Attorney Joe A. King, Jr., handling truck accident cases in Huntsville, Alabama

As you travel Huntsville’s interstates and major highways, such as I-65, I-565, US-72, US-231, US-431, Memorial Parkway, and Research Park Boulevard, you will likely share the road with numerous tractor-trailers and larger commercial trucks. Massive trucks regularly mix with commuter traffic in and around busy areas of Huntsville, such as Cummings Research Park, the U.S. Space and Rocket Center, Redstone Arsenal, the Toyota and Mazda plants, and downtown.

When loaded, these large vehicles may weigh up to 80,000 pounds and can cause serious harm if a truck driver loses control. In a collision between an average 3,000-pound car and a tractor-trailer that weighs 20 to 30 times as much as the car, the injuries are often catastrophic, life-changing, or fatal for those in the smaller vehicle.

At Morris, King & Hodge, P.C., we believe that negligent truck drivers and trucking companies should be held responsible when they harm others. You should not have to pay medical bills for injuries caused by a negligent truck driver. Our experienced Alabama accident attorneys have recovered more than $168 million in verdicts and settlements for clients, including:

  • $1 million settlement against a trucking company for causing the wrongful death of a motorist,
  • $1 million settlement in a wrongful death accident caused by a tractor-trailer blocking a roadway,
  • $925,000 verdict for trucker injured when improperly loaded items fell from trailer,
  • $550,000 settlement of a hit-and-run accident involving an 18-wheeler.

Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Each case is unique.

If you or a loved one has been injured in a truck wreck or a loved one was killed, the law firm you select may make all the difference in the outcome. If you choose our proven attorneys at Morris, King & Hodge, P.C., you will have the law firm that other attorneys and legal publications have recognized for exceptional legal service.

Call us to talk to an experienced truck accident lawyer or use our online attorney contact form.

Injured in a Truck Accident?

For more than 25 years, the truck accident lawyers at Morris, King & Hodge, P.C., have stood up to trucking companies and their insurers across Alabama. Don’t wait, call us today for a free, no-obligation case review. You pay nothing unless we win.

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Morris, King & Hodge, P.C. Personal Injury Attorneys in Northern Alabama

How Can Our 18 Wheeler Attorneys Help You?

Truck accidents cause more catastrophic, life-altering, and fatal injuries than any other type of motor vehicle accident because of the size of large trucks and the speed involved.

The legal team at Morris, King & Hodge, P.C., has extensive experience handling catastrophic injuries in Huntsville and wrongful death in truck accidents.

We understand the turmoil and sense of uncertainty that many individuals and Alabama families experience after a serious accident. We understand you and your family are going through a very difficult time. Having a knowledgeable 18-wheeler accident lawyer who can provide trusted guidance can ease your burden and allow you to focus on recovering and moving forward.

Our legal team will investigate the accident and identify all the potentially at-fault parties. We will move quickly to find and preserve evidence of negligence on the part of the truck driver, trucking company, or others involved. In some complex truck accidents, we may work with traffic reconstruction experts to analyze the crash and identify the contributing factors to the accident.

We can work with expert economists and life planners who will evaluate the financial impact of the injuries that you or your loved one has sustained. In calculating your financial losses, we will take into account the cost of current and future medical treatment, surgery, physical therapy, medical equipment, and lost wages.

We will present a claim on your behalf to the insurance companies of the at-fault party or parties and negotiate aggressively for maximum compensation.

If the insurance company is unwilling to reach a just settlement, our truck injury lawyers are prepared to seek justice in court.

Truck Accidents Are More Complicated

Multiple parties, including the truck driver, the trucking company, the cargo shipper, and others, may be jointly liable for a semi-truck wreck. Each party may have a different insurer, adding a further complication. Trucking companies and commercial truck drivers are required to carry higher amounts of liability insurance than car drivers – at least $750,000, but usually $1 million or more – because of the harm that large trucks can cause. Therefore, the financial stakes are higher after trucking accidents.

It is a sure bet that a trucking company, a truck driver, and their insurers will have lawyers representing their interests. Within minutes of a truck accident, the trucking company’s team of lawyers, accident investigators, and insurance adjusters will swarm the accident scene. Investigators may try to contact you, and anything you say to the investigator could hurt your case. It is important not to talk to their investigator without a lawyer. Take their contact information and let them know your attorney will be contacting them. If you do not have an 18-wheeler accident attorney working for you to help with your accident investigation, you may be at a distinct disadvantage.

