DANIEL B REINFELD, PA
Hollywood Personal Injury & Car Accident Attorneys
Serving Clients Throughout South Florida Since 1999
Hollywood Truck Accident Lawyer
Over 25 Years of Experience • Former Insurance Defense Attorney
Jury Trial-Tested • Millions Recovered for Clients
Daniel B Reinfeld, PA is a Hollywood, Florida personal injury law firm representing people and families injured in serious truck accidents throughout South Florida, including Broward County, Miami-Dade County, Palm Beach County, and Monroe County. A collision involving a semi-truck, tractor-trailer, 18-wheeler, delivery truck, dump truck, tanker, box truck, or other commercial vehicle is not simply a larger car accident. These crashes can cause catastrophic injuries or wrongful death. Our firm immediately investigates the truck driver, trucking company, motor carrier, vehicle maintenance records, cargo operation, electronic logging data, compliance with federal trucking regulations, and every available insurance policy to pursue the commercial truck accident claim.
South Florida Truck Accident Lawyer
A collision with a tractor-trailer, delivery truck, dump truck, tanker, box truck, or other commercial vehicle is not simply a larger version of a car accident. The injuries may be catastrophic, but the investigation is also more complex. Multiple companies may be involved, federal safety rules may apply, electronic systems may hold second-by-second information, and the trucking company or insurer may deploy a response team almost immediately.
Daniel B Reinfeld, PA represents people and families injured in serious truck crashes throughout South Florida, including Broward, Miami-Dade, Monroe, and Palm Beach Counties. We investigate the driver, the motor carrier, the vehicle, the cargo operation, the insurance program, and every other party whose conduct may have contributed to the collision.
If the crash was recent: Do not wait for the trucking company to volunteer its records. A prompt preservation demand can protect electronic logging data, engine data, dash-camera footage, dispatch communications, inspection records, and the tractor and trailer before information is overwritten or equipment is repaired.
Why commercial truck accident claims are different
A passenger-car claim often focuses on the conduct of two drivers. A truck crash may require proof about a transportation business and the safety systems behind the driver. The carrier may control hiring, qualification, scheduling, dispatch, maintenance, training, supervision, and record retention. The tractor may be owned by one company, the trailer by another, the freight arranged by a broker, and the load handled by a shipper or loading contractor. The central question is not only, “What did the driver do?” It is also, “What did the companies know, what safety duties applied, and what records will show it?”
Rideshare Accidents
Uber, Lyft, Rideshare & Delivery App drivers, insurance disputes
Wrongful Death
Fatal crashes, family claims, lost support, loss of companionship
Who May Be Liable in a Florida Truck Accident?
Truck liability often extends beyond the person behind the wheel. The investigation should identify every company in the transportation chain, determine what each one controlled, and connect each proposed defendant to evidence and a valid legal duty.
•The commercial driver, for unsafe driving, distraction, fatigue, impairment, speeding, an improper turn, unsafe lane movement, following too closely, or failure to keep a proper lookout.
•The motor carrier or trucking company, through vicarious liability and, when supported by the facts, direct negligence in hiring, qualification, retention, training, supervision, dispatch, or maintenance.
•The owner or lessor of the tractor or trailer, depending on ownership, control, permission, federal leasing relationships, and applicable defenses.
•A shipper, loader, freight broker, maintenance contractor, tire company, parts manufacturer, or other entity when its own conduct helped cause the crash or worsen the injuries.
•Insurers at multiple levels, including primary commercial auto coverage, excess or umbrella coverage, trailer coverage, or other policies implicated by the business relationships.
Carrier negligence and responsibility for the driver
A company may be responsible for a driver acting within the scope of employment or agency. When the evidence supports it, a motor carrier may also face direct claims involving negligent hiring, qualification, retention, training, supervision, entrustment, dispatch, or maintenance. Relevant proof includes what the carrier knew before the crash, what a reasonable safety program would have revealed, whether prior warning signs were addressed, and whether business pressure undermined safe operation.
Vehicle ownership and permissive use
Florida’s dangerous-instrumentality doctrine can impose liability on an owner who voluntarily entrusts a motor vehicle to a permissive user, although federal statutes and fact-specific defenses can affect some leasing and rental relationships. Ownership, permission, control, lease documents, operating authority, and the driver’s work status should be investigated rather than inferred from the logo on the cab.
What to do after a truck accident in Florida
Call 911 and obtain medical care. Tell emergency providers about every symptom, including head, neck, back, chest, abdominal, and extremity complaints. Some serious conditions are not obvious at the scene.
