Bozeman, Montana Truck Accident Lawyers
A crash involving a semi-truck or commercial vehicle is not simply a bigger car accident. The injuries are often more severe, the evidence is usually controlled by a company, and several businesses may share responsibility for what happened.
Medearis & Tsomaya represents people and families injured in truck and commercial vehicle crashes throughout Montana. We investigate the driver, the company behind the vehicle, the condition of the equipment, the safety decisions that put the vehicle on the road, and every available source of insurance coverage.
You will work directly with attorneys Jesse Medearis and Alex Tsomaya.
Both previously represented insurance companies and other defendants. We know how commercial insurers evaluate serious claims, where they look for ways to shift blame, and what it takes to prepare a case they cannot dismiss as just another file.
Free consultation. No attorney fee unless we recover compensation for you.
Why Are Commercial Truck Crash Cases Different?
Truck crash cases are different because the driver may be only one part of the story. The motor carrier, vehicle owner, maintenance contractor, loading company, broker, or another business may have made decisions that contributed to the crash. Federal and state safety rules may apply, and the most important evidence can include company records that an injured person will never receive without demanding them.
The trucking company and its insurer may have investigators working within hours of a serious wreck. Their job is to protect the company. An injured person needs someone working just as quickly to preserve the facts.
We examine questions such as:
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Was the driver fatigued, distracted, impaired, speeding, or following too closely?
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Did the company hire or retain a driver who was not qualified to operate the vehicle safely?
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Did dispatch schedules or delivery pressure encourage unsafe driving?
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Were required inspections, maintenance, and repairs actually completed?
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Were the brakes, tires, lights, coupling equipment, or other safety systems defective?
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Was the load overweight, unbalanced, or improperly secured?
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Did the carrier ignore prior violations, complaints, crashes, or warning signs?
A company may have a safety policy on paper. The real question is whether anyone followed it.
Semi-Truck and Commercial Vehicle Cases We Handle
Commercial vehicle crashes are not limited to tractor-trailers. We handle serious injury and wrongful death claims involving:
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Semi-trucks, tractor-trailers, and 18-wheelers
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Oilfield trucks, water trucks, and service vehicles
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Logging trucks and livestock haulers
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Gravel trucks, dump trucks, and construction vehicles
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Delivery vans and box trucks
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Utility, plumbing, electrical, and other service vehicles
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Garbage trucks and municipal vehicles
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Tow trucks and wreckers
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Buses, shuttles, and passenger carriers
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Farm and ranch trucks used for commercial work
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Company pickups and fleet vehicles
The name on the door does not determine whether a case is a commercial vehicle claim. If a person was driving for work or a business owned, leased, dispatched, loaded, or maintained the vehicle, there may be company responsibility and commercial insurance coverage.
What Evidence Matters After a Montana Truck Crash?
Truck cases often turn on records that do not exist in an ordinary car-crash claim. Depending on the vehicle and operation, important evidence may include:
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Electronic logging device records and hours-of-service logs
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Engine control module or event data recorder information
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GPS, telematics, speed, braking, and route data
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Dash-camera and inward-facing camera footage
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Dispatch messages, delivery schedules, and trip documents
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Driver cell-phone records and in-cab communications
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Driver qualification, training, and employment records
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Pre-trip and post-trip inspection reports
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Maintenance, repair, tire, and brake records
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Drug and alcohol testing records
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Bills of lading, weight tickets, and cargo-securement records
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Prior safety violations and out-of-service history
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Photographs, measurements, roadway evidence, and witness statements
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Post-crash inspection and download data from every involved vehicle
Some of this information can be overwritten or lost through ordinary company record-retention systems. A prompt preservation letter can identify the evidence that must be kept. In a serious case, inspection of the vehicles and crash scene may also need to occur before conditions change.
Who Can Be Held Responsible for a Commercial Vehicle Crash?
The responsible parties depend on who controlled the work and what caused the collision. Potentially responsible parties may include:
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The commercial driver for unsafe operation of the vehicle
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The motor carrier or employer for the driver's conduct and for its own hiring, training, supervision, dispatch, or safety failures
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The vehicle or trailer owner when ownership and operating responsibility are divided
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A maintenance or repair company that failed to identify or properly repair a dangerous condition
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A shipper, loader, or cargo company responsible for an unsafe or unsecured load
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A manufacturer or parts supplier when a defective vehicle or component contributed to the crash
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Another driver or company whose conduct helped cause a multi-vehicle collision
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A governmental entity or contractor when dangerous road work, roadway conditions, or a government-owned vehicle is involved
Identifying every responsible party matters. It reveals how the crash actually happened and may identify insurance coverage beyond the policy carried by the individual driver.
Common Causes of Montana Truck Crashes
Montana puts commercial drivers on long routes, through mountain passes, winter weather, construction zones, rural highways, and areas where help may be a long way off. Those conditions require judgment and preparation. They do not excuse unsafe operation.
Common causes include:
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Driver fatigue and hours-of-service violations
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Excessive speed or driving too fast for weather and road conditions
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Distracted driving and cell-phone use
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Following too closely or unsafe passing
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Inadequate training or lack of experience
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Unsafe lane changes and failure to check blind spots
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Brake, tire, steering, lighting, or coupling failures
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Deferred maintenance and incomplete inspections
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Overweight, shifting, or unsecured cargo
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Pressure to meet unrealistic delivery or production schedules
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Alcohol, illegal drugs, or impairing prescription medication
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Failure to use chains or adjust for snow, ice, wind, and mountain grades
We look past the last mistake made in the cab. A serious investigation asks whether company decisions made days, months, or even years earlier helped create the conditions for the crash.