Their job is to protect the trucking company and minimize the company’s liability exposure. They will try to manage the release of evidence that hurts their client’s case. Essentially, their job is to diminish the value of the claims of other motorists injured in a truck crash.

It is critically important that the injured motorist or the family of a person killed in a truck wreck have an experienced semi-truck accident lawyer working on their side and standing up for their interests.

Accidents involving an 18-wheeler and other vehicles require a thorough investigation. Our lawyers are well-informed about the federal Department of Transportation (DOT) and state regulations, as well as the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), which governs the trucking industry.

Commercial truck drivers are required to possess a commercial driver’s license (CDL) and obtain specific training. Trucking companies are required to keep certain records, such as driver logs and maintenance records, for a specific period of time. These records may offer important evidence of negligence after a truck accident, such as driver fatigue and improper maintenance.

Care must be taken to preserve and properly store evidence from the truck’s “black box,” which stores computer data about the truck’s movement. But the evidence may be lost if you wait too long to contact a lawyer to investigate your accident.

Our team of truck accident attorneys wants to work on your side to protect your ability to recover the compensation you deserve. Our lawyers are familiar with accident reconstruction experts and trucking experts. We know the types of evidence to look for and will move quickly to retrieve, document, analyze, and preserve evidence critical to your truck accident claim.

Truck Driver and Others May Be Liable for Accident

Truck accidents often have multiple contributing factors and involve several potentially responsible parties, including the truck driver, the trucking company, the freight shipper, and, in some instances, the manufacturer of defective truck equipment. Identifying all the potentially responsible parties after a serious truck wreck requires a detailed analysis by experienced truck accident attorneys.

The parties responsible for a truck wreck may include any of the following:

  • Truck Owner: The owner of the truck, trailer, and other equipment has a legal duty to inspect and maintain their trucks and equipment to ensure that they are safe for travel on Alabama roads and highways. Defective brakes, poorly maintained tires, or other improperly maintained equipment often contribute to 18-wheeler accidents.
  • Trailer Owner: Commercial truck drivers often tow trailers that have different owners than the truck tractor. If the trailer maintenance has been neglected or the trailer was improperly loaded and an accident resulted, the trailer owner may be partly or fully liable for the injuries.
  • Truck or Trailer Leasing Company: The company that leases a tractor-trailer truck, trailer, or other equipment is responsible for inspecting and maintaining the leased equipment. They may be held liable for a trucking accident.
  • Cargo Shipper, Truck Loaders: A shipper may be responsible for an accident if the cargo falls off a truck because it was improperly loaded and shifts inside a trailer, causing the driver to lose control. When tractor-trailers are not properly loaded, overweight or unbalanced loads often lead to truck rollover accidents. The truck loaders have a duty to load the truck to ensure that the load is properly balanced and does not shift.
  • Truck Manufacturers & Parts Manufacturers: When defective vehicle designs or defective parts such as truck tires that de-tread contribute to truck accidents, the vehicle and parts manufacturers may be held liable for the truck wreck. The initial police investigation may overlook the role of a defective part in causing an accident.
  • Federal, State, and Local Road Authorities: The agency responsible for the design, construction, or maintenance of the road may be held liable for an unsafe roadway design or dangerous road conditions that contribute to a truck wreck.

Causes of Truck Accidents in Huntsville, AL

In total, 131 people were killed in large truck crashes on Alabama’s roadways in 2024, according to the most recent data from the Alabama Department of Transportation. Most of those who died were occupants of other vehicles. Many of the accidents were preventable.

Large trucks, such as flatbeds, tanker trucks, and tractor-trailers, are more difficult to maneuver, have wide blind spots, and take more distance to stop. For these reasons, it is essential that commercial vehicle truck drivers remain alert to changes in road and traffic conditions, drive at safe speeds, and follow other vehicles at a safe distance to allow themselves enough room to stop.

A truck driver who is speeding, driving too fast for road conditions, tailgating, or inattentive may cause a serious accident. The disparity in weight and size of 18-wheelers and cars means that truck collisions involve a larger share of severe injuries and fatal injuries in Huntsville.

A national study of the causes of large truck crashes published by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration analyzed approximately 1,000 accidents involving large trucks and found that the trucks were at fault in 55 percent of the crashes. The most common reasons cited involved poor decisions by truck drivers, such as speeding, driving aggressively, and paying inadequate attention to traffic conditions. Overall, truck drivers make more mistakes than drivers of passenger vehicles, the study said.

Seven of the ten most common factors identified in the study as causes of truck wrecks involved truck driver errors.