Protect the scene if you can do so safely. Photograph vehicle positions, company markings, USDOT numbers, license plates, debris, tire marks, road conditions, traffic controls, cargo, and visible injuries.
Identify witnesses. Obtain names and contact information. Nearby businesses, homes, buses, and roadway systems may have video that is retained only briefly.
Do not give a recorded statement to the trucking company’s insurer before obtaining legal advice. Be accurate with police and medical providers, but understand that the defense may use recorded language to narrow or dispute the claim.
Preserve your own evidence. Save photographs, messages, phone data, dash-camera video, damaged personal property, receipts, medical paperwork, and employment records. Do not post about the crash or your activities on social media.
Contact a lawyer early enough to send targeted preservation notices and arrange an inspection. Evidence can disappear long before a lawsuit deadline expires.
Florida Truck Accident Knowledge Center
Every truck accident presents different legal, medical, and insurance questions. The Florida Truck Accident Knowledge Center provides focused information about right-of-way laws, comparative fault, PIP and uninsured-motorist coverage, hit-and-run accidents, serious injuries, wrongful death, compensation, settlement, and trial.
Selected Topics:
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Knowledge Center Table of Contents
The evidence that can decide a trucking case
Commercial vehicles generate and store information through multiple systems. Some records are held by the carrier; others may be held by a telematics vendor, maintenance shop, insurer, broker, or third-party investigator. A preservation letter should identify both the physical evidence and electronically stored information, direct the recipient to suspend routine deletion or overwriting, and extend the request to vendors and agents.
Federal trucking rules that may matter
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations establish minimum safety duties for many interstate commercial operations. Whether a particular rule applies depends on the vehicle, driver, carrier, cargo, route, and operation. A violation does not automatically decide every case, but the rules often identify the records that should exist and the safety questions that require investigation.
Hours of service and driver fatigue
For most property-carrying drivers subject to the federal hours-of-service rules, FMCSA summarizes the core limits as a maximum of 11 hours of driving after 10 consecutive hours off duty, no driving beyond the 14th consecutive hour after coming on duty, a 30-minute interruption after 8 cumulative hours of driving, and 60/70-hour limits over 7/8 consecutive days. Exceptions and special rules may apply. The analysis should compare the ELD data with fuel, toll, dispatch, delivery, gate, scale, phone, and location records—not merely accept a log at face value.
Driver qualification
49 C.F.R. § 391.51 requires a motor carrier to maintain a qualification file for each driver, with specified materials such as the employment application, driving-record inquiries, annual review materials, and medical or variance documentation as applicable. The regulation generally requires the file to be retained while the driver is employed and for three years afterward, subject to rules allowing certain records to be removed after three years.
Inspection, repair, and maintenance
49 C.F.R. § 396.3 requires systematic inspection, repair, and maintenance of commercial vehicles under a carrier’s control and requires parts and accessories affecting safe operation to remain in safe and proper condition. The required records include vehicle identification, maintenance schedules, and records of inspections, repairs, and maintenance. The federal rule generally specifies retention for one year where the vehicle is housed or maintained and for six months after it leaves the carrier’s control.
Drug, alcohol, medical, and post-crash issues
Depending on the circumstances, the investigation may include required drug-and-alcohol testing records, Clearinghouse compliance, medical qualification, prior violations, and the carrier’s response to known risk. The legal inquiry is fact-specific; the presence or absence of a single test is not a substitute for examining the entire qualification and safety history.
How fault is proven in a truck accident claim
A successful negligence claim generally requires proof of duty, breach, causation, and damages. In a truck case, that proof may come from physical evidence, electronic records, testimony, expert analysis, company policies, and regulatory records. The investigation should remain open to competing explanations until the evidence is secured and tested.
Common collision patterns
Wide-turn and off-tracking collisions, where a trailer crosses into an occupied lane or sweeps over a stopped vehicle.
Rear-end crashes involving speed, following distance, distraction, fatigue, traffic detection, or brake condition.
Unsafe lane changes and blind-zone collisions, including sideswipes and underride events.
Jackknife and loss-of-control crashes involving speed, braking, road conditions, tires, cargo shift, or maintenance.
Intersection and red-light collisions involving timing, visibility, distraction, and route pressure.
Improperly loaded or secured cargo events, including spills, rollovers, falling cargo, or altered vehicle handling.
Work-zone and roadside crashes involving warning, conspicuity, lane control, and traffic-management issues.
Damages available after a serious truck crash
The value of a claim is not determined by the size of the truck or by an online calculator. It depends on liability, causation, the nature and permanence of the injuries, past and future losses, available insurance and assets, comparative fault, and the quality of the proof. Depending on the case, recoverable damages may include:
Emergency care, hospitalization, surgery, rehabilitation, medication, assistive devices, and other past medical expenses.
