The hours after a collision with a tractor-trailer are when a claim is quietly won or lost, because the trucking company’s response begins immediately and yours usually cannot. What follows is the practical sequence: what to do at the scene, what to do in the first week, and what has to happen to the carrier’s records before they lawfully disappear. Our Virginia truck accident attorneys at Tronfeld West & Durrett handle this work for people who are in no condition to handle it themselves.
At the Scene
- Call 911 and stay put. Virginia law requires it. Under Va. Code § 46.2-894, a driver involved in an accident causing injury, death, or damage to attended property must stop as close to the scene as possible without obstructing traffic, report their name, address, driver’s license number, and vehicle registration to law enforcement or to the people involved, and render reasonable assistance to anyone injured.
- Accept medical evaluation. If responders offer transport, take it. Declining at the scene is the most common decision that later gets used to argue an injury was not serious.
- Photograph more than the damage. Capture the tractor and trailer from several angles, the company name and USDOT number on the door, the license plates of both units, skid marks, debris fields, road conditions, traffic controls, and the final resting positions.
- Get the driver’s information and the carrier’s. The driver, the motor carrier, and the trailer owner are often three different entities, and the trailer may belong to none of them.
- Identify witnesses yourself. Names and phone numbers. Independent witnesses become difficult to locate weeks later and are often what settles a disputed liability question.
- Note nearby cameras. Businesses, traffic cameras, and residential doorbell systems record over their footage on short cycles, sometimes within days.
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In the First Week
Get evaluated by your own physician even if the emergency department released you, and describe every symptom rather than only the worst one. Injuries that surface on a delay are common after a high-energy impact, and symptoms that appear days after a crash are far easier to connect to the collision when the record shows you reported them early.
Start a simple file: the crash report number, every provider you see, every day of work missed, and a short daily note about what you could not do. Keep the damaged vehicle available and do not authorize repairs or release it for salvage until it has been inspected. In a truck case the vehicle is evidence, not just property.
What Not to Do
Do not give the carrier’s insurer a recorded statement in the first days. Do not sign a blanket medical authorization, which opens your entire history rather than the treatment at issue. Do not accept a quick settlement offered before you know your diagnosis, and do not post about the crash or your activities on social media, where an ordinary photograph becomes an argument that you are fine.
Also avoid speculating. Saying you are unsure how fast you were going is accurate. Guessing at a number creates a fact you will be held to. Other practical missteps are covered in these tips after a truck accident.
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Preserving Evidence the Carrier Controls
This is the step that separates a truck claim from a car claim, and it has a deadline nobody announces.
The material that proves fatigue, speed, maintenance failure, and dispatch pressure belongs to the trucking company: electronic logging device data, driver qualification files, inspection and repair records, dispatch messages, and post-accident testing. Federal rules require a carrier to maintain an accident register for three years under 49 CFR § 390.15, but the duty status records that show hours worked need only be kept six months.
A spoliation letter sent by a lawyer within days puts the carrier on formal notice to preserve all of it, and creates consequences if it is destroyed anyway. Once that window closes without a demand, routine destruction is lawful and the proof is gone. The full sequence of steps after a truck accident in Virginia is built around getting to this point quickly.
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How Long the Claim Takes
Truck claims generally take longer than car claims because there are more defendants, more records, and more insurance layers to work through. A straightforward case with clear liability and a completed course of treatment may resolve in months. A case involving disputed fault, multiple carriers, or catastrophic injuries commonly runs a year or more, and longer if suit is filed.
The outside limit is fixed regardless. Most Virginia personal injury actions must be filed within two years of the injury, and how long you have to file a claim in Virginia should be checked early, because claims involving a government vehicle carry shorter notice requirements.
What Truck Claims Have Recovered
Cases where the truck struck a stopped vehicle tend to resolve on liability and turn instead on the extent of the harm. We obtained a $4.5 million verdict for a driver struck by a heavy-duty truck while sitting at a stoplight. Further examples are collected on our case results page.
Talk to a Virginia Truck Accident Lawyer
If a tractor-trailer hit you, the other side is already working. The most useful thing you can do while recovering is get a preservation demand out and let someone else deal with the carrier.
Contact Tronfeld West & Durrett for a free consultation. We represent injured people from our offices in Richmond, North Chesterfield, Petersburg, and Mechanicsville, and throughout the Commonwealth. There is no fee unless we win your case.
FAQs About What to Do After a Semi-Truck Accident
What is the correct order of steps after a crash?
Safety, then reporting, then medical care, then documentation. Move out of traffic if you can do so safely, call 911, accept evaluation, and photograph the scene before vehicles are moved. Everything else, including insurance calls, can wait.
How long do semi-truck accidents take to settle?
Longer than car accident claims. Multiple defendants, layered coverage, and severe injuries all extend the timeline, and a claim should not settle before treating physicians can speak to permanence. Months is realistic for a simple case; a year or more is common for a serious one.
Should I talk to the trucking company’s insurance adjuster?
You may report the crash, but you are not obligated to give a recorded statement, and there is rarely an advantage in doing so early. Carriers in trucking cases often have investigators working within hours, which is an imbalance worth correcting before you answer questions.
What if the truck driver was cited at the scene?
A citation helps but does not decide the civil claim. It is evidence of the driver’s conduct, while the carrier’s responsibility for hiring, training, scheduling, and maintenance is proven separately through its own records.
What if a family member did not survive the crash?
The claim becomes a wrongful death action, which follows different rules about who may bring it and how any recovery is distributed. The evidence preservation steps are identical and just as urgent.
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