The most common causes of truck crashes include:

Mechanical issues with trucks such as brakes out of adjustment, tire failures, or lights not working were identified as the cause in 8 percent of crashes in which the big rig truck was at fault. Meanwhile, truck driver decisions such as speeding and tailgating were identified as the cause in 42 percent of the accidents in which the truck was at fault.

Types of Truck Wrecks

Our attorneys handle a broad range of truck accidents, including:

How Long Do You Have to File a Truck Accident Lawsuit in Alabama?

Individuals who were injured in truck accidents typically have two years from the date of the crash to file a personal injury lawsuit under Alabama law. Alabama Code § 6-2-38 sets the statute of limitations for personal injury claims. Only very narrow exceptions can extend the two-year deadline.

The deadline for filing a wrongful death claim related to a fatal truck accident is also two years, but it is measured from the date of death rather than the accident date.

Although two years might seem like plenty of time, it is critical to take action as soon as possible after a Huntsville truck accident. Missing the deadline for filing a case means you lose your right to seek compensation, no matter how valid your case would otherwise be.

Preserving Trucking Evidence Before It Disappears

Evidence can disappear, and memories can fade quickly after a Huntsville truck accident. The sooner you contact our law firm, the sooner our attorneys can take steps to preserve critical evidence about the cause of the crash and who was at fault.

For example, our attorneys can move quickly to send spoliation letters to trucking companies, directing them to preserve data from the truck’s black box and information from the truck driver’s electronic logging device before it is overwritten or erased. Federal regulations under 49 CFR § 395.8(k) require trucking companies to retain records regarding hours-of-service compliance for just six months.

We can also take steps to ensure the preservation of digital videos from dashcams and surveillance cameras, personnel and driver qualification records, post-accident alcohol and drug testing, and more.

Compensation for Truck Accident Victims in Huntsville, AL

A successful truck accident claim could provide compensation for a variety of economic and non-economic losses, such as:

  • Medical bills, including past and future medical expenses related to the treatment of accident-related injuries
  • Lost wages, including overtime, tips, commissions, bonuses, and other types of income
  • Diminished future earning capacity if you are left with ongoing disabilities that require you to take a job that does not pay as well as what you did before the crash
  • Pain and suffering
  • Reduced enjoyment of life
  • Property damage
  • Wrongful death compensation in fatal truck accident cases

Frequently Asked Questions About Huntsville Truck Accident Claims

How much does a truck accident lawyer at Morris, King & Hodge, P.C., cost to hire?

Our attorneys handle truck accident claims on a contingency fee basis. That means it costs you nothing for us to get started on your case. We get paid only if and when we successfully secure compensation for you.

What is a truck accident case worth in Alabama?

While every case is unique, truck accident claims frequently involve larger financial recoveries because crashes with massive vehicles typically cause more severe injuries and more extensive losses. More money is also on the line because commercial motor vehicles usually carry at least $1 million in liability coverage, compared to the $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident minimum liability coverage for passenger cars.

Who can be sued after an 18-wheeler accident?

Anyone whose negligence contributed to the crash could be sued. In most cases, that includes both the truck driver and the trucking company that employed the driver, since employers have vicarious liability for their drivers. Other potential defendants could include another at-fault motorist, a cargo-loading company, a maintenance company, the truck’s owner, and the truck’s manufacturer, among others.

Should I talk to the trucking company’s insurance adjuster?

No, you should not talk to the trucking company’s adjuster. Let our attorneys handle all insurance company communications for you instead.

Free Consultation from our Truck Accident Attorney

Our semi-truck accident lawyers offer a courtesy consultation to assess your 18-wheeler injury claim and answer your questions.

If your accident case is one that we can handle, we will provide representation on a contingency fee basis. There are no fees or expenses owed unless we obtain money for you through a negotiated settlement or a jury award.

Let us focus on the legal issues while you focus on your recovery and family.

Call Our 18-Wheeler Accident Lawyer in Huntsville for Help

From our office in Huntsville, Alabama, Morris, King & Hodge, P.C., handles trucking accident cases in Huntsville and counties and cities throughout Alabama, including Athens, Decatur, Florence, Fort Payne, Guntersville, Scottsboro, Cullman, and Birmingham. If you think that an accident attorney can help you or your loved one, as we have helped so many other Alabamians, please call our experienced attorneys for a courtesy consultation.

Call us or complete our quick online form. You may be entitled to benefits of which you are unaware. The trucking accident lawyers at Morris, King & Hodge, P.C., can help you or a loved one.