Reasonably necessary future medical treatment and life-care needs.
Past lost income, diminished earning capacity, and loss of employment benefits.
Pain and suffering, disability, disfigurement, mental anguish, and loss of capacity for the enjoyment of life when allowed by Florida law.
Property damage and loss of use.
A spouse’s loss of consortium when supported by the facts and law.
Wrongful-death damages available to the estate and qualifying survivors under Florida law.
Punitive damages in the limited cases where the statutory and evidentiary standards are met.
Commercial truck insurance and why coverage analysis matters
Commercial truck claims may involve more than one policy and more than one insured. Coverage may depend on the motor carrier’s operating authority, the vehicle and trailer, ownership and lease documents, the driver’s status, the load, contractual indemnity, endorsements, and whether an excess policy follows the primary layer. Early work should identify the correct corporate entities, USDOT and motor-carrier numbers, insurers, policy periods, and all potentially applicable coverage—not assume the logo on the cab tells the whole story.
Federal financial-responsibility rules create an important truck-specific coverage issue. Under 49 C.F.R. Part 387, covered interstate property carriers generally must maintain at least $750,000 in financial responsibility. The minimum rises to $1 million for certain oil and hazardous-material transportation and to $5 million for specified hazardous substances and certain high-capacity hazardous-material movements. The exact federal minimum depends on the carrier, vehicle, cargo, quantity, and operation; it is a floor, not proof of the total insurance available. Separate primary, excess, umbrella, trailer, shipper, or other coverage may apply.
FMCSA’s public SAFER Company Snapshot can provide carrier identification, size, commodity information, safety-rating information if any, inspection summaries, and crash information. Those public records are useful leads, but they are not a substitute for discovery and should not be treated as conclusive proof of a carrier’s overall safety condition.
Florida deadlines and defenses
Do not rely on a general deadline: The correct filing period can depend on the crash date, the claim, the parties, governmental involvement, and other facts. Evidence may disappear much sooner than the statute of limitations.
Statute of limitations
Florida Statutes § 95.11 currently provides a two-year limitations period for an action founded on negligence and a two-year period for wrongful death. Because amendments, accrual rules, tolling issues, governmental notice requirements, and the date of the incident can change the analysis, a lawyer should calculate the deadline for the specific claim.
Modified comparative fault
Under Florida Statutes § 768.81, fault chargeable to a claimant generally reduces the award proportionately. In negligence actions governed by the statute, a party found more than 50% at fault for his or her own harm may not recover damages. This makes early preservation of scene evidence, video, vehicle data, and witness testimony especially important when the trucking defense attempts to shift blame.
No-fault and injury-threshold issues
Florida’s Motor Vehicle No-Fault Law can affect medical-benefit claims and the recovery of noneconomic damages after a motor-vehicle collision. The application of PIP, available coverage, exclusions, and any injury threshold should be evaluated based on the vehicles, policies, claimant, and injuries involved.
How Daniel B Reinfeld, PA handles a truck accident claim
Identify the complete transportation chain. We examine the driver, carrier, tractor and trailer owners, broker, shipper, loader, maintenance providers, insurers, and related corporate entities.
Send targeted preservation demands. The request addresses physical equipment, native electronic data, audit trails, cameras, communications, driver files, maintenance, cargo, and third-party vendors.
Investigate the scene and vehicles. When appropriate, the team coordinates photography, measurements, downloads, inspections, and qualified experts before equipment or road evidence changes.
Test the driver and carrier story against independent records. Logs are compared with dispatch, GPS, fuel, toll, scale, delivery, phone, and other timestamped data.
Document causation and the full loss. Medical records, imaging, expert opinions, employment evidence, future-care needs, and day-to-day limitations are developed into a coherent damages presentation.
Map every source of recovery. Policy, ownership, agency, lease, contract, and corporate records are analyzed to identify responsible parties and available coverage.
Prepare the case for litigation. A strong settlement position comes from admissible proof, sound experts, clear damages, and readiness to take the case through discovery and trial when necessary.
Truck accident claims we investigate
Tractor-trailer and semi-truck crashes
Delivery and last-mile vehicle collisions
Dump truck and construction-truck accidents
Tanker and hazardous-material incidents
Box truck and moving-truck collisions
Garbage and sanitation truck crashes
Tow-truck and roadside-service collisions
Commercial van and fleet-vehicle crashes
Cargo spills, load shifts, and falling cargo
Fatal truck crashes and wrongful-death claims
Our South Florida practice serves clients in Hollywood, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, West Palm Beach, the Florida Keys, and communities throughout Broward, Miami-Dade, Monroe, and Palm Beach Counties.
