More and more people are doing their holiday shopping online these days, and that adds to an increase in the number of parcel deliveries being made by companies such as UPS, FedEx, and USPS. Parcel delivery companies log millions of miles of driving each year, and that number is only magnified during the holiday season. Unfortunately, with the increase of delivery trucks on the road, comes the increase in delivery truck or van accidents.
There are a variety of causes for delivery truck accidents, but some of the more common reasons involve driver fatigue after working long hours as well as speeding or reckless driving because drivers are in a hurry to meet delivery deadlines. Sometimes a driver is too quick to back up without checking vehicle mirrors. Sometimes a crash is a result of a failure in driver training and supervision.
Depending on whether the driver is an employee of a delivery company or an independent contractor, different entities or individuals can be held liable. For example, if the driver of the delivery truck who is at fault for a collision is an employee of ABC Delivery Company and was on-duty at the time of the collision, then both the driver and ABC Delivery Company can be held liable. However, things can get complicated quickly when even more entities are involved. For example, sometimes a delivery driver is an independent contractor hired by a delivery company and driving a truck that is leased from another company. Or, perhaps one delivery company is subcontracting for another delivery company.
Furthermore, if a US Postal Service truck causes an accident, an entirely separate set of laws are called into question under the Federal Tort Claims Act which governs the situation because the US Postal Service is a federal governmental agency and can usually only be sued pursuant to special laws addressing how to sue the federal government.
If you or a loved one have been involved in a crash with a delivery vehicle, please feel free to call us at 1-219-736-9700 and speak with someone from our knowledgeable legal team at the Law Offices of David W. Holub.
If you were injured and need to file a claim for compensatory damages, fill out this contact form and we will get back to you as soon as possible.