It’s often not a truck crash itself that puts a trucking company on the defensive — it’s the missing piece of the puzzle afterward. A deleted text, an edited log, or a file that never got saved can take on a life of its own in the hands of a plaintiff’s attorney.

When a trucking company can’t produce evidence such as phone data, driver logs, maintenance records, even weather reports after a crash, juries notice what’s not there as much as what is.

In the previous installment of this series, we focused on physical evidence, in-cab camera data and telematics. But there are more types of evidence and records trucking companies need to preserve that they may need to defend themselves in case of litigation.

Doug Marcello, a longtimetrucking defense attorney with the Saxton & Stump law firm, says fleets should act fast on preserving critical data after a crash:

• Lock down 6 months of logs immediately
• Preserve telematics (30-day shelf life)
• Download or swap driver phones

Phone Data Tells a Story

The question of driver distraction is a common one after accidents. That’s why Jennifer Akre, managing partner at Tyson & Mendes, believes in getting the truck driver’s phone after the crash and preserving it.

Plaintiff’s attorneys will be able to find out about a driver’s phone and ask for what it may show about whether they were distracted.

While other attorneys may disagree, Akre says that whether that information is good or bad for the driver or trucking company, she wants to know about that early on.

Without preservation of that data, she explains, testimony often goes something like this:

Driver: “I immediately texted my boss.”

Attorney: “Where are those text messages?”

Driver:  “Well, I got rid of that phone.”

Don’t Let Log Edits Undermine Your Case

Another area where fleets can get into trouble is not preserving data is not preserving the driver’s log book or ELD data for the time leading up to the crash.

And editing the log book or ELD record of duty status after a crash is another potential pitfall.

“I’ve seen lots of edited log books that become a problem,” Akre says. “And then you’re just trying to explain why you edited them” in a deposition or before a jury.

Lang says when working at Halvor Lines, because driver logs purge after six months, “we'd want to get those pulled [after a crash] so that those logs would live beyond the six-month period.”

Required Post-Crash Testing — And Why Timing Matters

In the aftermath of a crash, it’s easy to let DOT-required post-accident drug and alcohol testing slip. 

Drug and alcohol tests are required post-accident if the crash resulted in:

• Human fatality (whether or not the driver received a citation)
• Bodily injury with immediate medical treatment away from the scene, but only if the driver was cited.
• Disabling damage to any motor vehicle requiring tow-away, but only if the driver was cited.

Nick Saeger, assistant vice president for transportation products and pricing at Sentry Insurance, says it’s a mistake he sees trucking companies making after a crash.

“Getting that done, that’s a simple thing that you can maybe forget to do after an accident,” he says.

If you delay a drug test or an alcohol test following a crash, it will be used against you, Akre says.

Even when the drug test is clear, she says, if it’s been delayed, plaintiff’s attorneys will argue that numerous substances would have shown up if the test had been conducted sooner.

What Else to Preserve After a Truck Crash

In addition to camera footage, ECM data, ELDs, post-crash drug testing results, other types of data you should look at preserving include:

• Telematics Data: Saeger has seen cases where the telematics data not only exonerated the driver in a crash — it showed the truck wasn’t even at the scene.
• Driver Records: Driver qualification files, medical cards, and training history
• Maintenance and Inspection Logs: Brake, tire, and repair records; DVIRs and annual inspections
• Hours of Service Supporting Documents: Fuel receipts, toll logs, GPS pings to support logbook accuracy
• Dispatch and Load Info: Trip assignments, load details, and driver instructions
• Training and Coaching Records: Safety coaching records and alerts triggered by in-cab telematics or safety systems before the crash
• Driver Communications: Texts, emails, and call logs with dispatch, brokers, or shippers
• Other Internal Communications: Emails, texts, and so on between the team managing the crash, anything relevant to the truck or the driver before or after the crash, and so on.
• Scene Documentation: Photos, video, notes, or diagrams from anyone onsite
• Weather and Road Conditions: Save relevant reports or DOT road advisories
• Police Reports and Citations: And any legal follow-up documentation
• Witness Info: Names, statements, or contact details not included in police report

Adam Lang, director of customer advisory services at Netradyne, spent nearly 10 years at Wisconsin-based Halvor Lines. The award-winning fleet safety expert cautions fleets to be careful in internal communications regarding the crash, which need to be preserved in case of litigation.

“Make sure that every single email that you send in regard to a collision is an email that you’re comfortable with pasting outside your office door for everyone to read, because those emails may get pulled,” he says.

“Communication in that regard should have a lot of brevity. It should be very fact-based, without any opinion or conjecture of who was at fault.”

How Bad Recordkeeping Can Make Your Trucking Fleet Look Guilty

Akre says some of the worst legal cases she has had to argue in defending trucking companies are ones where the motor carrier’s records aren’t in order.

It may have nothing to do with the actual crash, but plaintiff’s lawyers will do everything they can to paint a company as unsafe, uncaring, and negligent.

For instance, say a trucking company doesn’t have the required MVR (motor vehicle record) checks on file, she says.

“So, you’re bad recordkeepers. That looks messy,” she says. 

Plaintiff attorneys will argue that companies that are messy can’t be trusted.

“If you’re a bad recordkeeper, what else are you missing? What other trainings are you missing?”

Before you know it, Akre says, “You’re defending the company for their back-office work as opposed to the negligence of the trucker, the actual cause of the accident.

“I don’t care if your system is a filing cabinet. I don’t care if your system is Google Docs. I don’t care if you’ve got some fancy system in place with one of the trucking platforms that gets used,” Akre says. 

“It doesn’t matter to me — as long as you’ve got a system in place and you use it consistently.”

Companies run into problems when they fail to realize that all of those details matter and to preserve them. When a company has failed to preserve evidence, it makes the jury think you have something to hide.

“It essentially gives the jury the right to assume that you were doing something untoward,” Akre says.