driver for alcohol and controlled substances after a crash that kills someone, and after certain injury or tow-away crashes where the driver is cited. Under 49 CFR § 382.303, testing is required for each surviving driver if the accident involved a loss of human life, or if the driver receives a citation within 8 hours for a moving violation arising from an accident with an injury treated away from the scene or a vehicle towed for disabling damage. If an alcohol test is not given within 2 hours, the employer must record why, and it must stop trying after 8 hours. Attempts at a controlled substance test stop after 32 hours.

Those triggers line up with intake questions: did anyone die, did anyone leave by ambulance, were vehicles towed, and was the truck driver ticketed. The answers tell the attorney whether test records should exist.

Source: 49 CFR § 382.303: Post-accident testing, Legal Information Institute (eCFR text)

How much insurance must a trucking company carry?

Federal minimum liability coverage for a for-hire interstate carrier hauling non-hazardous property in a truck of 10,001 pounds or more is $750,000. The schedule in 49 CFR § 387.9 raises the minimum to $1,000,000 for oil and many hazardous materials, and to $5,000,000 for certain hazardous substances carried in bulk and other high-risk loads. These are minimums. Many carriers carry more, and the policy limits are a question for the attorney.

What intake can add is the identity of every company on the scene. A crash may involve the driver, the motor carrier, a broker that arranged the load, and the owner of the trailer, each with their own coverage. The caller may remember two different names, one on the cab and one on the trailer. Hazardous materials placards matter too, because they can move the case into a higher insurance tier. A trucking crash with a catastrophic injury is an urgent call on any reading, and Call Della sends an urgent-call email to the attorney on call on every plan.

Source: 49 CFR § 387.9: Financial responsibility, minimum levels, Legal Information Institute (eCFR text)

How does Della take trucking accident intake calls after hours?

Della, Call Della’s intake specialist, takes trucking accident calls in the firm’s name nights, weekends and holidays. She asks whether a “truck” means a pickup or a tractor-trailer, takes the carrier details first, and never gives legal advice. Each call becomes a dossier with a summary, urgency score, recording and transcript, and an urgent call sends an email alert to the attorney on call that night.

The reply is where firms lose callers. According to Lawyers Mutual NC (2019), reporting an ABA Law Practice Division secret-shopper study, lawyers took three or more days to reply to voicemails and online requests 42 percent of the time. See how Della runs after-hours personal injury intake, check the deadlines in our personal injury rules by state table, or look up terms in the PI intake glossary.