Compensation After a Montana Truck Accident
A person injured because of another party's negligence may be entitled to compensation for the full effect of the crash. Depending on the facts, damages may include:
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Emergency treatment, hospitalization, surgery, rehabilitation, and other medical expenses
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Reasonably necessary future medical care
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Lost wages and loss of future earning capacity
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Physical pain and mental and emotional suffering
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Disability, disfigurement, and loss of mobility
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Loss of enjoyment of life and interference with daily activities
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Property damage and other out-of-pocket losses
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Losses suffered by a spouse or family
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Funeral expenses and wrongful death damages when a crash is fatal
The value of a truck accident case is not determined by a formula. It depends on the injuries, the recovery, future limitations, income loss, available insurance, disputed fault, and how the crash has changed the person's life. We work with treating providers and, when needed, qualified experts to document those losses instead of asking a client to accept an estimate built by the insurance company.
What Should You Do After a Truck or Commercial Vehicle Crash?
Your health comes first. Get emergency care when needed and follow up promptly if symptoms develop or worsen. If you can do so safely, the following steps may also protect important evidence:
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Report the crash and obtain the investigating agency's information.
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Photograph the vehicles, roadway, skid marks, debris, company markings, DOT numbers, and visible injuries.
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Get names and contact information for witnesses.
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Keep damaged personal property and do not authorize destruction of your vehicle before evidence issues are addressed.
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Save medical bills, work-loss information, receipts, photographs, and communications from insurers.
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Do not sign a release or give the trucking company's insurer a recorded statement before understanding your rights.
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Speak with a lawyer early enough to preserve electronic and company-controlled evidence.
You do not need to investigate the trucking company yourself. A photograph of the truck, trailer, company name, license plate, or USDOT number can give us a place to start.
Why Work With Medearis & Tsomaya For Trucking Cases?
Before representing injured people, Jesse and Alex defended commercial trucking businesses, drivers, insurers, and other companies after serious crashes. We investigated liability and damages, reviewed medical evidence, evaluated claims, and helped develop the strategies used to defend commercial vehicle cases.
Our work also included analyzing commercial insurance policies and drafting coverage opinions arising from trucking and commercial vehicle crashes. We understand how insurers determine which policies apply, identify potential coverage disputes, evaluate exposure, and decide how a claim will be handled.
We know the file the defense is building because we have built those files ourselves. That experience helps us anticipate coverage arguments, blame-shifting strategies, and efforts to minimize injuries before they control the case.
Representing Truck Crash Victims Across Montana
Medearis & Tsomaya is based in Bozeman and represents injured people and families throughout Montana. We handle crashes on I-90, I-94, I-15, U.S. Highway 191, U.S. Highway 2, U.S. Highway 212, and the rural highways that connect Montana's ranch, energy, mining, construction, and freight communities.
Our work includes cases in Bozeman, Belgrade, Livingston, Billings, Butte, Helena, Great Falls, Missoula, Miles City, Glendive, Sidney, Baker, and surrounding communities. Initial consultations can be handled by phone or video, and we travel when a case requires it.
Trucking Insurance and Commercial Vehicle Coverage
Who Actually Pays After a Commercial Truck Crash?
In most truck and commercial vehicle cases, compensation comes from insurance purchased for the business and the risks created by its operations—not from the individual driver’s personal bank account.
Trucking companies purchase commercial insurance because serious crashes are a known risk of putting heavy vehicles on public highways. When negligence causes an injury, pursuing that coverage is not about taking something the injured person did not earn. It is about requiring the responsible companies and their insurers to pay for the medical expenses, lost income, disability, pain, and other harm the crash caused.
Finding all available coverage, however, can be more complicated than asking the driver for an insurance card.
Commercial Trucks May Have Several Layers of Insurance
A trucking company may have a primary commercial automobile policy and one or more excess or umbrella policies. Federal regulations permit motor carriers to satisfy financial-responsibility requirements through separate layers of coverage.
A serious crash may potentially involve:
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The motor carrier’s primary commercial automobile policy
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Excess or umbrella liability coverage
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A separate policy covering the tractor
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A separate policy covering the trailer
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Coverage issued to the vehicle’s owner or leasing company
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Coverage issued to the driver’s employer
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Insurance maintained by another company that hired, dispatched, loaded, or controlled part of the operation
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Coverage applicable to a maintenance or repair company
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Product-liability coverage when a defective vehicle or component contributed to the crash
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The injured person’s own uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage
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Workers’ compensation and a separate third-party claim when the injured person was working at the time of the crash
Not every policy will apply in every case. The available coverage depends on the companies involved, the ownership and lease agreements, what work the driver was performing, and the language of each policy and endorsement.
Federal Minimum Insurance Requirements
Certain interstate motor carriers are required to maintain minimum levels of financial responsibility under federal law. For example, a for-hire interstate property carrier operating a vehicle with a gross vehicle weight rating of 10,001 pounds or more is generally subject to a minimum of $750,000 in public-liability coverage. Carriers transporting certain oil or hazardous materials may be required to maintain $1 million or $5 million, depending on the material and operation.
Those are minimum requirements, not necessarily the total coverage available. Many carriers purchase higher primary limits, excess coverage, or umbrella policies. Contracts with shippers, brokers, energy companies, construction companies, or other businesses may also require additional insurance.
The federal minimums do not apply to every vehicle being used for business. A delivery van, service pickup, construction vehicle, ranch truck, or other commercial vehicle may be governed by different requirements. That is why the investigation must identify the vehicle, its weight, its cargo, the route, the carrier’s operating authority, and the work being performed when the crash occurred.