Delivery Truck Accident Attorney

One byproduct of today’s fast-paced digital age is the number of delivery trucks on the roads. Delivery truck drivers armed with a long list of stops are traversing roads across Massachusetts and the nation, in a rush to deliver packages, food and more.

Drivers pressured to make too many deliveries in too short a time span are at risk of getting into accidents and hurting innocent people. Drivers who are more focused on their GPS devices or their deliveries than the road ahead, or who are overtired or driving unsafe vehicles, add to that risk.

What should you do if you’ve been injured in a delivery truck accident? You need a team of aggressive, competent attorneys on your side. That’s where the Jeffrey Glassman Injury Lawyers in Boston comes in. Our attorneys have the skills and experience to handle even the most serious and complicated delivery truck accident cases. Our attorneys aren’t afraid to go after the big delivery truck companies like FedEx and UPS and their insurance carriers.

Our law firm believes that you shouldn’t pay the price for someone else’s negligence. Our lawyers will fight to make sure that you get the justice you deserve and the compensation needed to move forward with your life.

We will review the facts of your case and explain the options available to you under the law. There is no cost unless we win your case and recover money for you.

It doesn’t matter whether you were injured in a delivery truck accident as a motorist, pedestrian or bicyclist, we will work to identify all potentially liable parties and make sure that they pay full and fair compensation for your injuries.

If you’ve been injured in a delivery truck accident, you should try to gather as much evidence at the accident scene as possible. Collect contact information from the driver, passengers on the truck, and any involved motorists. Use your cellphone to take pictures of your injuries and the vehicles involved the accident scene. Eyewitness statements can make or break a case, so try to obtain information from anyone who saw the accident.

Seek immediate medical attention, even if your injuries seem to be minor. Medical documentation is key to recouping compensation for your injuries. You may not realize the full extent of your injuries until you’re examined by a doctor.

Contact a delivery truck accident lawyer as soon as possible. If the delivery truck’s insurer contacts you, refrain from answering any questions until you’ve had the opportunity to discuss your case with an attorney. Insurers are infamous for using tactics designed to delay, dodge and underpay claims. A skilled personal injury attorney can ensure that you’re treated fairly and in accordance with all applicable insurance policies.

To get an idea of the volume of deliveries happening today, consider these statistics: UPS delivered 5.5 billion packages and documents in 2019. FedEx delivers 3.4 million packages in the United States every day. Online shopping giant Amazon ships $2.5 billion packages a year.

When you factor in other delivery trucks and vans, the end result is a large number of vehicles on highways and local roads speeding around to make one delivery and then another. The Jeffrey Glassman Injury Lawyers has successfully handled delivery truck accident claims involving a wide variety of vehicles, including:

• UPS trucks
• FedEx trucks
• U.S. Postal Service trucks
• Amazon delivery trucks
• Moving trucks
• Furniture delivery trucks
• Delivery vans
• Peapod and other food delivery trucks
• Other types of trucks and vans

In addition to UPS, FedEx, Amazon and other delivery services, the U.S. Postal Service does its fair share of delivering parcels. Many U.S. Postal Service trucks are old, outdated and lack safety features that can prevent them from getting into accidents. Older vehicles are more prone to equipment failures such as brake failure, engine defects and faulty headlights and taillights.

Claims against the U.S. Postal Service are especially tricky because the postal service is a government entity. These cases have their own set of rules. A delivery truck accident attorney can help you pursue a claim against the postal service and other government entities.

Many delivery truck accidents are caused by negligence on the part of the driver or the delivery company. For example, the driver might be speeding to make deliveries in a timely manner or the delivery company might require a driver to work without sufficient breaks or assign too many deliveries for one day.

Some common causes of delivery truck accidents include:

• Speeding
• Aggressive driving
• Ignoring traffic signs or signals
• Distracted driving, which can occur when drivers take their eyes off the road to check a GPS map or read a list of scheduled deliveries
• Failure to use turn signals
• Failure to maintain vehicle in a safe condition
• Overloaded vehicle
• Defective vehicle
• Inadequate company training and safety policies
• Deficient company hiring policies

A delivery truck accident attorney has the skills and experience to conduct an investigation and determine which parties might be at fault for your injuries. If needed, an attorney can call on medical experts, engineers and accident reconstructionists to determine how your accident happened and who is responsible. Experts can also help determine the value of your claim. The attorneys at the Jeffrey Glassman Injury Lawyers work with the best and most respected experts in the nation.

If a driver is driving with a crew, the crew members should be responsible for talking on cellphones, two-way radios and working with GPS equipment. Drivers navigating their delivery routes solo, should pull over if they need to talk on a cellphone, manage GPS systems or check delivery lists. Drivers should also adhere to all posted speed limits regardless of how many deliveries they have left to make.

The delivery truck company could be liable for your injuries if it failed to properly train the driver or if it hired the driver without conducting an adequate background check. Drivers are often provided with short-term on-the-job training, which in many cases is insufficient. All delivery truck drivers should have a valid driver’s license.

If your accident was caused by a defective vehicle—maybe the brakes failed or an axel broke—a delivery truck accident attorney may be able to pursue a product liability claim against the vehicle manufacturer.

Delivery trucks should be inspected on a regular basis to make sure that they are safe. Trucks should be inspected to ensure that tire pressure is correct and that headlights, turn signals, brakes, and the horn are in a safe working condition.

When evaluating your claim, a delivery truck accident attorney will look at whether the driver is an employee or an individual contractor. If the driver is a company employee, the company will likely be held responsible for driver’s negligence. However, if the driver is an individual contractor, recovery could be more difficult and limited as a contractor is unlikely to have the deep pockets that a large trucking company like FedEx or UPS has.

The large size and weight of a delivery truck means that accidents involving these vehicles often result in serious and permanent injuries, even wrongful death.

Some common types of injuries suffered in delivery truck accidents include:

• Traumatic brain injuries
• Back and spine injuries
• Neck injuries
• Soft tissue injuries
• Broken bones
• Burns

Pedestrians and bicyclists are especially susceptible to serious injuries in delivery truck accidents. An inattentive driver might not see a pedestrian or a bicyclist. Blind spots associated with large vehicles can make it difficult for a driver to spot a pedestrian or cyclist. An unprotected human body is simply no match for thousands of pounds of speeding steel. In addition, large delivery trucks take longer than a car to slow down and come to a full stop.

Due to the large size of these vehicles, motor vehicle accidents involving delivery trucks can be catastrophic. Delivery trucks that have to navigate narrow streets to make deliveries or are forced to park in the street or double-park to make deliveries pose a risk to other motorists. Delivery trucks are also forced to make quick stops and starts which can lead to dangerous accidents on roadways.

A delivery truck accident attorney can recover money for an accident victim’s lost medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, property damage and more.

To learn more about how our personal injury attorneys can help you with your delivery truck accident claim, contact Jeffrey Glassman Injury Lawyers today at (617) 777-7777 or use our online form.