Boston Commercial Vehicle Accident Lawyer
Injured in a commercial vehicle accident in Boston, MA? Contact the top Boston commercial vehicle accident lawyer to seek compensation.
When a fully loaded tractor-trailer, delivery van, or box truck strikes a passenger vehicle on Boston's highways, the forces involved often cause catastrophic injuries that a typical car crash does not produce. Victims face traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord damage, crush injuries, and amputations that require months of hospitalization and years of rehabilitation. While you are trying to heal, the trucking company's insurer is already building a defense designed to minimize what they pay you.
At Breakstone, White & Gluck, our auto accident attorneys have represented commercial vehicle crash victims across Boston and Massachusetts for more than three decades, taking on national trucking carriers, municipal transit operators, and their defense teams. Every client who hires our firm works directly with one of our three founding partners, Marc Breakstone, David White, or Ronald Gluck, and we prepare every case for trial from day one. That approach has helped us recover more than $325 million on behalf of injury victims.
Get a free consultation and discover how our commercial vehicle accident attorneys in Boston can help you seek the compensation and justice you deserve.
Why Commercial Vehicle Crashes Are Different
A crash involving a commercial vehicle, a tractor-trailer, delivery van, box truck, bus, or company work truck, is not simply a bigger car accident. These collisions involve enormous forces, devastating injuries, and a legal fight against corporate insurance carriers with full-time defense teams whose only job is to pay you as little as possible.
Commercial vehicle cases are also governed by a separate body of federal law, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations, that imposes strict rules on trucking companies, their drivers, and their equipment. Proving violations of these rules is often what separates a fair recovery from an inadequate one.
Our firm secured a $7.1 million recovery for a pedestrian who suffered a traumatic leg amputation after being struck by a bus. We also obtained a $10.2 million trial verdict for a family whose infant sustained a catastrophic brain injury as a result of ambulance negligence.
Who Can Be Held Liable?
Liability in a commercial vehicle crash rarely stops with the driver. The trucking company that employs the driver, the entity that owns the truck or trailer, the company that loaded the cargo, and even the broker that hired an unqualified carrier can all be legally responsible for your injuries.
- The Driver: Negligent operation due to fatigue, distraction, impairment, or aggressive driving.
- The Employer: Companies are legally responsible for the negligent acts of their employees, a principle known as vicarious liability.
- The Vehicle or Trailer Owner: Trucks are frequently leased. The ownership chain can add significant additional insurance coverage.
- The Cargo Shipper or Loader: An overloaded or improperly secured load can cause a driver to lose control of the vehicle.
- The Broker: Federal regulations allow us to pursue companies that negligently hired unsafe carriers.
If a government vehicle, a city work truck or MBTA bus, caused your crash, the rules are stricter. Claims against municipal defendants often carry strict written-notice requirements, so contact an attorney promptly to protect your rights. If you miss that window, your right to sue is gone.
In one case we handled, an MBTA bus struck a 58-year-old pedestrian who was lawfully crossing in a marked crosswalk on Washington Street in Boston's South End, and she was left with her right leg amputated approximately eight inches below the hip. At trial, the bus driver admitted the crash was his fault, and the MBTA's own liability expert admitted the same.
The MBTA Transit Police had already cited the driver for failing to yield to a pedestrian in the crosswalk. The jury found the MBTA 100 percent at fault, and when the MBTA appealed, the Appeals Court affirmed the verdict and the Supreme Judicial Court declined further review.
What Evidence We Pursue, and Why It Disappears Fast
Commercial trucks carry electronic evidence that ordinary passenger cars do not. An electronic logging device, or ELD, records a driver's hours on the road and can prove Hours of Service violations. The truck's black box captures vehicle speed and braking data in the seconds before impact. Dashcam footage, if preserved, can show exactly what the driver was doing.
That evidence can be gone in days. Cameras record over themselves. Data is wiped. The moment you hire us, we send a spoliation letter, a legal demand requiring the trucking company to preserve everything, sent promptly after we are retained.
