Our Texas Oil Tanker Truck Lawyers Are Ready to Fight for You
Did you get hurt or lose a relative in a crash with a large oil tanker truck? Do you believe the truck driver was responsible? The best thing you can do for yourself and your family is to call a law firm with a track record of successfully handling commercial vehicle accidents.
Brooker Law, PLLC has years of experience investigating and litigating truck accidents, including oil tanker trucks. We want to hear your story. Once we know more about what happened, we can advise you on the validity and strength of a personal injury or wrongful death case.
If you have a claim for compensation, we will fight hard for you to receive the maximum amount possible for your injuries.
What Is an Oil Tanker Truck?
An oil tanker truck is a commercial vehicle designed to transport bulk quantities of oil or other liquid or gas petroleum products. Behind the tractor, also called a cab, of the truck, is a large cylinder, parallel to the ground.
These trucks may or may not be insulated or pressurized. It depends on what they’re meant to carry. Some also are designed to carry multiple loads of cargo and are divided internally.
Oil tanker trucks are more difficult to drive than the standard semi-truck. The center of gravity is different than in an 18-wheeler, and drivers have to contend with the liquid moving and sloshing in the tank. Drivers also have to know what to do in case of a leak or other emergency to reduce the risk of a major spill or fire.
Who Can Drive an Oil Tanker Truck?
To drive any type of large commercial vehicle, a person must have their Commercial Driver’s License (CDL). These licenses are administered by the state. However, a CDL driver also needs endorsements to drive certain types of trucks and cargo.
A CDL only allows the driver to move dry goods. To drive a tanker truck with liquid cargo, the driver needs to obtain a tanker vehicle endorsement. This requires additional education and training.
Another necessary endorsement is for hazardous materials (HAZMAT), which include flammable solids, liquids, and gases. In addition to more education and training, drivers have to submit to fingerprinting and pass a federal background check.
If you were hurt in a crash with an oil tanker truck, we’ll investigate the truck driver’s background. We’ll look into whether the driver had the proper license and endorsements at the time of the crash. We’ll also review their personal and professional driving records to see if they’ve been in accidents before or received traffic tickets.
Common Causes of Oil Tanker Truck Accidents
Over the years, our firm has handled many commercial vehicle accidents, including those involving or caused by oil tankers. Some of the most common reasons these collisions happen are because of:
- Excessive speeding
- Fatigued driving and hours of service violations
- Distracted driving
- Inexperienced or unqualified truck drivers
- Bad weather or poor road conditions
- Reckless driving or road rage
- Blind spots and failing to keep a lookout
- Improperly secured loads
- Improper braking
- Truck defects
- Mechanical and systems failures
How We Can Help After an Oil Tanker Truck Accident
We Thoroughly Investigate the Crash
After you get hurt in a crash with an oil tanker or another commercial vehicle, you should speak with an experienced Dallas personal injury lawyer. You need to find out what happened to cause the crash. But that’s difficult to do in truck accidents when the trucker and trucking company hold a lot of the information.
We immediately take steps to preserve evidence. We’ll send all of the potential parties a Preservation of Evidence letter letting them know you have a claim and that they’re responsible for keeping anything that might be relevant evidence to your case.
We’ll hire an accident reconstruction expert. This person uses mathematics and scientific formulas to determine what was going on leading up to the crash, including how fast the vehicles were moving and in what direction. This type of expert can be crucial in proving the truck was at fault for the crash.
We Identify the Liable Party
Liability in trucking accidents is complicated. In many cases, the truck driver is at fault for the crash. But that doesn’t make the truck driver liable for your injuries – or the only liable party.
Trucking companies are often liable for truck accident injuries because of their own negligence and through vicarious liability. Typically, employers are responsible for their on-duty employees’ actions and any harm they cause.
This is good news for you. Trucking companies carry liability policies with much higher policy limits than the average driver. A higher policy limit means it’s more likely that you’ll be able to win the compensation that covers all of your costs and pain and suffering.
Other parties, too, might be liable. We’ve handled cases in which the cargo owner or loader, an auto manufacturer, a maintenance provider or other vendor, or other driver is responsible for the crash.
We File Truck Accident Lawsuits
We’ll also file a lawsuit. Most claims are resolved with a settlement, but that doesn’t mean you can ignore going to court. By filing a lawsuit, we go through the discovery process. We can use various legal tools like depositions and demands to produce documents to gather information from the other parties.
Discovery gives us access to important evidence, such as:
- The truck’s event data record, it’s “black box”
- The truck driver’s logs
- The truck driver’s inspection reports
- The trucking company’s employment records
- The trucking company’s inspection and maintenance records
All of this information and more can give us insight into what caused the crash and who is liable for compensating you for your injuries.
How Much Is My Oil Tanker Truck Accident Claim Worth?
It’s impossible for us to estimate the value of your claim without first speaking with you. We need to know more about the severity of your injuries, what the crash has already cost you, and how the injuries impact your future.
Once we know more, we can calculate how much your claim is worth based on your expenses, future lost income and medical care, and similar cases in the same jurisdiction.
Call Us Today to Schedule a Free Consultation
Our Dallas personal injury and wrongful death lawyers at Brooker Law, PLLC want to help you and your family. We believe it’s important to get to know each of our clients and stay in touch throughout the case. We’re always available to answer questions, and we’ll always give you updates on what’s happening with the insurance claim and litigation.
To learn more about how we handle oil tanker truck accidents in Texas, submit your information through our online contact form or call (214) 217-0277.