July 29, 2025
When Negligent Commercial Truck Maintenance Causes Injuries
Negligent commercial truck maintenance is no laughing matter. When trucking companies skimp on upkeep, the results can be disastrous. Consider what happens when truck maintenance is ignored, why it leads to serious accidents, and your legal options if you have an injury from vehicle disrepair.
What Is Maintenance Negligence?
Maintenance negligence is when a trucking company or vehicle operator fails to keep its fleet in safe working condition. Fleet vehicle maintenance failures may lead to tire blowouts, brake malfunctions, unresponsive steering, faulty lights, and other mechanical problems. Examples of cutting corners with commercial truck maintenance include:
- Skipping scheduled inspections: The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) mandates routine inspections and repairs to ensure commercial vehicles operate safely. Avoiding or rushing through inspections is a surefire way for a truck to become unsafe.
- Ignoring driver reports: Drivers often notice warning signs, such as strange noises, delayed braking, or dashboard alerts. If the company brushes those complaints aside or delays follow-up, that’s a clear red flag.
- Delaying or avoiding necessary repairs: Whether it’s to save time and money or keep deliveries on schedule, postponing known repairs puts everyone on the road at risk. Truck drivers often don’t realize something’s wrong until it’s too late because they trust their employer to handle repairs.
- Using worn or outdated parts: Swapping in cheap, used, or expired parts instead of proper replacements is a cost-cutting tactic that can easily backfire.
- Failing to document repairs and inspections: Missing or falsified paperwork makes it hard to track a truck’s maintenance history and often indicates that things are slipping through the cracks.
How Can Maintenance Negligence Lead to Accidents?
When a vehicle weighing as many as 20 cars rolls down the highway with a known mechanical issue, it’s a disaster waiting to happen. Imagine a delivery truck barreling down I-15 when one of its tires suddenly explodes from dry rot and low pressure. Or picture a semi-truck driver unable to slow down during rush hour because the brakes are running metal-on-metal.
These are real scenarios with real consequences. Common maintenance negligence accidents include multi-car pileups, jackknife crashes, runaway trucks, rollovers, and side-impact collisions. When a semi-truck loses control, there’s no such thing as a “minor” crash. These large vehicles carry incredible momentum, so even a low-speed incident can severely damage cars and leave victims with serious injuries.
Can You Sue a Trucking Company for Negligence?
Yes. Trucking companies are legally responsible for keeping their vehicles safe and roadworthy. If you’ve been hurt in a crash with a commercial truck, the company can be held accountable through a truck upkeep liability claim.
Don’t let the trucking company try to shift the blame to the vehicle operator. Often, drivers are just as much victims of bad maintenance practices as anyone else on the road. If a driver was pressured to keep driving an unsafe vehicle or reported issues that went ignored, the responsibility falls on the company.
What Compensation Can You Seek?
The compensation process can get complex, especially when big insurance companies and corporate lawyers get involved. That’s why it’s a good idea to get legal help for faulty truck crashes from a knowledgeable commercial truck accident attorney. Depending on the circumstances, you may be able to recover the following compensation:
- Medical expenses: This includes ambulance rides, hospital visits, surgeries, physical therapy, follow-up appointments, and long-term medical care.
- Lost income: If you’re unable to work, whether temporarily or permanently, you can claim compensation for lost wages or decreased earning potential.
- Pain and suffering: These damages cover the physical and emotional toll of the accident, such as chronic pain, PTSD, anxiety, and other life-altering impacts.
- Property damage: This includes your vehicle, personal belongings, or anything else lost or damaged in the crash.
- Punitive damages: In cases where the maintenance failure was extreme or willfully ignored, the court may award additional damages to punish the company and deter similar activity from others.
How Do You Prove Maintenance Negligence?
To win a maintenance negligence case, you must show that the company was careless. Even a single red flag—like overdue brake replacement—may be enough to prove liability. When multiple issues pile up, your case becomes even stronger. That’s where a good legal team shines. They’ll look for things like:
- Skipped inspections: Trucks are required to undergo routine inspections. If records show that inspections were delayed, skipped, or signed off without actually being done, that’s a clear sign of negligence.
- Suspicious gaps in maintenance logs: Companies are supposed to keep detailed maintenance logs for every vehicle in their fleet. If those logs are incomplete, missing entries, or vague, there could be an effort to cut corners or hide issues.
- Repeated complaints about the same vehicle: If drivers or mechanics had previously flagged issues with the truck, and no action was taken, that’s strong evidence the company knew about the danger and failed to act.
- Testimonies from involved parties: Fellow drivers or mechanics who worked on the truck may know the truth. They might testify that the vehicle had ongoing problems or that management discouraged reporting issues to keep deliveries on schedule.
- Signs of a cover-up: Examples include altered records and sudden repairs made after an accident. If the company tries to fix a truck and claim it was in perfect condition all along, that’s a huge red flag.
Don’t Let Negligence Go Unanswered
If you’ve suffered injuries in a maintenance negligence accident, you deserve accountability and fair compensation. Carvalho & Associates Attorneys at Law is here to help. We have been standing up for accident victims in Nevada since 1995. As a personal injury law firm based in Las Vegas, we’ve built a reputation for winning high-dollar, high-profile cases that often end up in the news. Our clients trust us because of our proven track record and 24/7 availability. Schedule a free initial consultation with our commercial truck accident attorney today.