We also immediately subpoena:
- Driver qualification files, CDL history, and prior safety violations
- Post-crash drug and alcohol test results, which are required by federal post-crash drug alcohol testing regulations after serious crashes
- Driver Vehicle Inspection Reports DVIRs, which can prove a company ignored a known mechanical defect
- Dispatch records, bills of lading, and cargo weight tickets that reveal whether a driver was pressured to speed or carry an illegal load
One pattern we consistently see in commercial vehicle claims filed in Suffolk Superior Court is that trucking companies delay turning over dispatch records and electronic logging data until a spoliation letter forces their hand. Clients who are transported to Boston Medical Center or Tufts Medical Center after a crash on I-93 or the Southeast Expressway often do not realize how quickly that evidence can disappear.
What we see across the crashes we've handled near the Ted Williams Tunnel and the Central Artery is that carriers frequently claim equipment malfunctions once the preservation letter arrives, which is exactly why we send that letter within days of being retained.
What to Do After a Commercial Vehicle Crash in Boston
The steps you take in the first 48 hours directly affect your case.
Seek medical care immediately. Adrenaline can hide serious injuries for hours. A same-day or next-day medical visit creates an official record connecting your injuries to the crash. Without it, the insurer will challenge every bill you submit.
Photograph the scene and the truck. Get pictures of the vehicle damage, road conditions, and the U.S. DOT number on the cab of the truck. That number identifies the motor carrier and opens up its entire federal safety record.
Collect witness contact information. Names and phone numbers on the scene are invaluable. Once a witness leaves, finding them again is rarely possible.
Do not speak to the trucking company's insurer. Their adjuster may call within hours of the crash. Their job is to protect the company, not to help you. Refer every call to us.
What Injuries Are Common in Commercial Vehicle Crashes?
The weight and momentum of a commercial truck make these collisions far more destructive than crashes between passenger vehicles. We have represented clients suffering from traumatic brain injuries with permanent cognitive damage, spinal cord injuries resulting in paralysis, and crush injuries requiring above-the-knee amputation. Severe burns and internal organ damage are equally devastating, injuries that demand multiple surgeries and leave permanent limitations.
Many of our clients face a lifetime of medical treatment and financial uncertainty because of someone else's negligence. That is exactly why we fight so hard for every dollar of compensation available to them.
What we see across the commercial vehicle crashes we handle throughout Boston is that insurers move quickly to characterize catastrophic injuries as pre-existing conditions, especially when the client was treated at Boston Medical Center's trauma unit or transferred to Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital for long-term care.
In our experience handling these claims, adjusters routinely request records going back years before the crash, looking for any prior complaint they can use to argue the injury was not caused by the collision. That tactic rarely holds up once we present the full trauma record and expert testimony connecting the crash directly to the harm.
What Compensation You Can Recover
A successful commercial vehicle claim can include full compensation for your harms and losses.
- Past and future medical expenses
- Lost wages and reduced future earning capacity
- Physical pain and suffering
- Permanent disfigurement or disability
- Loss of companionship for your spouse or family
- Wrongful death damages
Commercial vehicle insurance policies are dramatically larger than personal auto policies. Federal law requires most commercial trucks to carry $750,000 minimum liability coverage, and many companies carry umbrella policies well above $1 million. We identify every available layer of coverage and pursue each one on your behalf.
| Coverage Layer | Personal Auto Policy | Commercial Vehicle Policy |
| Minimum Bodily Injury | $20,000 per person | $750,000 – $5 Million |
| Excess or Umbrella Coverage | Rare | Common ($1M – $10M+) |
| Cargo or General Liability | Not Applicable | Often a separate additional policy |
How Massachusetts Law Affects Your Case
Massachusetts is a no-fault state under the Massachusetts no-fault insurance law. Your auto insurance includes Personal Injury Protection (PIP), which pays the first $8,000 in medical bills and also covers a portion of lost wages regardless of who caused the crash.
