The Types of Truck Accident Cases We Handle

Cumberland County sees a high volume of truck and bus crashes. MaineDOT reported 2,326 truck/bus crashes in Cumberland County from 2019–2023, including 4 fatal crashes. 

We handle serious injury and wrongful death claims involving many types of commercial vehicles and crash scenarios, including:

• Tractor-trailer and 18-wheeler collisions
• Delivery and box truck crashes (including last-mile and fleet vehicles)
• Dump trucks, construction vehicles, and municipal/commercial work trucks
• Jackknife, rollover, and loss-of-control crashes
• Rear-end and chain-reaction collisions in congestion zones
• Underride/override crashes
• Cargo shift, unsecured load incidents, and roadway spill events
• Brake failures, tire blowouts, and other maintenance-related wrecks

Who Is Liable for a Trucking Accident?

A key part of a personal injury case is to determine who is financially responsible. In trucking cases, the driver’s conduct matters, but so do the larger business decisions, such as scheduling, training, maintenance, cargo practices, and whether the carrier followed safety rules designed to protect the public.

Depending on the facts, responsibility may fall on one or more of the following:

• The driver and driving decisions. Speed, distraction, impairment, fatigue, unsafe lane changes, following too closely, failure to yield, or driving too fast for conditions, especially in congestion on I-295 / I-95, ramps, and urban arterial corridors.
• The motor carrier’s safety and supervision failures. Hiring and screening problems, inadequate training, failure to supervise, tolerance of hours-of-service violations, unrealistic dispatch expectations, and a safety culture that rewards “on time” over “safe.”
• Operational parties behind the load. Shippers, loaders, or warehouse operations that overload trailers, fail to secure freight, or create unstable cargo configurations that increase rollover/jackknife risk.
• Equipment ownership, maintenance, and mechanical responsibility. When tractor/trailer ownership is split, the party responsible for inspection and repair can be different from the party that employs the driver. Missed inspections, worn brakes, bad tires, lighting issues, and coupling failures are common themes in serious cases.
• Product liability when a defect contributes. Defective tires, brakes, underride guards, steering components, or coupling systems can cause crashes or dramatically worsen injuries when impact occurs.

A complete investigation focuses on every entity that had control over safety and every decision that made the crash more likely.

What Evidence Matters Most in a Truck Accident Case

Trucking cases are usually won or lost on commercial records and electronic data, or the information that shows what the truck was doing, what the company required, and whether safety rules were followed. The challenge is that some of this evidence can be overwritten or quietly disappear if it isn’t preserved early.

In many Cumberland County truck cases, the most important proof includes:

• Electronic and onboard data that can show speed, braking, throttle position, and crash-triggered events (often pulled from the truck’s systems or related modules)
• Hours-of-service and ELD documentation that can reveal fatigue, skipped breaks, log irregularities, or pressure to run beyond legal limits
• Dispatch, routing, and communication records that help prove schedule pressure, unrealistic delivery windows, or instructions that incentivized unsafe driving
• Maintenance and inspection history showing whether brakes, tires, lights, and coupling components were routinely checked—or whether known issues were ignored
• Driver qualification and safety records including training, prior incidents, medical certification issues, or red flags that should have disqualified the driver
• Cargo-related documentation such as bills of lading, weight tickets, and securement records that may explain instability, rollovers, or debris/spill events
• Scene evidence and reconstruction inputs (photos/video, skid marks, yaw marks, vehicle damage profiles, witness accounts) that help engineers explain how the collision unfolded

Good trucking litigation doesn’t just collect documents. It connects them, so the evidence tells a coherent story about preventability, fault, and accountability.

What Compensation Can Truck Accident Victims Recover?

Truck crashes often create losses that don’t show up neatly on the first round of bills—future care, work restrictions, and the day-to-day impact of permanent limitations. A strong claim should account for the full scope of harm, not just the immediate expenses.

Common categories of recoverable damages include:

• Medical and care needs. Hospital and emergency care, surgery, follow-up treatment, rehabilitation, medications, assistive devices, and projected future care (including home services when needed).
• Income and work-related loss. Lost wages, diminished earning capacity, missed career opportunities, and the financial impact of permanent work restrictions.
• Out-of-pocket and practical costs. Transportation for treatment, household help you now need because of limitations, and other crash-related expenses that add up over time.
• Human losses (non-economic damages). Pain and suffering, emotional distress, loss of enjoyment of life, and the lasting impact of disability, scarring, or impairment on daily living and relationships.
• Wrongful death compensation. When a crash is fatal, a recovery may include financial losses (such as funeral/burial expenses, medical bills related to the final injury, lost income/support, and lost services) and non-economic losses tied to the family’s loss of the person’s companionship and guidance.

Because trucking cases often involve significant insurance coverage and sophisticated defense tactics, fair valuation usually depends on clear proof of future losses, not just what’s already been spent.

What the Legal Process Often Looks Like

Most serious truck cases move through phases. The exact timeline depends on injury severity, clarity of fault, and the defense posture, but many claims follow a pattern like this:

1. Immediate investigation and evidence preservation. Early action may involve preservation letters, rapid evidence collection, and expert review to lock down trucking data, logs, maintenance history, and crash dynamics.
2. Medical stabilization and damages development. As treatment progresses, the long-term picture becomes clearer—future care needs, work restrictions, permanence, and the real-life impact of the injury.
3. Liability mapping and insurance identification. Trucking cases often involve multiple policies and corporate entities. Identifying all responsible parties can be decisive.
4. Claim presentation and negotiations. Once the evidence and damages are developed, the claim is presented. In high-stakes cases, this is often where insurers attempt blame-shifting, causation disputes, and undervaluation.
5. Litigation and discovery when needed. Filing suit can be the only way to obtain internal records, sworn testimony, and complete documentation through court procedures.
6. Mediation, settlement, or trial. Many cases resolve after the defense confronts the evidence in discovery or mediation. If not, trial may be required to secure accountability.

Truck Accident Statute of Limitations in Maine

Deadlines can end a case before it starts. Here are the key timing rules that often apply:

• Personal injury: many Maine personal injury claims generally must be filed within six years of the crash.
• Wrongful death: many wrongful death claims generally must be filed within three years of the death.
• Government-related claims: if a Maine government entity/employee may be involved, Maine’s Tort Claims Act often requires written notice within 365 days, subject to limited exceptions. If the crash involves a federal government entity or employee, the Federal Tort Claims Act generally requires that notice within two-years, subject to limited exceptions. 

Even when a deadline is measured in years, truck-case evidence can be time-sensitive. Electronic data, logs, dispatch records, and maintenance documentation may be overwritten or lost without early action, so it’s smart to treat a serious trucking claim as urgent.

Talk to a Cumberland County Truck Accident Lawyer Today

If you’re dealing with a serious injury or fatal loss after a truck crash in Cumberland County, we’re ready to help you understand your options and what comes next. Call (207) 417-4199 or contact us online for a free, confidential consultation.