Frequently asked questions
How long do I have to file a truck accident lawsuit in Florida?
Florida law currently provides a two-year limitations period for most negligence actions and for wrongful death, but the correct deadline is case-specific. Governmental claims, older crashes, tolling, choice-of-law questions, and other issues may change the analysis. Speak with counsel promptly.
Should I talk to the trucking company’s insurance adjuster?
You should provide any legally required information, but you are not required to help the opposing insurer build its defense. A recorded statement can be used to test wording, symptoms, speed estimates, visibility, and prior medical history. Consider obtaining advice first.
What is a trucking preservation letter?
It is a written demand directing relevant parties to retain physical and electronic evidence and suspend routine deletion, overwriting, repair, alteration, or disposal. It should identify the particular systems, devices, records, vehicles, vendors, and time periods at issue.
What is a truck’s black box?
The phrase often refers to engine-control or event data stored by an ECM or EDR. Available information varies by manufacturer, model, configuration, event, and download method. Other systems—ELDs, telematics, cameras, and mobile devices—may provide separate evidence.
Can the trucking company be liable even if the driver caused the crash?
Yes. A carrier may be vicariously responsible for its driver, and the evidence may also support direct claims involving hiring, qualification, retention, training, supervision, dispatch, or maintenance. The available theories depend on the facts and governing law.
What if I may have been partly at fault?
Do not assume that partial fault ends the claim. Florida generally reduces damages by the claimant’s percentage of fault, but a claimant found more than 50% at fault in a covered negligence action may not recover. Evidence should be investigated before accepting an insurer’s blame assessment.
Who can be sued after a commercial truck crash?
Potentially responsible parties may include the driver, motor carrier, tractor or trailer owner, employer, shipper, loader, broker, maintenance provider, manufacturer, or another driver. Naming a party requires evidence and a valid legal basis; a company’s role must be investigated, not assumed.
How much is my truck accident case worth?
There is no responsible one-size-fits-all number. Value depends on fault, the connection between the crash and injuries, permanency, treatment, future needs, lost income, noneconomic harm, insurance, assets, venue, defenses, and the strength of the evidence.
What if a family member died in the crash?
Florida’s Wrongful Death Act allows the personal representative to bring the action for the estate and qualifying survivors. Recoverable damages and eligible survivors depend on the family relationship and facts. Because wrongful-death claims have strict deadlines, prompt advice is important.
How quickly should a lawyer investigate?
Immediately when possible. Vehicle data, camera footage, telematics, messages, roadway video, and witness memory can be lost long before the lawsuit deadline. Early action also allows an inspection before the tractor or trailer is repaired or returned to service.
Truck Accident Cases Require Real Trial Preparation
The firm’s courtroom experience includes representing people seriously injured in motor-vehicle collisions through trial. Commercial-truck cases demand more than proving that a tractor-trailer made contact with another vehicle or person. Counsel must be prepared to explain the truck driver’s decisions, the carrier’s safety practices, hours-of-service compliance, sightlines, stopping distance, impact mechanics, vehicle maintenance, cargo issues, medical causation, future limitations, and any attempt to shift fault to the injured person. Daniel B Reinfeld, PA was recognized by TopVerdict for obtaining one of Florida’s Top 100 Personal Injury Verdicts in 2024. The firm secured a $1.6 million unanimous jury verdict in a motor-vehicle accident case. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Every truck accident case depends on its facts, available evidence, applicable law, insurance and assets, injuries, and damages.
📞 Call Today. Discuss Your Truck Accident Directly With Dan
If you or a family member was injured in a commercial-truck collision, early legal work can preserve critical evidence, protect insurance rights, identify responsible parties and coverage, and prevent important deadlines from expiring. You will speak directly with Dan—not a call center or intake department. Dan is a trial-tested personal injury lawyer with more than 25 years of experience and prior insurance-defense knowledge. He personally evaluates and handles every case accepted by the firm. You do not need to travel to the Hollywood office to begin your case. Consultations may be available by telephone, Zoom video conference, hospital visit, or home visit when appropriate.
Talk With Dan For Free
No attorney’s fee unless a recovery is obtained • Evening and weekend appointments available
Evidence can disappear and legal deadlines can expire. Contact Dan promptly to protect your rights.
CALL TODAY to speak with Dan: 📞 (954) 923-6110
DANIEL B REINFELD, PA
2450 Hollywood Boulevard, Suite 706
Hollywood, Florida 33020
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