Once your medical expenses exceed $2,000, or if you suffer a broken bone, serious disfigurement, or permanent injury, you can step outside the no-fault system and file a direct claim against the at-fault driver and their employer for the full value of your losses.
Massachusetts follows a modified comparative negligence rule. You can still recover as long as you are not more than 50% responsible for the crash. If you are found 20% at fault, your total recovery will be reduced by that amount, but you are not barred from recovering.
Deadlines That Control Your Right to File
Missing a legal deadline permanently ends your right to recover. In Massachusetts, the standard time limit for bringing a personal injury claim is the three-year personal injury statute of limitations, which runs from the date of the crash.
Commercial vehicle cases often involve multiple deadlines running at the same time. When a government entity is involved, those deadlines are far shorter:
- Claims Against a City or Town: Written notice required within 30 days of the crash.
- For MBTA claims, formal notice must be given within two years of the injury.
- Wrongful Death: Three years from the date of death.
If a government-owned vehicle caused your crash, call a lawyer the same day.
"There is no question about this: If any family member or friend needs a great lawyer, I will refer them to David White." – Walid Dehni
Why Clients Trust Breakstone, White & Gluck
We are selective about the cases we accept. Every client who hires our firm works directly with one of three founding partners, Marc Breakstone, David White, or Ronald Gluck, never a paralegal or a junior associate.
We prepare every case as if it is going to trial. We retain accident reconstructionists, work with medical experts, and use advanced courtroom technology to present your injuries in the clearest, most compelling terms possible. That preparation consistently produces stronger results, whether a case settles or goes to verdict.
- AV Preeminent Rated: All three partners hold Martindale-Hubbell's highest designation for legal ability and professional ethics.
- Top 100 Super Lawyers: Named consistently in both Massachusetts and New England.
- Massachusetts Bar Association: David White served as President.
- Massachusetts Academy of Trial Attorneys: Marc Breakstone and Ronald Gluck serve as Governors.
"So grateful to Marc for all this help and I would recommend him to anyone in need of a brilliant Personal Injury attorney." – Rebecca S.
We don't buy billboards or advertise on TV. Our verdicts, settlements, and reputation speak for themselves.
"I knew that Ron had my best interests at heart, and that I could trust him to help me make the right decision." – Katelyn Ludwig
Contact Breakstone, White & Gluck
You should not be in this fight alone. You are up against a well-funded opponent with experienced defense counsel. Our job is to level that field entirely. We offer a free, confidential consultation with a founding partner, and we are paid only if we recover money for you. There are no upfront fees and no hourly charges.
Boston Commercial Vehicle Accident FAQs
Who Can Be Sued After a Commercial Vehicle Crash?
We bring claims against the driver, the employer, and every other party whose negligence contributed, including vehicle owners, cargo loaders, and brokers who hired unsafe carriers.
How Quickly Can Electronic Evidence from a Commercial Truck Be Lost?
Dashcam footage is often overwritten within days, and ELD data is typically deleted after six months, which is why we send a legal preservation demand within 24 hours of being hired.
Can a Trucking Company Avoid Liability by Calling Its Driver a Contractor?
Many companies use independent contractor labels to shield themselves, but federal safety regulations and Massachusetts law can still hold the company responsible for the driver's conduct.
What if a Government or MBTA Vehicle Caused My Crash?
Claims against municipal and MBTA vehicles carry strict notice deadlines, sometimes as short as 30 days, making it essential to speak with a lawyer immediately after the crash.
Can I Still Recover Compensation if I Was Partially at Fault for the Crash?
Yes, Massachusetts law permits you to recover as long as you are not more than 50% responsible, though your final award is reduced by your percentage of fault.
What if the Trucking Company Does Not Have Enough Insurance to Cover My Losses?
The federal MCS-90 endorsement guarantees minimum coverage from most interstate carriers even if their insurer tries to deny the claim, and your own uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage provides an additional layer of protection.
What Does It Cost to Hire Breakstone, White & Gluck?
We work on a contingency fee basis. You owe nothing unless we recover compensation for you.