Trucking Companies are on our roads everyday. If you get hit and seriously injured or had a family member killed by a commercial truck, don’t be surprised if one of the first people you see at the hospital is a representative from the trucking company. They’ll say how tragic it is that this happened. They’ll bring you coffee and snacks and seem sympathetic to your plight. They’ll be committed to making things right for you—or so it will seem.
Unfortunately, the trucking company often has their own agenda, and it has everything to do with retaining their profits and nothing to do with fairly compensating you, their victim.
Primarily, trucking companies will use three strategies to keep you from obtaining as much compensation as you deserve: they’ll try to ingratiate themselves to you, they’ll violate your privacy and collect information, and they’ll try to control the narrative around the accident.
Let’s break down these three strategies they use so you can see exactly why I tell the clients of my truck-accident law firm: Anyone who works for or with the trucking company or the insurance company is not your friend. Do not trust them.
Reason #1: Trucking Companies Try to Convince You to Settle Low
Trucking companies will often send representatives to ingratiate themselves to victims and their families, but their sympathy only masks their true motive: to convince you to settle for less money than you deserve.
Let’s consider a case of mine where a wife, husband, and child were all killed in a truck collision, leaving only one child still alive but in critical condition. Before the out-of-town relatives had even arrived at the hospital to be with the surviving child, the trucking company had sent a representative.
The representative stationed herself at the hospital, greeting the grieving family members and helping them get oriented to the hospital. She gave them prepaid cell phones to use, snacks, offered meal vouchers and continuous cups of coffee. By all accounts, the trucking company appeared sympathetic to what this family was going through.
It wasn’t until the trucking company made a ridiculously low offer that its true colors showed. Her true purpose, among other objectives, was to convince the family to settle low instead of going to court for much higher compensation. This can make the difference between the victim receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars and multi millions.
If you encounter representatives of the trucking company responsible for your accident, always remember that they care less about you and more about their bottom line. Never settle without first consulting a qualified truck-accident attorney.
Reason #2: Trucking Companies Violate Your Privacy
The second reason you shouldn’t trust trucking companies after an accident is that they’ll violate your privacy in their quest to put the blame on your shoulders. Returning to our example, the trucking-company representative wasn’t only nice to the family, she also seemed interested in the victims. She wanted to know all about the couple who had passed away and the child that had been killed with them.
What did the parents do for a living? Was the child good at school or at sports? Who in the family would be making decisions? Was there a life insurance policy that could help take care of the surviving child? Was there a will?
She seemed so interested in the family, asking questions, and offering advice. The harsh truth is that this nice lady had an agenda, and that was to get information that could be used to limit how much the trucking company would have to pay out for the accident.
Should you be approached at the hospital by a trucking-company representative, or any stranger who might be a representative (they might not be truthful about their identity), do not talk to them. Anything you say can and will be used against you when you take the trucking company to court.
Reason #3: Trucking Companies Try to Control the Narrative
The third reason you shouldn’t trust trucking companies is that they’ll try to control the narrative after the crash. They’ll bend the facts to make it seem like the truck driver wasn’t at fault, or worse, that the accident was your fault.
As soon as a major trucking accident occurs, these companies dispatch their rapid response teams who, in record time, make their way to the scene, where they are on the ground talking to witnesses, talking to the police, examining evidence, and trying to spin the news of the event in the trucking company’s favor.
While the family in our example reels over the injuries and deaths of their relatives, the trucking company is cool, collected, and working overtime to shift the narrative in their favor. The reality is that the trucking and insurance companies are experts at controlling the scenes and people’s perceptions following these trucking accidents, and you, the victim, are out of your league.
Hire an Attorney to Protect Your Interests
While you are dealing with the immediate aftermath of a horrible accident, the big trucking companies are thinking about protecting their profits. You need your own team to protect your interests, too.
The best thing you can do is quickly hire an attorney who is experienced and skilled in handling trucking accidents. A good attorney will protect you from trucking companies that try to convince you to settle low, collect your information, or sway the narrative. They’ll safeguard the evidence and build a case that clearly shows the trucking company was at fault, not you. Lastly, they’ll help you get through and heal from this traumatic experience with as little added hardship as possible.
In accident cases, your attorney doesn’t get paid until you do. They’re on your side and want you to receive the compensation you deserve, unlike the trucking company.
For more advice on trucking accidents, please visit: Semitruck Wreck.
David W. Craig is the managing partner at the law firm of Craig, Kelley & Faultless LLC. He is board certified in Truck Accident Law. David sits on the board of regents for the Academy of Truck Accident Attorneys (ATAA) and has over 30 years of experience representing truck accident victims. David is a member of the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum and a proud recipient of the Thurgood Marshall “Fighting for Justice” Award. He was also named a top 10 trucking trial lawyer in Indiana by the National Trial Lawyers Association. To connect with David, visit ckflaw.com.
